In a lot of ways, streaming has been amazing for content consumption. 24/7 availability, the leisure of being able to watch anything you want at your own pace, and a multitude of accessibility options have no doubt made a lot of people's lives easier. On the other end of the spectrum, however, is something particularly unfortunate. A big issue is popping up that's wholly unique to streaming. While some are already fed up with the rat race of figuring out what shows are on what service, on top of what services are even worth getting, removing content without little notice is particularly frustrating.
This is especially apparent with the upcoming removal of Arrested Development from Netflix. Yes, starting on March 15, Arrested Development in its entirety — including two seasons that were touted as "Netflix Originals" — will be removed from Netflix, and with no physical release for season five available, there's a realistic chance it could be gone for good. Combined with how HBO's Westworld was treated in recent months, there's no better time to remind ourselves that physical copies of shows and movies are still valuable investments.
Why Is Arrested Development Leaving Netflix?
You'd be forgiven if you thought Netflix owned the cult-classic comedy series outright. After being canceled by Fox in 2006, it found a new home on Netflix in 2011 as a Netflix original. Following a critically panned fourth season in 2011 and a mediocre fifth and final season in 2018, the series has since remained a staple of Netflix's comedy lineup alongside the now-missing Parks and Recreation and The Office.
Unfortunately, being a Netflix original is, for all intents and purposes, just branding. Netflix's Lilyhammer was a Netflix original, yet the rights to the series are owned in full by its production company, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. In this instance, Netflix was merely a distributor. Arrested Development is in a similar situation. 20th Television and Imagine Entertainment co-produced seasons four and five with Netflix, and while seasons one through three remain available on other services, there's no guarantee that Netflix's continuations will be available elsewhere. It's important to remember as well that, as of writing, there is currently no other way to access season five of Arrested Development outside of Netflix. There's a non-zero chance that, should Netflix not renew their licensing deal at the last minute, season five may very well disappear into nothing.
Physical Media Will Always Be Important
In an age of instant consumption, it may be hard for younger generations to understand just how important DVDs and other physical media were prior to widespread high-speed internet. It was the classic way to "binge-watch" a series, and for many, the convenience of catching up on the hottest series at your own leisure was well worth the price of a box set. On more than one occasion, DVD sales even brought back canceled shows from the dead by exposing them to a wholly new audience. Let's not forget that two of the most successful animated comedies in the US, Futurama and Family Guy, only exist as they do now through the release of their respective direct-to-video films and seasons in tandem with syndicated broadcasts.
Streaming presents a wholly unique issue specifically because of its on-demand offerings. If a show underperformed on traditional television, it wasn't an uncommon practice to just dump it on physical media to make up for the show's losses. Mind you, it wasn't guaranteed that it'd happen, but it was still a means to preserve something that would've otherwise rotted in a vault. However, due to the cultural shift that streaming brought on, physical media is now a minority in the overall market of movies and television. It's no longer worth putting programs that underperform out through other means because the cost of doing so simply isn't justifiable anymore.
It's an issue specifically because streaming itself is incredibly volatile. While content regularly shifts around from service to service, there's more than a handful of examples where content that once thrived through streaming is simply removed. If it's not available through syndication, or it was never printed to physical media, it can't be seen anymore through legal means. Once season five of Arrested Development is removed, it's gone. Two episodes of Adult Swim's Squidbillies were removed from HBO Max and syndication due to their politically charged content. With no DVD release, they're gone. Even multiple episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a series known for its raunchy content, has had five episodes pulled from streaming for more than three years now with no return in sight, with each one only available on their respective season box set.
Remember that streaming services are just that — "services." Just as each service doesn't necessarily own the content it provides, neither does each and every user of those services. If there's a show or movie that you genuinely love, one that you can watch over and over again, do yourself a favor and snag it on physical media if you can. You'll be directly supporting your entertainment of choice while having a convenient means of accessing your favorite shows and movies, even if they suddenly vanish from streaming.