January - Early May 2018
This page is an open forum and catchall for discussing anything about Netflix, this blog, and/or other related topics. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, share information, offer opinions, even rant if something is bugging you (although we now have a very nice "Complaining" page that is especially good for that).
The body of this page will be used to keep everyone updated when there is blog news, and to ask for feedback about improvements/changes/additions, etc. Of course, your participation is always optional and voluntary.
Other Open Discussion Pages
When a particular topic generates a lot of discussion, it will be spun off to its own specific Discussion page. Links to open Discussion pages follow. Please feel free to add comments to any of these. If your comments do not fit any of these topics, then please add them here, in the comments section below.
Netflix DVD Subscription Service - Problems, Questions, Changes
The New Netflix Ratings System of Thumbs Up or Down
Netflix "My List" - Problems/Questions/Changes/Updates
All Things Related to the Netflix-Disney Deal
Issues Around Netflix's Policies Regarding Expiration Notices
Complain About Netflix: Vent, Kvetch, Whine, Grouse - Get It Off Your Chest!
My goal: A blog that looks polished and feels complete (not giving up on this!), and that offers helpful content for all, without detracting from the sacred mission of giving followers as much lead time as possible to watch expiring titles.
Thanks to the many contributors who share their time, knowledge, and expertise to keep the blog interesting, informative, and fresh in a variety of ways. It is truly a collaborative effort, and I'm honored to be part of it.
Thanks to the many contributors who share their time, knowledge, and expertise to keep the blog interesting, informative, and fresh in a variety of ways. It is truly a collaborative effort, and I'm honored to be part of it.
I like the banner.
ReplyDelete
DeleteOh, I'm glad - thanks for letting me know, Nica.
anyone else find netflix's fixation on drug dealers at least a little strange? i think i know what their executives are spending their bonuses on...
ReplyDeleteAnd LGBT content, yuck. No thanks.
DeleteLGBT isn't illegal in this country, but black market drug dealing is. i also don't think the drug cartel content is meant to provide content to a large population of drug dealers.
DeleteThat's true. Sorry.
DeleteEven NF promoted in a bathroom that stupid Narcos series great way to get more people to do drugs.
i'm no prude, but it does strike me as particularly callous and irresponsible, especially in the midst of an opioid epidemic in this country. i think netflix is guilty of taking very flippant and even juvenile attitudes toward sensitive, serious subjects, like glorifying suicide by joining in the "here's your tape" 13 reasons why meme just to thumb its nose at hulu.
Deleteto be clear, i actually do think netflix executives and content team members do drugs, like drugs, and think drugs are cool, so they license and produce content glorifying illegal drug dealing. i've never seen such a concentration of content specifically about illegal drugs and the cartels behind them. the topics are ripe for examination and worthy of some inclusion, but the sheer amount of available and original streaming content about illegal drugs suggests a very lax attitude at best toward the subject from the rich, privileged, and protected decision makers at netflix.
I forgot about NF stupid series about glorifying suicide. Even some stupid people committed suicide after watching that filth.
DeleteYet Hulu is so much better. Even Amazon Prime is better too. I find myself watching very little NF maybe a couple of hours a week. Too bad I use to watch it over six hours a day.
for those of you who have posted about keeping track of your ratings, a small update on the firefox script https://github.com/m5n/netflix-ratings-extractor that i started posting about on March 17, 2017 at 9:45 AM over at the archived page http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/welcome-to-discussions-ideas-page-for_1.html .
ReplyDeletei noticed that the https://www.netflix.com/MoviesYouveSeen page had updated to remove all of the instances of placeholder titles like "MOVIE" and "SHOW" so i finally re-extracted my ratings. my list is now a lot more complete. i did notice that since the previous extraction a few english titles out of the thousands have changed to another language, but with my previous copy and, more importantly, the movie ID that i can plug into a netflix URL and get the english title, not to mention how easy it is to copy and paste a title into a translator, this is probably about as good as it will get. i've been adding ratings to IMDb since the star change, all of my new ratings and periodically adding old ones, but now that i have a better copy i can start going in order.
Is anyone else having issues getting My List to load on Netflix? It's loading fine on my apps, but it doesn't seem to be loading correctly on their website. Not sure if it's a browser issue. I'm using Firefox.
ReplyDeleteSame problem here no matter what browser I use.
Delete
DeleteBill March 1, 2018 at 7:11 AM
I'm having the same problem. I've tried several different browsers and have the same issue with each one. Occasionally I do get 'My List' to load. But, about 90% of the time I get a spinning circle. Extremely frustrating!
DeleteI use Chrome browser on a laptop, and have been having the same problem consistently since yesterday (possibly the day before). Here is what works for me:
1. Go directly to it on a new tab: https://www.netflix.com/browse/my-list
There is still a short delay, but it does load. I bookmarked it. The problem seems to happen when you choose My List from another Netflix page.
2. However you get there, if it is endlessly loading (spinning circle), click the reload button. That seems to bring it to its senses.
yeah, they keep doing stuff to break it, huh? what a pity. Carol's advice works. drag down and drop is much slower than it was before whatever they changed.
DeleteYay! Carol, you are awesome! It worked!
DeleteI use Google Chrome on my desktop and was having the spinning circle and loading issue for the past few days as well. Tonight I did a control alt delete to bring up the task manager and one by one ended the process of every chrome.exe in the task manager list. Once they were gone, I reopened my browser and everything works fine. No delays in loading Netflix and no spinning circles.
DeleteI thought I had a fix for the slow loading issue on both the streaming and DVD side of Netflix but I was wrong. It was temporary at best. I spoke to customer service this morning and they told me to clear my cookies and then delete my bookmark and redo that because, when they make changes to the website, the bookmark that searches for the site can have trouble locating it. I did that and now both the DVD and streaming sides come up automatically.
ReplyDeletewell they fixed the loading problem on web. Now it only shows a small part of your list so loads great.
ReplyDeleteMorons. Just read an article about how their programmers are the best and perfectly detailed at their job. They don't even pay attention to their own site I guess. Just make things up for news.
I have the same issue. Seriously...do they ever test their changes before rolling them out. Anonymous - the article you read sounds like fake news to me.
DeleteAnonymous, I called them this morning with the same issue. I keep My List (viewed in Manual Order) in alphabetical order because it not only makes it easier for me to find a title I'm looking for but also allows me to check if anything is expiring with a quick scroll down the page. As of today, I can't see anything in My List below Bomb Scared. If I switch over to Netflix Suggests, I see all my titles but that doesn't help when it comes to seeing expiration dates or putting things in alphabetical order. The woman at customer service told me that they were aware of the issue and that "everyone" is having it and then hung up on me because I could even rate the call as unhelpful.
DeleteNetflix is weird, for a normal company something stops working look at last deploy to production and roll back. This would take an hour or so. But every time Netflix breaks something they spend days leaving it broken. The only explanation for that is that they refuse to roll back code and always just try to figure out how they broke something. This is a horrible way to do business, they could really care less about us. They know everyone is addicted and will just deal with inconvenience instead of leaving them. Therefore they do whatever they want all the time. Really wish like 10 million people would get made at them and all cancel at same time. They could always come back but at least it would show them that customers do have power.
