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Its oddly appropriate that one of the biggest Netflix reality-show moments of 2023 revolved around an unplanned twist.
Yet the fiasco was also something of a triumph for the streamers unscripted division.
That show has already beenrenewed for a second season.
Vulture recently caught up with Riegg for a wide-ranging, hourlong conversation about the year in Netflix unscripted.
I wish there was sort of more recognition or even acknowledgement of how strong those formats and franchises are.
We made a choice to get into that category years ago and its paid off really well.
The partners weve worked with have been terrific.
Every one of them has been a home run.
We only had two seasons; it wasnt as broadly commercial as we needed it to be.
You had to rub my face in the demise ofDatingAround.
Im still mad you canceled it so quickly!I know, I know.
Trust me, it still comes up.
People actually reference it a lot.
WithPerfect Match, you really moved into the idea of cast members from different shows colliding.
Are we going to see more of that world building from you?Youre going to see more.
But a few things have to happen first.
We call them cast ecosystem shows.
ItsThe FlintstonesandThe Jetsonsmeeting, which I think people love.
Perfect Matchwas really the first cast ecosystem show, and it was a huge hit.
I expect season two to be even bigger than season one.
That was a huge plus for the fans of both shows and golf fans in general.
Creative execs and producers have to constantly be thinking, Whats the fresh take on the familiar?
Thats just a good mind-set to have.
In terms of saturation in any given category, dating or otherwise the market will tell you.
There will be signs.
But were still open to an amazing idea coming thats set in a dating world.
Were also really fortunate to have four tremendous dating formats already on the service.
Because its really not that.
Before we hadLove Is BlindandToo Hot, people said, Oh, theres no room.The Bacheloruniverse basically covers everything.
But I was at NBC when they said that about music shows.
Theyre like, American Idols the only game in town.
ThenThe Voicecame in and we were like, Oh my gosh, we need to do this.
The bar is always raised when you have a lot of shows out there in a particular genre.
But that doesnt mean it precludes a great idea from coming in and being successful.
I have to ask abouttheLove Is Blindlive reunion that wasnt.
We had a bug that really only showed itself under the strain of so many millions of simultaneous livestreams.
Its obviously not an outcome that any of us had anticipated or hoped for.
But the engineering team has been working really hard to fix that.
So I actually dont worry about that.
It was an unfortunate oversight on the tech side.
But, yeah, well do more of them.
I dont know which ones, or where it will happen.
But having livestreaming capability was something Ive lobbied for for many years.
I think theres a lot of applications for us in it.
you might have these big one-off events like Netflix Cup.
you’re able to do these reunions like we did withLove Is Blind.
When I was at ABC, we would do those David Blaine specials.
Having live just unlocks a broader menu of options in terms of programming opportunities.
We will continue to take our shots when the opportunity arises.
They have a decades head start on us, though were getting there.
Im definitely not opposed to it.
That was what the Netflix Cup was.
We have to put thought and care into all of these attempts.
The answer to both questions is yes.
Were still very much looking for other docusoaps and occusoaps.
We have some in production and development that we can hopefully share with you soon.
Then, specifically on real estate stuff, were continuing to grow that category.
Were thinking in terms of, should it beSellingor something else thats complementary to theSellingecosystem?
There are a lot ofReal Housewives.
It happens that theyve got a great filter for that franchise at Bravo.
It just comes down to interesting people in interesting worlds.
Were going to continue growing out that category.
Lets talk about your latest big show,Squid Game: The Challenge.
I, like many others, absolutely loved it.
Its one of my favorite shows of all time.
But I think for the bulk of viewers, they enjoyed the entertainment.
They loved the innovation and the originality of the show.
Were still trying to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible.
I think the path of least resistance wouldve been to do nothing.
That wouldve definitely been the safer route.
But we saw this opportunity, given not just the shows popularity but the actual construct of that show.
I mean, its essentially a reality show within the scripted show, right?
And so we leaned into risk.
And if we do a good job, I think a good show stands on its own.
Thats what these producers have done with this version.
I think theyve made a really tremendous engaging and innovative show, period.
It just happens to be based off an existing piece of IP that lives within the Netflix universe.
