Between 2015 and 2016, Netflix premiered three attention-grabbing genre shows: Sense8, The OA, and Stranger Things. Of the three, Sense8 seemed the most likely to become a hit. Created by the Wachowskis and Babylon 5’s J. Michael Straczynski, it echoed the scope and spirituality of Cloud Atlas while embracing the goofy sincerity of Jupiter Ascending. As the Wachowskis’ first TV project, it represented the type of creative innovation that Netflix could champion with its deep well of Silicon Valley cash. Then after just two seasons, it got canceled.
The OA was similarly experimental; a confidently peculiar mystery drama that likely wouldn’t have been greenlit at a traditional network. And like Sense8, it ended abruptly after season 2. Meanwhile Stranger Things went on to become Netflix’s flagship show — easily the most conventional and derivative of the three, capitalizing on 1980s nostalgia for Dungeons and Dragons, The Goonies and Stephen King.