Deletenetflix stock was up 9% today, hitting an all-time high of $338.62 per share (up from $147.25 a year ago), in case anyone still thinks fixing the manual My List is a priority for them, more than a month into this...
Delete
ReplyDeleteAnna March 8, 2018 at 9:48 PM
In my list I can't see numbers next to the movies, Netflix removed that feature some time ago. How other people know how many movies have on their lists?
Thank you.
DeleteHi Anna, thanks for writing. I think the most common way people use to keep track of how many titles are on their list(s) is to keep a manual version of their list - in Excel, MSWord, or some other kind of document. This serves other purposes, as well.
Everyone: Do you have another method for keeping track of how many titles are on your list? Please feel free to let us know what you do, and any secrets you have for keeping it up to date and ultimately useful. Thanks!
I keep a side list of movies I want to watch since I can only put 500 on site. As for knowing how many at any one time, when I view the list on my dvd player that goes to netflix it tells me how many movies are in the list. That is the only way I know how many. I used to always keep 500 on there but now I don't fill it full anymore I leave space so that when this site tells me what is expiring I can add them to my list.
Deleteanother option for keeping a backup of your netflix My List is creating a list as a user on IMDb. you can put the list in the same order, and it will have the bonus of also showing you if it is upcoming on tv and what it costs to watch on amazon. it also shows you with a big icon if it free on amazon prime video, so if it leaves netflix you may still be able to see it for free if you have a prime membership. you can also leave notes with each title like "this one is on hulu" or an alternate title. you can rate, move, and remove titles as you wish. it's all very colorful and informative with poster artwork and main details for each title shown so you know exactly what it is even for the most common of titles.
Deletelists can be public or private as set by the user. i recently created a private list of over 200 titles not available on netflix streaming or dvd that i want to watch, and i've found it very easy and helpful. when netflix ends its dvd service, assuming they give customers enough notice, i plan to mirror my queue the same way for reference.
I can access MyList through 3 devices and various apps: a desktop Mac (internet using Firefox or Safari), a very old ipad that can't upgrade to iOS10 (internet using Safari or Netflix app), and a very old Vizio smart TV (using the factory loaded Netflix app or the app on a Roku add-on). All of these access points work differently. The old Vizio app still numbers the titles (e.g. in the upper right corner when I scroll to a title it will show 1/319 and so on) and it is the only version I have that gives me a 14 day expiration notice. YouTube recently deleted its app from these old TVs; I don't think Netflix will do so because there is a Netflix button on the remote and it'll look awful if it's not connected to anything.
DeleteOn another subject, NF has just added to streaming Moon, a 2009 film starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. It is not promoting this title as "recently added", because of Spacey I suppose, and it may not be streaming for long. So, if you want to stream it, catch it quick.
that is strange that it doesn't list it as "New," but i wouldn't read so much into it. i'm not sure all of the recently added movies from a few years ago were promoted as New either. on a previous page on this site, i speculated that netflix would no longer so much as show spacey's face in poster art for house of cards, but they have. it's been years since i've seen this film, but isn't it just his voice?
Deleteanyway, they added it because their new film, mute, is loosely connected to this one. i would expect it to be available at a minimum of 3 months based on past trends for "Originals" connected to existing properties.
I don't think it's because of Spacey.
DeleteMost new releases on the streaming side don't even show up anymore. I have to check Instant Watcher every morning to see what's new and then search for them on Netflix and add them to My List.
In their recently added section they used to have each category (action, comedy, drama etc) and the latest titles but they got rid of that like they've gotten rid of everything else (total number of titles in My List, languages, their foreign titles by country, and now the expiration dates thanks to only being able to see the first 48 titles in My List the past couple of days).
I called customer service on the latter situation again this morning and he originally thought I wanted to know three years in advance when something was expiring. No idea why he thought that. I finally explained to him the 7 days notice you get (why do the customers so often have to school the support staff?) and he gave no indication as to when My List would be fixed.
Netflix added three originals I'm interested in today (thanks Instant Watcher for letting me know about The Outsider and the shows Collateral and AICO) and not one of them is listed in the new release section or homepage on Netflix which is ridiculous.
Customer service guy said he could see AICO on his homepage with the trailer running across the entire screen but I told him all I have on my screen is Jessica Jones as has been the case for days.
I want to thank everybody who answered my inquiry. I see that we all have some individual ways of coping the Netflix blatant disregard towards us as customers.
DeleteNext to the my list, I also have all movies bookmarked from instantwatcher web site. I think that this web site is more user friendly, with description of the movie and trailer. much easier to pick what am I going to watch. On the main my list is just what my hubby and i would watch together.
Hopefully, this mess will be cleared soon.
Carol, thanks for great job you are doing!
I keep a copy of My List in a Word doc and periodically check it against Netflix's website or one of my apps.
DeleteIt's a PITA, but if you have Netflix on an iPhone, you can click each TV show and it'll show you if it's expiring a month in advance and movies one week in advance, same as the website. Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown is far enough down my queue that I can't see it when I load it on Netflix's site, but it still shows the expiration date on my app. And then other devices can show you 14 days in advance. I don't check every day, but I have found that the bulk of shows and movies that I have on my list expire on the 1st, 7th, 15th, 21st, and 28th, so I try to check around those dates. That's honestly my workaround for this now, simply because I don't feel like dealing with Netflix customer service right now.
I started keeping a list for Netflix titles that I want to see if I should resubscribe for a month, perhaps May or June. Currently it is at five (so I can still keep track of it on my fingers ;). My FilmStruck list is currently at 228.
DeleteDay 4 and I still only see the first 48 titles in My List when in my preferred manual order. I guess they're never fixing it. But who needs to know when things are expiring soon, right? I still remember one customer service guy who laughably dared to declare that "nobody cares when things expire."
DeleteAbout the incomplete My List problem, just got off with customer service, they're supposedly diligently working to fix it. But he did point out that if you go to My Profile on the Account page, click on Order in My List, and switch from Manual Ordering to Netflix Suggests, you'll see all of your titles in the poster format. Which I'm sure none of us wants, mainly because it doesn't show expiration dates. But until the problem is solved it's all we've got.
ReplyDeleteI have been having this problem since 3/4; it started with the infinite red loop of not being able to bring up My List. When I called NF I actually got a supervisor how was checking the floor and he wasn't aware of any issues and had me go through a bunch of tests (he couldn't figure out why My List would show in all other formats (Roku on the Home Page of NF, etc.) but not in "my list". He finally asked around and was told, yes they were aware of it and working on it. It was a "node" problem. Now I see we can pull up a very abbreviated version of titles, which, as everyone has pointed out--hardly gives you any indication or lead time for expiring titles. I hope this is NF's idea of a fix. I created a SS from all my previously viewed titles (when NF changed to thumbs up/down rating), so I now can easily search titles to see if /when I last watched and rate as I want. It appears -- to protect my list -- I may need to do same, as others here have done!! Bottomline, it totally defeats any positive that provides an indication of expiring titles, with enough lead time to be able to view them. As people have said, it is truly amazing how carless NF is of the customer base.
