Prime Video and the Dad TV Myth
Joke all you want, but it (and Mom TV) should be the future of streaming
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If Prime Video does one thing right, it’s this...
Dad TV! No one ever quite defines “Dad TV,” but it sort of means action shows geared towards men, living vicariously through their action heroes. (It’s sort of insulting, but let’s put a pin in that thought for now.)
How did Prime Video achieve this dominance? With shows like Reacher, Jack Ryan, The Boys, The Terminal List and . . . Expats.
Wait, Expats? What’s Expats?
That’s Nicole Kidman’s latest show, from filmmaker Lulu Wang (of The Farewell, $25 million global), about a group of female American expatriates living in Hong Kong. Huh, okay, not exactly Dad TV, but what about The Power (starring Toni Collette, Auliʻi Cravalho and John Leguizamo) from last year? As Vox described the book it’s based on:
Few things represent Dad TV better than deconstructing the patriarchy, am I right? Or this:
Reading these headlines, you probably had the same realization: This whole Dad TV thing is way more complicated and nuanced than depicted. So let’s figure it out.
In this article, we’ll explore:
How Dad TV actually performs
What Dad TV is — across scripted, unscripted and documentary programming
The genres that appeal to dads — but aren’t Dad TV!
The tension between Dad TV and prestige shows
How Prime Video makes a lot (A LOT!) more than Dad TV
The streamers that actually take the Dad TV crown
How Netflix is crushing Mom TV
Why Hollywood, especially the streamers, needs a lot more Dad TV . . . and Mom TV too