The strangest and most unknown Netflix series in the world was really a test to prove that it worked

Which would you say is the most unknown series on Netflix? Which one have you seen that only you remember? Perhaps El Gato Caco? Saturday Morning All-Star Hits? w/Bob and David? No matter which one you mention, even if it only lasted one season and no one talked about it anywhere: I assure you it is remarkably more popular than the series I bring you today, a true marvel for fans of the strange and the dark (and, why not, of conspiracy theories). No matter how much you turn on your streaming service, you will never see a product as strange as Example Show recommended by the algorithm.

A series to set an example

Not even David Lynch would have dreamed, in his most Dada moments, of creating something of the magnitude of Example Show. But how did it come about? Let’s take a look. Back in 2010, the number of movies watched via streaming on Netflix surpassed for the first time those sent by mail on DVDs, as had been done until then. And, of course, they were already considering creating their own content: although House of Cards wouldn’t arrive until 2013, they had to conduct the necessary tests to check various parameters, and that’s how this unique and unrepeatable series was born.

In reality, the video was just something they used among themselves and the companies they worked with, a way to test Netflix. The idea was that it would never appear in the suggestions, but you could find it by searching in the bar because, after all, they also had to test that. In total, 11 minutes of absolute madness that is hard to imagine shareholders watched with total interest: a guy doing the moonwalk with a laptop in hand, running around the Netflix office with a DVD in hand and juggling balls. What more could you ask for from a series?

Ah! And if you turn on the English subtitles, you will only see the phrase “You shouldn’t cry in baseball,” which is from the movie A League of Their Own. And you might wonder: Does it refer to the classic from 1992 with Geena Davis and Tom Hanks? The answer, of course, is “no,” but that doesn’t mean there aren’t references to pop culture when our protagonist (credited as “Actor”) delivers a monologue from Shakespeare. Specifically, from Julius Caesar, before starting to make grunting noises at the camera. Eh, I’ve seen much worse things at festivals.

Example Show has received all kinds of tributes on the Internet, but unfortunately Netflix has not wanted to give it a new season. What is true is that there are countless of these videos, all starring the same person. In fact, some say that on the loneliest nights, when you are completely bored and lost in thought in front of the television, this type of video is perfect to keep going, or to have in the background while you hang out with friends, as an archaeological curiosity.

For example, one of them, with a much less fun name, is Example Mixed FN Show en-US, consisting of four episodes, each testing a different feature (with integrated subtitles, in the original language, etc.). What is its description? It couldn’t be anything else: “An example of a show” repeated six times. If you’re a conspiracy theorist, you can probably extract enough nonsense from this to drive anyone on Reddit crazy. If not, you now have fun for the next few weeks: collecting all the example videos is a hobby like any other! Or, at least, given my future and my new audiovisual obsession, I hope so.