ReplyDeleteSince the My List issue still isn't fixed & customer service can't give either an ETA or any useful way to see the whole list with the expirations included, I've finally just gone & done my own PITA workaround -- which only works if you have a copy of your My List saved outside of NF's website, and no more than 192 titles on that list (or 240, provided that 48 of them are things that can be put on a Kids profile).
ReplyDeleteNF allows you to set up as many as 4 different profiles (not counting the Kids profile). So I made 3 new profiles, and split the contents of my original My List between them so that each one has no more than 48 titles on it, and then put all of the profiles into manual sort mode.
DeleteThanks, Pox Voldius. Where there's a will, there's a way, right? I'm pretty sure that if you don't need a Kids profile, you can change that one to another regular profile. That's what I did.
DeleteAlso, even if you don't have a separate version of My List, you can get the first 100 titles by changing to the Netflix Suggests version of My List. And, if you're really dedicated to duplicating your My List, you can delete the 48 titles that now show, and that will bring up the next 48. Repeat until you get to the bottom of your list. Yes, this would mean that you would have to re-create your My List once the problem is fixed, so not a great solution unless you're desperate.
Carol actually Netflix Suggests shows all of your titles, not just the first 100, at least for me. Just checked my first list and it's showing all of my 461 titles.
DeleteI didn't think I had quite that many, turns out by "Netflix Suggests" they mean they throw in a lot of their Originals, which I never queue up. But aside from those I THINK they're all my titles...
Delete
DeleteThanks for setting things straight, will g; showing all the titles makes sense. Not sure where I came up with the 100 number, but glad I was wrong. Also, (everyone) best to ignore my suggestion about deleting titles from My List to bring up the missing ones. Not necessary since you can get all your titles from the Netflix Suggests list.
Actually, Carol, your suggestion does work. I deleted 4 titles from the woefully short My List (Manual) and 4 new ones appeared at the end. I think I am creating my own list, as others have done, before things completely disappear! And the NF Suggests List does throw a lot of their stuff in there--as there were several that I hadn't (and wouldn't) selected.
DeleteCarol, the homepage normally displays the posters for the first 100 titles on your MyList in a horizontal scroll. That's where the 100 number came from.
DeleteSwitching your Profile's "Order in My List" on the Account page to the "Netflix Suggests" setting will display your complete MyList as posters but the order will be scrambled. Then you can manually copy all the titles on your MyList by typing them into a word document or a spreadsheet file. When you are finished copying your list and saving your file, you can switch the "Order in My List" on the Account page back to the "Manual Ordering" setting and the titles will display as text again with Available Until dates in your original manual order, but you will only see the first 48 titles. Repeat this procedure for each of your other Profiles, if any.
Over several days, I switched one of my Profiles to the "Netflix Suggests" setting and each day the posters were scrambled more and more. But each day when I switched back to the "Manual Ordering" setting, the MyList titles were displayed as text again in my original manual order, which had never changed. So, I think it is safe for people to switch to the "Netflix Suggests" setting to be able to copy their complete MyList to a document file, and then switch back to the "Manual Ordering" setting to view the 48 titles with Available Until dates once again.
Netflix allows you to have up to five Profiles, each displaying only 48 titles now in "Manual Ordering". Click on "Manage Profiles" to add another Profile to your Account. Then you can divide up your MyList titles among the four extra Profiles, adding a group of no more than 48 titles to each different Profile. Change the "Order in My List" on the Account page when you are logged in to each Profile and select the "Manual Ordering" setting to see your MyList 48 titles as text with Available Until dates.
DeleteThanks for laying this out so clearly, LarryG, and also for reminding me why I got mixed up about the 100 titles.
I think this is about the best any of us can do if we want to be able to see as many titles as possible on our manual My Lists. This method allows one to see 240 titles (5 profiles with 48 titles each), so pick the 240 you care most about, and make those the ones that show. Move truncated titles to the top of the list by going to the info page for the title, removing from My List, and then re-adding. Of course, not everyone will want to go to this much trouble, and some of us undoubtedly have others in our households who use one or more of the profiles. But at least we know we have some options. Thanks to everyone who has shared ideas.
I have noticed that Amazon Prime (and to a lesser extent, Hulu) is picking up some titles that Netflix has let expire. I'd like to form a list that may allow you to catch titles that you didn't get to see before they left your queue. Most recently, Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene, Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory, Open Windows, and Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case have made their way to Prime.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I felt like here was the best thread to do this in order to keep things orderly and running as they should. In the next few days, I'm going through my queue and will list more titles.
i streamed it on netflix and liked it, but i noticed prime picked up The Last Unicorn as soon as it expired recently.
DeleteNF is becoming less useful. No wonder so many company's are doing promos giving it away for free. No real person who wants to watch any licensed content is going to want to pay for it.
DeleteMorning all. I just read through this page catching up on the latest NF disrespect of their customer base. My thoughts, based on NF's history with MyList, is the limit of 48 titles IS their fix. It's been over a week and there is no other excuse for such incompetence. As someone pointed out before, if you roll out a change that breaks something, you either quickly resolve the problem or rollback to something that works. NF will not do either. Their incompetence in the functionality of MyList is quite astounding and has a history that is documented on this very site. Let's face it, they could do a simple list that has everything we want like the dvd queue that has numbers, mouse over descriptions, move to, status, play button, etc., but NF Streaming is just too incompetent. There is simply no other excuse. You, as a user, will deal with it like you always have. They want 'flash' for new users so they can show growth. Long time customers with a long list? Eh, don't care. Other sites don't have this problem, dvd side doesn't have this problem. I'm actually surprised people still call customer service. They don't care. If you look at every 'fix' they've done, like refresh the entire page when you shift a title, they're moves of desperation. Seriously, they can only serve up a working list of 48 titles. Incompetence.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The fact that a week has gone by and they haven't fixed this very simple issue (just roll back the last "improvement") says it all. They have no intention of fixing it despite what the clueless customer support people assure anyone who calls in to complain. Watch as Netflix quietly deletes the Manual Order and everyone is forced into Netflix Suggests thus eliminating visible expiration dates and the ability to sort titles into alphabetical order.
DeleteEvery time I call them, I bring up the fact that every change they make to the site involves removing something (the total number of titles in My List, the movie's language listed in the details section, the ability to simply click on, for example, French movies etc) until it's eventually going to be black boxes on a black background with no cast or titles included. It sounds ridiculous but it's the natural progression with what they've done in the past.
Luke, I agree. Everything is moving toward pimping their content (Netflix Suggests) and what you're saying makes perfect sense. After all, if it gets down to just their content, who will need more than 48 slots?
DeleteIt particularly irks me because I only discovered within the past six months that I could sort My List alphabetically and I loved that because I'm a little OCD plus it makes it so much easier to find a title instead of what I'm stuck with now - having to scan through 320 boxes in Netflix Suggests before I find the one I'm looking for (plus don't forget that they often change what the box for a particular title looks like so you can't get used to what to look for).
