If you can’t really remember what you’ve been doing over the last fortnight because you were in a Stranger Things vortex and nothing else in the world really mattered, we don’t blame you. It’s a damn good show.
We were pretty surprised then to discover that the sci-fi thriller masterpiece almost didn’t make it to air at all.
The creators of throwback sci-fi thriller masterpiece series Stranger Things have revealed that the series almost didn’t happen after multiple network executives rejected the show.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, creators of the show, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer revealed a few illuminating things about the show’s inception and inspiration.
They discussed the obvious 80s and 90s sci-fi horror influences, and how they had poured over old VHS tapes of movies like E.T and Stand By Me when writing the show which ultimately influenced the look and feel of the final product.
They also went on to chat about how, before Netflix jumped on board, nearly 20 networks had rejected the show. Matt explained that there were a few major concerns for network executives, one being the target audience of the show. An unnamed executive even told them, “You either gotta make it into a kids show or make it about this Hopper [detective] character investigating paranormal activity around town.”
Duffer went on to explain that they would “lose everything interesting about the show” if the kids were ditched, and that they almost gave up hope at one point. “There was a week where we were like, ‘This isn’t going to work because people don’t get it,’” Matt remembered.
Thankfully for us, Netflix got it, and thus came to be one of the best shows of the year.
We can imagine somebody from those networks definitely got fired.
Check out our best music documentaries on Netflix list too.
