Netflix and Seth Meyers teamed up to create a button that lets people skip Trump jokes
0Reported today on The Verge
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Reported today in The Verge.
Netflix and Seth Meyers teamed up to create a button that lets people skip Trump jokes
Chances are, if someone is tuning into Seth Meyers’ new stand-up special on Netflix, Lobby Baby, they’re interested in his jokes about President Donald Trump. Those who aren’t, however, will be able to skip entire segments of the special, thanks to a new button.
The skip button is similar to the one Netflix flashes during a TV show’s theme song, giving people the ability to move past it. Meyers told CNN Business that it was mostly instituted as a joke. He doesn’t actually believe fans of his who tune in to watch will skip over Trump jokes, but having the ability to leverage Netflix’s technology to make the joke land harder was something he wanted to try.
“It dawned on me that because it was on Netflix, there would be this opportunity to put in technology that would allow people to skip it,” Meyers told CNN. “It was a way to build in the response to anyone who would say, ‘Oh, let me guess there’s going to be jokes about the president.’”
Robbie Praw, Netflix’s director of original standup comedy programming, told CNN that the company was “thrilled he was able to take advantage of the Netflix experience in such a funny and innovative way.” The tool itself isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but the innovation announcement comes just a few days after Netflix was criticized for testing a different feature.
Netflix is currently testing a feature that will allow a small group of Android phone users to change the playback speed of a movie or TV show. The company is also exploring tests related to giving people more control over the lighting and audio languages of what they’re watching directly from the title screen, instead of having to go into preferences. Filmmakers, including Judd Apatow and Peyton Reed, criticized Netflix for the feature. This is different. Netflix worked with Meyers to ensure the feature worked with his special. It is a sign of what Netflix is capable of doing for creators because of its technology.
Lobby Baby debuts on November 5th.