DeleteThank God for Instant Watcher for letting me know each day's new releases (most of them don't appear for me in their "new and improved" recent additions section, and this site and UNOGS for letting me know when things are expiring. If not for those three third party websites, I wouldn't know what's coming or going on Netflix which is ridiculous.
Instant Watcher is great. It even lets me filter new tiles by maturity which means I have it not show R and MA rated shows and movies.
DeleteGod help me, I must be a masochist but I just got off the phone with them again, this time talking to a "supervisor," which I hadn't before. She ASSURED me that this is not a permanent change, it's a problem they're working to resolve. I even told her I didn't believe her, because why should a multi-billion-dollar tech company not be able to fix such a problem quickly, but she gave me her solemn word they're working on it. So at some point in the indeterminate future we MAY be getting our 500 titles in Manual Ordering back.
DeleteGood luck with that. I notice that mulit-billion dollar company's rarely listen to feedback yet they keep nagging you to leave some.
DeleteWill - I hope she was telling the truth because I really do like being able to sort My List alphabetically.
DeleteWhen I spoke with customer support (not a supervisor) the other day he told me that it wasn't as easy as simply rolling back the last "improvement" because the change had to work for everything you can access Netflix on - computers, TVs, phones etc - and each has its own quirks.
I think I've mentioned it on here before but I've been focusing mostly on watching all my non-Netflix movies and series (I currently have just 24 non-Netflix movies in my queue - the rest are Netflix movies) and so it's actually quite rare for me to have anything in My List expire now which is a relief. I made the decision to do that after the great Miramax purge in which I had seven days notice about over 40 titles leaving.
I've also been chipping away at the non-Netflix series in My List. Thankfully a good number of those are either British (thus short with typically six episodes per season) or Korean (thus typically just one season). It's the long multi-season American shows like Parks and Recreation that are going to take up most of my time to get through.
I've not been participating in this discussion because my old Vizio app still shows all of MyList, numbered, with a two-week expiration notice, and I can rate films using stars. So, I can ignore most of the Netflix programing "improvements." Except that I can't move titles up or down MyList on the Vizio app. I have to go to the online site to do that--the site that now shows only the top 48 titles.
DeleteToday, for the first time since the truncated list appeared, I have a number of expiring films way down on MyList that I want to move to the top. The way I found to do this is to delete each of these titles, then search for the title and click on the add to MyList box. The title gets added to the top of MyList. I then go to the truncated MyList and move these titles around to the order I want to watch them.
CanandaiguaNY, how do you know titles out of view on MyList are about to expire if you can't see the expiration notice? There's no way I can look at this site and remember all the titles on MyList that show up as expiring.
DeleteNetflix's disdain for their customer base is absolutely amazing. I mean, the arrogance is off the scale.
Lee K: I see my entire MyList on my Vizio app, with two-week expiration notices. I delete the expiring titles, writing them down so I won't forget them. I go to this blog to add the expiring titles. I then go to the Netflix site on my desktop Mac, getting the truncated MyList. I search for and add the titles I just deleted. They get added to the top of the list. I then move them around into the order I want, with the soonest to expire at the top.
DeleteCanandaiguaNY, I think I have the same Vizio app, so unless I'm mistaken you have to view each title in your list manually via left/right button and look for the expiration notice? That's the only way I know to do it on the Vizio app.
DeleteLee K: of course. I scroll left (or right) through MyList on the Vizio app, although I don't have to "look for" the expiration date, which is prominently displayed in a large box in lower right of the screen. Scrolling goes quickly. With 324 titles in MyList, there's no way they'd all be displayed on the screen at once. Scrolling will always be necessary.
DeleteMy point was you have to look at each title individually as opposed to MyList (web) where you can just page down and not wait for each title's info to show. I did this the other evening since it is the only way to see all my title's information and it really didn't take that long, but going to MyList took seconds to check. Managing a subscription service shouldn't be a PITA, but Netflix seems to go out of their way to make it so.
DeleteHow do I sort My List alphabetically? I see many people mentioning that option, but I can't find it. Thanks for the help!
ReplyDeleteOn the website, go to your account by hovering over the stupid smiley face in the upper right hand corner, click "account". In the bottom section, "My Profile" is "Order in My List". Options are, "Netflix Suggests" or "Manual Ordering". Under Manual Ordering, you manually put them in alphabetical order. Isn't Netflix great?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI think Anonymous was asking how you manually move them. You move titles by using the "Move to top" button you see on the right when you hover the mouse on a title.
DeleteActually, you access My List (in Manual Order) on a computer, click your mouse on the two columns of dots on the far right hand side of each title and keep holding your mouse button down while you drag it into position (up or down).
DeleteHad no idea that was there, thanks.
DeleteWill G - I was asking how to sort alphabetically, which Lee K answered, but I appreciate your response just the same. Silly me; I thought I was missing an existing "Order in My List" option to automatically sort alphabetically.
DeleteLee K - Thanks for snapping me back into reality and confirming that the only way to sort alphabetically is manually, because apparently an automatic alphabetic sort is too difficult to program. **eye roll** Then again, probably it is, given that fixing the My List truncation issue seems to be an overwhelming challenge. **double eye roll**
lol, no problem. Remember, the truncation of MyList isn't a bug, it's a feature. I seriously hope no one is waiting on NF to fix it, again..
DeleteHow do you copy your Netflix list somewhere else?
ReplyDeleteSince you can't copy and paste, I don't see any option but typing them out.
Deletescreenshots. print to PDF. if one follows my above advice about IMDb lists, IMDb suggests the title without one having to type it all out. that seems less tedious to me than transcribing it all to a document.
DeleteTravis - For IMDB list, we would have to enter each title manually for IMDB to suggest a title; correct? In other words, no way exists to import from Netflix, or spreadsheet, or Word document, or any other source -- is that right?
Deleteno, i wish there was a way to merge netflix and imdb. i've commented before about using a greasemonkey script to save my netflix ratings and slowly adding them to imdb by manually voting (it's a different scale anyway). it would've been cool to add those automatically.
Deleteif you are creating a list on imdb, on the page for your list, there is a search bar, and if you start typing the name of the movie or show it will immediately suggest matching titles to you. that saves you some time of typing the full name and makes sure to save the year, so you know it's not something else by the same title. if you just typed a name in another document, it may be one shared by other movies or shows. if you do already have another document, you might save some time by copying and pasting instead of retyping, but it's still manual.
you can export from imdb to spreadsheet.
I just noticed that the reason they haven't had time to fix the 48 titles issue in Manual Order over the past two weeks is because they've been focusing instead on changing the font on the website. #priorities
ReplyDeletehttps://www.engadget.com/2018/03/21/netflix-opens-public-bug-bounty-program/ (there's also a related article about the new "netflix sans")
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHow to copy your My List without having to type each title
There is a Google Chrome extension called LinkClump that allows you to put a "box" around all the titles on your manual My List page, and then paste them into another document (it also pastes their urls - this is what I use to create links on the home-page list). I'm sorry I don't have time to give you a step-by-step, but if you do a search for linkclump, all kinds of help will come up.
Hopefully, LinkClump is still free. Also, if you use another browser, it looks like there are similar extensions for some of them.
