Netflix originals start new seasons amidst acclaim and excitement

From the exciting continuation of “House of Cards” in late February to the still-distant return of “Orange is the New Black” in mid-summer, Netflix subscribers are seemingly coming out on top as Netflix original series and newly acquired programs start showing up throughout this spring.

Starting out as a DVD-shipping service in the late ‘90s, Netflix has slowly developed its streaming service over the years, providing television shows and movies for to subscribers for a flat rate every month. Additionally, Netflix is moving into an entirely new iteration as a content creator, as it begins to offer more shows made directly on the site.

The reason for this shift, many people think, is that television networks like AMC and HBO have developed their own streaming services (AMCTV.com and HBOgo). Now that they own their own services, it doesn’t make sense to offer their AAA shows or blockbuster movies to Netflix, the No. 1 company in the streaming front.

While it might be a good thing to diversify where the content is coming from, sites and reviewers across the Internet have also shown concern about the “spreading-thin” of these shows across too many services, which puts consumers in a position of having to pay for two, three or even four different streaming services to be able to watch all of their favorite shows.

The power-struggles between Netflix and TV channels aside, the original content being produced by Netflix is some of the best anyhwere with “House of Cards” actor Kevin Spacey winning both the Golden Globe for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series” and the Screen Actors’ Guild’s award for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series,” coupled with many other similar nominations, for his work.

After a few muddled semi-successes like “Lilyhammer” and some children’s shows like “Veggie Tales,” it seems like Netflix has worked out its formula for content, and is just now kicking up their production pretty significantly, producing content faster than some viewers can even keep up.

On the other hand, more and more shows aren’t having their licensing renewed when their contracts run out, with popular shows like “Adventure Time” and movies like “Freaky Friday” leaving Netflix in March. This backs up the idea of a new identity for the service, in which it operates much more like a premium TV  channel than it does a general-streamer. Let’s hope the newfound competition doesn’t sink the general product, though.