Theres elements of it being a social experiment.
We wanted to honor some of the main pillars and messages within the scripted show.
Youre leaning into, What would really happen in this sort of setting?
The question is just as valid as in the scripted show.
The difference is, you really cant predict what may or may not come out of it.
If you go back to the origins of reality TV, that was really what drew people in.
or judging how the people you saw on the screen responded.
The producers did a fantastic job of that.
Thats what makes it compelling.
We just have the benefit that theres a reference point that people have readily available.
If youre interested, wed love for you to submit your creative vision proposal.
And we told the Korea team this was the process and they also told director Hwang.
From a general perspective, he said, Im good with you guys exploring it.
We didnt technically have to have his permission, but we wanted to respect and honor what hed built.
If he had said no, we would not have done it.
They didnt have any.
Hwang was like, I think this looks great.
You put up avideo on social mediashowing Hwang walking through the sets ofTheChallenge.
He seemed pretty impressed with how they turned out.He was like a kid in a candy store.
I mean, he said to me, Its like I literally stepped into the world that I created.
He could not believe it when he walked into that dorm.
Because hes shooting on green screen.
There are a lot of tricks and things they do with the scripted show.
I called the Netflix Korea team and I said, Where did you guys shoot that?
They go, Youre shooting it with 456 players?
I go, Yeah, thats what you did.
And they said, But we had like 200 people out there in front of a green screen.
Does the fact that youve spent so much already make it easier to order a second or third season?
WhenI talked to Bela about this, I said, Look, were doing it.
Its not going to be cheap.
The only goal every time legitimately on all these shows is: one step at a time.
Lets just make an amazing season of this.
It was more, Lets make an amazing product and, if it works, hallelujah.
Recutting was not ever an option any of us considered.
This one has a higher bar in a sense of its an expensive show.
In all honesty, we started this at the end of January and ran into mid-February.
Itll get easier because well be more efficient and effective producers.
SquidGamethe drama was developed and produced by Netflixs Korea team; it famously didnt come from Hollywood.
Im curious how your team works with the unscripted divisions Netflix has around the globe, and vice versa?
We have a really close-knit relationship with all of the nonfiction execs worldwide.
Its a sort of fraternity within the bigger company, if you will.
Theres a ton of communication and connection around that for us.
But more and more, youre seeing original development improving in a lot of these other countries.
Things likePhysical: 100are definitely formats you will see adapted into other language versions or English-language versions.
Its a two-way street.
It really just depends.
But never say never.
I mean, Netflix Brazil just had this massive hit withStranded With My Mother-in-Law.
Youve been working in the unscripted space for more than two decades.
Itd be disingenuous of me to say I think different places have different standards.
I can only speak for us.
Or, What are things we should discuss?
We do that anyway.
Its something thats being discussed right now in general.
I understand that people are interested in discussing it more.
What does sports programming do for Netflix?
Gabe Spitzer runs that for me.
It was really more of a formalization of the direction we were already heading.
Weve steadily ramped up our sports narrative programming, or our shoulder content, as weve also called it.
Theres no shortage of great stories and characters in those worlds.
Were not in the business of doing live sports or live sports rights.
Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters have been very clear and consistent on that, and I completely respect that.
Were not in the live sports rights business, and thats fine.
We can still serve that audience in a different way.
And the Netflix Cup was a really good example of this sort of hybrid, right?
What can you say about how it did in terms of viewership?
But in terms of the live viewership, it hit our expectations.
It mightve exceeded it a little bit, to be honest.
But in this instance, because we created an entertaining product, theres actually been catch-up viewing.
The benefit of being on Netflix is you could reach the sports fan and the non-sports fan.
And the average time they spent watching golf on TV went up too.
Theres a lot of validation in there.
Or look atQuarterback, the show we did with Kirk Cousins.
His social media following, the national commercials he got it was mind-blowing.
Same thing with David Beckham.
Were going to keep doing it, and well do more of it.
You need something that keeps people coming back like Wordle does for the New YorkTimes.I know!
Weve got a game show pitch in development that Im pretty bullish on.
I dont know if itll be a daily thing.
But Im really trying to crack that area for sure.