Note: LinkClump can only grab what you can see, i.e., maximum 48 titles with the current truncation issue.
None of the movies that are supposed to be expiring in April are showing up on My List with expiration dates. I am keeping track of them from other devices and moving them to the top of My List but there are still no expiration dates showing up on My List which I check from a desktop computer. Is anyone else having this problem?
ReplyDeleteclick on and read the FAQ page linked above. additionally, next time you are on another device, see what it says about the expiration date. you may see that extra few days window.
DeleteI just read an article from a Netflix HR. It describes their hiring practices. They said that the best way to get a job was to show excitement and an ability to solve one of their current problems. Even if they were a bad coder they would hire them if they thought they could help with the problem. Explains a lot about why things keep getting screwed up if that was their hiring practice.
ReplyDeleteWhy are Netflix original films so bad?
ReplyDeleteI can think of two reasons.
Delete1 Most films are pretty bad. Good films are rare. Independently produced movies that are awful just disappear. Studios also produce bad films; they lose money on them, and write them off as bad investments. But Netflix has nothing to lose (except its reputation for quality, which it doesn't seem to care much about) by putting its originals, however bad they are, up for streaming.
2. Producing good films is a rare talent (Harvey Weinstein?) and Netflix hasn't hired anyone with this skill. Netflix is run by people who are focused on increasing subscriber numbers by churning out new content, in order to keep the stock price up.
3. H.L. Mencken: “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
DeleteI remember when Netflix said they were culling their catalogue so they could become a “curated” site. With their announcement that they plan to release 700 titles in 2018, that plan has cratered (although my guess is that about 1/2 of their “original” series are really series imported from other countries, where they were first broadcast on TV). I used to think that it was sour grapes on the part of the folks at F/X to dump on Netflix for coming out with so many series, claiming it diluted “peak TV”. However, it is clear that Netflix has a serious quality control problem. Their most recent original series (as opposed to what I refer to as Netflix exclusives—shows that make their way from other countries after being broadcast there) are mostly hit or miss, with substantially more misses than hits. And I haven’t seen a recent Netflix original film recently that hasn’t been panned. You know things are reallyso ba when those Adam Sandler made-for-Netflix movies start to look good.
DeleteI can see Netflix coming out with 700 originals this year. I know they're supposed to be releasing 30 Netflix original anime series this year (which have gotten very good reviews such as Devilman Crybaby) and so far they're on track to hit 30 by the end of the year.
DeleteI usually enjoy their series but their movies (including the God awful Death Note adaptation) are hit and miss however.
Well, I thought I'd give a go at pushing Netflix to provide more information on the 'My List' truncation problem. The agent I chatted with directed me to a section on their help site that essentially says if you want to see all the titles in your 'My List' you need to switch from manual ordering to netflix suggests. This seems to be the clearest indication yet that Netflix does not intend to fix the truncation problem. I'll try to attach a copy of a screen print of the section. But, if I'm unsuccessful at that, you can see the notice your self by going to Netflix help, searching on 'My List', selecting 'How does the My List section of Netflix work?', then selecting 'I don't see all the titles on My List. What's going on?' Extremely disappointing to say the least.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was unable to get the screen capture attached...but you can look in Netflix help and see the info yourself.
Deletethis is bull if they are not going to fix it then they should at least add a next page feature so I can get to and see my whole list.
Deletei did ask the supervisor i spoke to this week that i referenced in the march expirations page if this was all a ploy either to see if enough people care about this to call in or to get people to abandon the manual order, and he was adamant that it wasn't and netflix was still working on this problem, but i also think he wasn't paying complete attention to me (he recommended manual order, and when i immediately said he must mean netflix suggests, he told me *if* he said manual order then he meant suggests) and wasn't above making up an answer like the usual first line employees do (see my extended comment on Being Mary Jane on the march page). the netflix chat employee may have been guessing, but it's also possible if not probable they finally told the truth, maybe because what you get by chat is different from what we get when we call. the help page indeed doesn't bode well. i did a quick search and can't find proof that this wasn't recently added.
Delete* * * * * *
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/10523
I don't see all of the titles on My List. What's going on?
If you are traveling:
While My List is a globally supported feature, My List will only display TV shows and movies that are available in the region you're currently located in. Everything you add to My List is saved, so when you return home or when the title becomes available in your current region, you will see it in your My List again.
If you are not traveling, and you are in the US:
If titles are missing from your My List, it may be caused by the US-only manual ordering feature. Follow the steps below to turn off manual ordering.
Go to your Account page.
From the My Profile section, select Order in My List.
Select Netflix Suggests.
Select Save.
Navigate back to your My List page and try to find your titles again.
It's a shame they split the DVD and streaming sides because, on the DVD side, you also got to access your streaming queue on a different tab and it was set out just like the DVD queue. Very easy to sort in whatever order you wanted plus you see any expiration dates.
DeleteAnyway, thanks to focusing on watching all the non-Netflix movies in My List, I've now watched them all and am working my way through the non-Netflix series. Whenever I add a non-Netflix movie to My List from this point on, I'm going to be sure to watch it as soon as possible. That way, expiration dates should be few and far between for me.
It really annoys me that they've ditched the Manual Order list when I only discovered a few months back that I could sort My List alphabetically which I really came to appreciate.
Ugh, that makes me so angry that they don't intend to fix this. I hate the Netflix Suggests view. I hate that my titles change order in it each time it loads, and I hate that it doesn't put the titles that I'm currently watching at the top (at least, this was true the last time I used it years ago). Since I have 100+ non-Netflix TV shows in my list, I'm going to focus on watching those first along with expiring movies.
DeleteNot only does Netflix Suggests change the order of the titles which makes it hard to find a particular one you're looking for, the site also regularly changes (sometimes more than once a day) what the title boxes look like so you can't even use a visual to help you spot the title when scanning through My List.
ReplyDeleteI only access Netflix on a desktop computer so I have a question for those who access it on a TV. Is it true that you only see a certain number of titles in My List on the TV? Because I'm wondering if 48 titles is what you'd normally see if you accessed it on your TV. When I called customer support I was told that it wouldn't be as easy as simply rolling back the latest change. They have to make it work for every device that you can access Netflix on - computers, TVs, phones etc. If a TV only shows 48 titles, they might figure more people access their site on TVs than on computers and thus they probably think seeing only 48 titles is enough?
Nica - Considering there was a BBC purge in the past (before they returned) and the Fox purge which is still going on, it's probably a good idea to go through your non-Netflix series and make a list of which channel each one is owned by so, if you have a lot that are BBC for example, you can get a head start on those in case there's another BBC purge in the future. You don't want 20+ series from one channel leaving in a month.
My ultimate goal is to only have Netflix movies and series in My List plus a handful of non-Netflix series that I'm just waiting for the next season to show up like, say, Wentworth and The Walking Dead, and a few non-Netflix movies that can easily be watched within the first month they appear. That way I'll have very few expiration dates to look out for in future.
I really do think that's the best thing to do seeing as Netflix is making it harder and harder to see expiration dates. Make is so you have as few potential expiration dates as possible.
