SAYING GOODBYE: Taylor Schilling and co-star Jason Biggs.
BEHIND BARS: Taylor Schilling (center) plays Piper Chapman, who leaves Park Slope for prison after an unexpected arrest. (
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Netflix strutted its stuff yesterday, proving they’re very proud of their newest original series, “Orange is the New Black.”
The video-subscription company announced they’re already renewing the prison dramedy executive produced by Jenji Kohan (“Weeds”), for a second season — and the episodes aren’t even available until July 11.
“Jenji and her team have produced a phenomenal series, and we’re eager to get a second season to our viewers,” Cindy Holland, vice president of original content, said in a statement yesterday.
The series is based on the 2010 memoir by Brooklynite Piper Kerman, who went to jail for money laundering and drug trafficking — 10 years after she committed the crime. It stars Taylor Schilling as Piper (with a different last name) and Jason Biggs as her boyfriend.
Renewing two weeks before a premiere is unheard of for cable and network TV, but Netflix has proven they play by different rules. Just look at how they release an entire season on one day.
After the lukewarm reception to its much-hyped revival of “Arrested Development” last month, it’s important for Netflix to create positive buzz for this series, says Brad Adgate, director of research of Horizon Media.
“They’ve had to set a really high bar with their early original content,” Adgate told The Post. “We saw what happened when ‘Arrested Development’ was received with a tepid response; we saw the Netflix stock fall a little bit.
“So, I think this announcement says they think ‘Orange is the New Black’ is really good — it’s a subtle way to promote it in a positive way.”
Netflix aggressively launched into original programming this year, beginning with a two-season order of “House of Cards,” a remake of a popular British series on which they reportedly spent $100 million.
The political drama premiered in February, with big-name stars like Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and was directed by Oscar-nominated David Fincher (“The Social Network,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”).
That pricey gamble paid off. “House of Cards” is a leading contender for this year’s Emmy awards. Nominees will be announced next month.
Although Netflix doesn’t release streaming numbers for any of their original content because it doesn’t have advertisers to answer to, the company does release quarterly subscriber information. Netflix saw an increase of about 2 million subscribers the quarter “House of Cards” was released, bringing the total to 29.2 million viewers in the US and 36 million worldwide.
Netflix also announced this month a deal to air new DreamWorks animated shows based on the studio’s characters (think: “Madagascar: The Series”). Those projects should be popping up in 2014. And the company’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos recently told The Hollywood Reporter they plan to introduce twice as many original series next year.
“Orange is the New Black” doesn’t have the big-name stars “House of Cards” did or the built-in fan base of “Arrested Development,” but the early renewal shows Netflix has taken a look at their subscribers’ preferences and have decided that its only female-driven show will be well-received.
“That’s how they decide which series to pick up to begin with,” Adgate says. “They have a lot of data and information on which series their audience is streaming and they base it on that.”