I can see the entirety of My List on my Amazon Fire Stick app and my phone app.
DeleteI made a list showing the networks the TV shows belong to over a year ago due to one of the various purges.
i can see the entire My List on my ps3 app.
Deletemy My List was organized to some degree by those boxes. titles were ordered primarily by availability (for what i've not seen before: not on dvd followed by on dvd but no extras listed followed by on dvd but extras listed), then subordered by genre and/or shared director/stars, and then mostly chronologically. i then positioned each title so that there was a smooth visual flow from cover to cover, like a color gradient or complementary graphics, sometimes funny juxtapositions with the head on the left looking at the head on the right or some such. that worked for years because the box art didn't change. as you say, they are now rotated all the time, so that positioning is a lost art. even if a viewer wasn't particular about arranging according to graphics, those constantly changing makes it harder to remember and keep track. netflix is all about instant gratification so they don't care about that. customers who've had the same titles on their My List for years such as myself aren't valued even though we're the ones paying them hundreds of dollars over the course of our membership. i wasn't too broken up about no longer being able to play my game with the poster art, but i am annoyed that my neatly organized list has been quietly chucked out. it's as discourteous as the secret removals on the dvd side. this company just isn't honest and doesn't care about its core customers.
i can understand not wanting to maintain two different styles of My List. i changed it to suggests today just to make sure it doesn't list the expiration dates (it doesn't, and one of its supposed features of ordering expiring titles up front didn't put Sonic or Parts Unknown there). without order, it's chaos. however, i didn't see any of their originals in there that i hadn't added myself. unfortunately, because most of them are not on dvd, my top 48 consist primarily of those, which is pretty useless because those aren't the ones i need to keep tabs on. i wish i could say that if they only want to program one My List, do manual, but it doesn't seem the truncation bothers many people outside of this blog. netflix told me in the past that people don't really even use My List, at least not like i do. they find something they like and watch it, not save it for later. let's face it, the suggests My List is splashier, which is what netflix is all about, flash and not substance. i hope they really are working on a repair, as unlikely as it seems, but they don't seem to have much incentive.
my My List is going to remain fossilized in manual order as long as that's an option because i can access it on my ps3. i have a few titles at the end of it i've added since the truncation, and without being able to order my entire list, i guess i'll just keep them at the end. they add to the beginning when done through a browser, so i've been removing and adding them back in the ps3 to get them to the end. not much will get added that would go in the first 48 based on how i set it up.
i wonder what these companies are so afraid of when it comes to showing expiration dates. amazon prime recently changed its generous by comparison (although remember when netflix customer service used to claim movies had 30 days shown for advance notice?) 28 days for expiring movies to 14 days, after briefly hiding expiration dates altogether earlier this year. i think by now we all know that streaming rights don't last forever, so we can handle seeing the expiration dates, knowing more content will be added that we will probably like.
I see my whole My List with my Roku 3. However, with my Roku, the only way I can see the expiration dates is to select each one individually, which isn't practical with over 180 titles in my list. And because Netflix thinks that just because I select a title, I intend to watch it at that point in time, it automatically starts playing, which is terribly annoying. Plus, I have no ability to change the order of the titles in my list. Bottom line is that it is indeed harder and harder to see expiration dates and it is impossible to manage the order of My List unless you have fewer than 48 titles.
DeleteFor me, the only place My List is truncated to 48 titles is on the Netlfix website accessed from PC desktop or laptop. I can see all ~250 My List titles on my Samsung TV, Blu-ray player, Apple TV, IOS phone and tablet (using either the app or website), and even using the app on a PC. HOWEVER, in all of those cases, titles are in movie poster box format with no way to reorder them or see expiration dates easily. To see expiration dates requires looking at titles one by one. Doing this, as Bill mentions, causes each title to begin playing automatically, which not only slows down the process but (I agree) is terribly annoying.
DeleteThanks for the replies, everyone. I was told by someone who accesses Netflix on their TV that not every movie on the site showed up on their TV when skimming through the genre selections so I assumed My List might have been truncated as well which could have explained why Netflix wasn't in a hurry to fix the issue. There goes that idea.
Deletenetflix has rows of genre selections, and i'm not sure how they curate these, but it would be impossible to feature every available title on a tv or otherwise. the selections that are featured seem repetitive, and i sometimes wonder why other titles aren't featured. every once in a while i discover something i want to see is available to stream by doing routine searches on the dvd site. netflix dropping the ball in what they advertise (after paying to acquire) is also why many readers enjoy this blog, learning about titles they didn't even know were available (or even existed), even if it is just before they expire.
DeleteI have totally given up on the My List function. When I see a title expiring on this blog, I just move it to the top of my queue. Life is too short.
DeleteI've been looking around for comments like these. They really aren't going to fix it? Years ago, Netflix used to suggest which users you had similar taste to. You would actually be directed to look at their rated titles and encouraged to read and write essays and reviews. Then they switched to an algorithm and I stopped getting suggestions at all. I stopped subscribing for several years but when I started again, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the algorithm had gotten. I didn't like seeing the same title suggested over and over, even after I'd watched it, but anything suggested at 4 stars and above was worth watching. I sorted everything, 4 star suggestion and above, by genre and Netflix / all other production companies.
ReplyDeleteThey took away the ability to rate things, they made it harder to sort, the suggestions became a complete joke but at least I could still see expiration dates.
Now I can't even do that. Without MyList I spend more time looking for something to watch than actually watching. Unless it's a show that I'm currently in the middle of, it's gotten much harder to find things.
I think that Netflix wants to boost their stock by showing that people are watching what they're investing in and to do that they are taking away our ability to customize and are instead engineering a site meant to market to us. Most people are probably fine with it. If you only like one or two genres, it probably works. If you only watch action movies, then you'll see a bunch of action movies, you'll just see the ones, which costs Netflix the most, more prevalently.
When they first tried to explain the switch from star rating to thumbs and percentages; they pretty much said that Netflix used to guess how much somebody would like something, based on their ratings, but people were trying to impress Netflix, with their ratings, instead of being honest. The percentage isn't supposed to represent how much you will enjoy something, it's supposed to represent how likely you are to watch it.
Of course, what they left out is that, this concept is idiotic. The higher the percentage that they put on a title and the more frequently the title appears, the more likely the average person is to watch it. It's the self fulfilling prophecy algorithm. Honestly, when you consider the social engineering that goes into some of their products, it gets a bit creepy.
Same Anon
DeleteI forgot about mouse over. I complained to tech support about mouse over descriptions going away when they wrecked the ratings / suggestions system.
If Disney buys Fox and wrecks hulu, what's left? Mostly old stuff, mixed in with things you can buy, on Amazon Prime?
I've noticed people are using the thumbs up and thumbs down function incorrectly.
DeleteThe first time you thumb up or thumb down a title, a pop up explains what they really mean. A thumbs up means you liked it and a thumbs down means "not for me" (and theoretically won't suggest those kinds of movies to you again).
So, for example, if you have no interest in Bollywood movies, you could thumbs down all the Bollywood movies and then you shouldn't have them suggested to you anymore. Or at least it gives them all a low percentage rating when you stumble upon any of them in future.
They seem to think the thumbs down actually just means they didn't like it which would mean they'd have to have watched it first. But it actually means "not for me" which covers you not liking it OR it not being something you'd be interested in. Either one.
And, yes, I read somewhere that Adam Sandler movies are the most popular on Netflix but some people want to make themselves come off as intellectuals (as if anyone else can see their ratings) and give high ratings to the likes of Schindler's List but spend most of their time watching Adam Sandler movies or cheesy rom coms which explains why the percentage ratings they see don't jibe with their actual day to day tastes.
In regard to Amazon Prime, I also have that but don't often watch anything on it as a few times I've watched something only to discover scenes with sex or nudity have been cut which can have a somewhat jarring effect on the plot and character development when those scenes are missing.
What also annoys me about Amazon Prime is that you have to hover your mouse over each title in your queue in order to check for an expiration date and even websites devoted to expiration dates on Amazon Prime list things that have "expired without notice" which I think is a lousy way to run a business.
This is the first I've heard of Amazon Prime censoring nudity. If you Google it all that comes up is censorship in India, along with some extreme horror titles being taken off Prime.
DeleteThe most recent movie that I noticed was censored on Amazon Prime was the Isabelle Huppert film School of Flesh. The sex scenes between her and Vincent Martinez were cut. There are photos of such scenes online and they're not even graphic. Just nudity basically. But for some reason they were cut.
DeleteI've noticed it in other movies as well which is why I don't watch much on there. It's not necessarily the sex and nudity being cut that bothers me. It's the fact that some of the movies are being butchered and rendered not the way the filmmakers made them. It's disrespectful. Same reason I don't watch a lot of movies on those channels on TV that clean up the movies (including dubbing out the coarse language). If you've ever watched Goodfellas or Casino on those channels with the dialogue changed, it just sounds ridiculous and throws me out of the movie.
I'd love to know if it's Amazon Prime that censors the movies or the filmmakers though I can't imagine the makers of a 20 something year old movie would bother to censor it all these years later.
i think it's a combination of both and somewhere in between. after will g's comment, i read about the horror movies. those probably aren't the kind of horror movies i'd watch, but it was interesting that amazon imposed a morality standard after already acquiring them for viewing on prime. from the news stories, it's evident movies are already being produced with cuts (censorship) in mind specifically for amazon prime. i don't think amazon literally does any of the cutting itself.
Deleteboth amazon prime and netflix sometimes get subpar versions of movies. ava duvernay's middle of nowhere, when added to netflix streaming, was a censored version from a network broadcast master, with fadeouts for commercial breaks intact. i know i've started streaming movies on both services only to stop as soon as i saw it was cropped 4:3 (usually SD) when it was made and still exists in widescreen, sometimes released on blu-ray. in these cases the distributors gave them an old master for some reason, and they often look like something from a well-worn videocassette from the '80s. there are distributors who clean up older releases to look quite good, even when the studios that produced and own the films don't bother, and sometimes tv networks license the masters for broadcast from these video labels that perform restorations, but netflix and amazon don't always follow that example. maybe they are licensing so much content they have very little in the way of quality control other than customers who don't really get listened to anyway. just like i long ago stopped watching censored movies on tv, i have little patience for cropped movies in 2018 when they are in the marketplace in widescreen. i also try to know what a movie is rated. sometimes it's worth holding out for an unrated or other version. amazon prime may have the version that was released here theatrically that has those cuts made.
Same Anon from the 25th
DeleteI read that Life Aquatic... was expiring, so I looked it up. On the computer, it had 0 indication that it was expiring. I hovered, expanded, read details and reviews, started it, paused it until the screensaver, nothing. Then I added it to My List, it went to the top, with the expiration date showing. Then I watched it through an app and it showed at the bottom left like usual.
I still believe that they ultimately want to "curate" (manipulate) peoples viewing habits, but it's possible that the team in charge of the website, is really just this bad.
I think that most of us accept the inevitable, if cable subscriptions continue to decline, we'll end up with a bunch of separate streaming services. A bunch of networks already have a premium streaming option. Netflix will have to be mostly original content, by necessity.
There's probably going to be a lot of testing going on, until everyone figures out what the market will bear.
@Travis, I always figured that was just a case of the edited version being cheaper or some movies (especially older ones) having multiple cuts with multiple license holders. There's also companies that "buy" the distribution rights to things during a license laps, or release an altered version of an unprotected film and copyright their version.
oh, they totally manipulate viewing habits. they probably wouldn't even deny that. we've been discussing that here for years. you're right that this and their ineptitude aren't mutually exclusive. it's definitely both going on.
Deleteas for expiration dates on the web site, it's been so long since i've looked for one outside of My List that i can't remember if it still shows that under details (last tab) or around when they removed that. ideally they would give more notice, but they've been going in the opposite direction since they stopped sharing data with themselves (streaming dates on their dvd site and before that the revocation of public API access). that's why we have to watch like hawks and why the manual My List problem has been such a big deal to us. it would be nice just to netflix and chill, but they won't let us.
yeah, amazon prime has a lot of duplicate videos of public domain films, usually in poor quality because they either haven't been restored or the restored versions are more expensive or not available. sometimes they are different lengths so you have to check whether there are dropouts or the ending is cut off (really). i also should have been more precise earlier, the domestic theatrical version may be the one playing, but it could be an international version that is also edited and for some reason the one being distributed here because the distributor doesn't care enough to get a superior version befitting the circumstance. there doesn't seem to be much oversight, and it's easy money for some of these distributors licensing mass content regardless of quality.
I don't think the untruncated My List is coming back. I don't think Netflix cares. I noticed when I recently got a Roku (or even on the home page of the computer website) that the only way to get to My List is to scroll down to the "category" called My List. It used to be like the fourth or fifth category down, every time, but now every time I want to go to My List I have to scroll down past thirty other categories to get to it. I think they are realizing that people don't really care about My List as long as they have the Continue Watching category. I think that's their solution to the My List problem, replace it with Continue Watching. You'll notice it is always the very first category listed on your home page, every time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think we should just brace ourselves for the fact that Netflix's ultimate goal is (in all likelihood) to be an entirely original content based subscription service. This article: https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/16/16486436/netflix-original-content-8-billion-dollars-anime-films, does a great job explaining why Netflix wants to be 50% original by the end of this year, and it makes sense when you think about all the other companies out their trying to pull their content because they want to create their own streaming content service. Essentially, the article posits that Netflix is scared of what will happen when all the other companies take all their content back and what will happen to Netflix when that happens. If they lose the bulk of their content, they're screwed. So instead, they're focusing on creating their own content that they then OWN full out, and no one can take that away from them. It makes sense from a business model standpoint, but I have to say, it really sucks for everyone in the middle of the great "non-Netflix-series" purge. (Aka, us.)
DeleteHi Sammy H., regarding having to scroll down a bunch of rows to find My List: I have a Sony Smart TV; having to scroll down to find My List used to frustrate me, too, but then I discovered I could scroll UP, past the row that has the various options (profiles, search, etc.), past the row of various categories, then, Boom!, My List. Maybe Roku doesn't work the same way, but thought I'd mention it.
I just called customer service myself and spoke to a supervisor (name was Zack) who promised me - PROMISED ME - they were working to fix this 'My List' issue, and that they knew it was important to their customers. He couldn't give me a timeline, which was understandable, but he assured me they all wanted it fixed and that they do indeed care about their customers.
DeleteI don't like the push for netflix original content only as most of it is not very good besides the toys that made us. I like the non original content better. it always seems like the movies that I put off watching are the movies that expires. I always try to avoid watching long movies due to time but they are usually the ones that expires. I think netflix is really trying to push the original content and tries to hide the fact that they have movies expiring. we need voice our opinions to netflix about the original content or else they keep shoving more and more of it on us.
DeleteMe too I hate the push to original content. NF has so much little licensed content actually in English not that dubbed foreign subtitle garbage I only watch it a couple of times a week.
DeleteI now watch Amazon Prime and Hulu as much as I did during the old NF days.
@Carol - Thanks for that! I hadn't noticed it was the very last category and that you could scroll up past the "options" menu! That makes my life so much easier!
Delete@seth mishne - I agree, I do think that is what's happening with Netflix originals, they are pushing them on us to distract us from the non-Netflix stuff. Have you noticed that the top categories in your "suggestions" usually contain a majority of Netflix original shows? Scroll down the the first couple categories they suggest for you and look for the lack of a Netflix logo in the corner. They're few and far between, right? Because Netflix is all about pushing their own brand right now. That's why when one of their series hits it big, they are all over it. When's the last time you went a week without hearing something about Stranger Things (even if you don't watch it)?
@sammy h it seems all of non original content expires really quickly before i have a chance to watch it. I never have time to watch netflix content as i am so busy trying to watch non original content before it expires. I have tried to get into some netflix content but i feel like most of it is not worth my time. I think they need to reach better agreements with the studios so that they can keep the original content here longer. it is so hard to know what to watch as I am worried that the thing that I decide not to watch will expire the next month. I don't think netflix cares about us at all they only care about money and the original content brings them in a lot of money especially stranger things. they focus on listening to what the customers want and stop focusing on original content and focus more on getting better non original content.
DeleteI don't think they really care how good their original content is so long as it's making money. The article talks about how they're really pushing original anime content hard. Even though anime never wins awards and is hardly ever critically acclaimed, they don't care because they make money off all the stoners watching it. (The article didn't say anything about stoners, I just assumed.)
Deletethey are not trying as hard because their original content makes a lot of money. I remember when I first signed up for netflix in 2014 they had a lot of great non original content. now it is all original content. I think when the starz and epix deals went away they had to make original content to replace what has left. I think it is cheaper for them to just have original content so they focus on that instead of getting licensed content.
DeleteSammy H said: "Even though anime never wins awards and is hardly ever critically acclaimed, they don't care because they make money off all the stoners watching it."
DeleteI wasn't going to bother responding to this when I first saw it two days ago but it still burns me this morning so I feel compelled. Everything in that sentence is so completely wrong, I wouldn't even know where to start. Maybe start with googling the record-breaking film Your Name or the works of Hayao Miyazaki (Japan's answer to Walt Disney) or the Japan Academy Prize (Japan's version of the Oscars). I think we're all here on this site because of our love of movies and TV and so can we please respect each others' tastes and not have a sneering, dismissive tone to our comments, calling people drug addicts for enjoying a particular genre? I feel like I'm on a political website where "the other" is so casually dehumanized. There are genres of film and TV I don't like but I don't pretend I'm better than those who do. I just think "eh, not for me" and move on with my life. #notastoner
DeleteLuke, I'm glad you spoke up. Sammy H. - I think your disgust at Netflix's "business decisions," and personal dislike for anime got the best of you. And perhaps you've known a couple of people you weren't crazy about who enjoyed watching anime while stoned, and that crept into your comment, as well. I hope you'll reconsider. I don't think you intended to offend anyone.
For the record, anime, like all other genres, can be incredible, so-so, or junk. Its fans, like its non fans, can be highly respectable, intelligent, well-educated, and always clean and sober, or not.
And now, I'd like to say a word on behalf of so-called "stoners." I know some truly lovely people who have helped me a lot who would fit into that category. We're all just tryin' to do the best we can on this crazy planet. Let's find common ground, and try to make things better, and a little less crazy. That's what this site is about.
Netflix going all-original makes sense for them business-wise.
ReplyDeleteTheir originals will always be on the site which is why I've suggested otherwise follow my lead and watch all the non Netflix stuff first while they're still available. I've been doing that since Christmas and now have no non-Netflix movies in My List left and have made a good dent in my non-Netflix series.
My end goal is to have only Netflix originals in My List plus a scattering of current no-Netflix series where I'm up to date and just waiting for the next season to be uploaded, and a few newly added non-Netflix movies that I can easily watch before the end of the month they arrive. That way I'll never have to worry about expiration dates again and won't have to spend as much time managing My List, my DVD queue, and my Amazon Prime queue.
Speaking of Amazon Prime, I really need to watch some of the foreign movies I have on there as the site has a tendency to remove them without warning and that site is the only place I can watch them after Netflix purged about 50 foreign titles that I had in my Saved queue.
Agree. 100%. If Netflix wants to stick around long term, this is what they're going to have to do. Even if it means completely alienating their original customer base and getting an entirely new customer base. They don't care as long as they succeed in not going out of business. I can't even really feel angry at them for it, I don't want them to go out of business. I just wish they made more content that I would watch, you know? Right now it's pretty much exclusively the Marvel Netflix series and Stranger Things. (Used to be Sense8, but now they've cancelled that! Argh!) And really, that's not enough to keep me as a subscriber. I know right now I will probably stop subscribing to Netflix (barring a lot of excellent new content launches) at some point in the future, it's just a matter of when.
DeleteI can't believe they haven't fixed this yet
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteTerry Apodaca March 28, 2018 at 9:12 PM
Just a quick couple of questions, I am sure most of you know this but I do not...
Why do so many movies expire? Especially so many good ones like Pursuit of Happiness and Shawshank Redemption...I am sure these movies get watched on a daily basis all over the country and well worth it for Netflix to keep them.
I know, some of these titles have ran out their contract with Netflix and they couldn't come to terms on renewing them...but that really sucks bad. When they leave, where to they go?
Hi Terry, sorry I didn't answer your questions last night, but I was ready for bed, and needed to wait until today.
DeleteI don't know that there is any satisfying explanation for why Netflix makes the choices it does, but you can bet it's rooted in the bottom line. Why do so many movies expire? One answer is: To make room for new content. If nothing ever expired, the NF catalog would be in the hundreds of thousands. Not only would that cost them a fortune, I really wouldn't want to browse through the categories - it's tedious enough now.
One way NF compensates for expiring movies that are popular is to rotate them in and out. I think this is the third time The Pursuit of Happyness has expired in the last couple of years. The upside is that if we're not able to watch something before it expires, there's hope that it will return. The downside is that we can't know for sure if a title will be back, so the angst of missing something before it expires is still there.
As far as the reasoning that lots of people watch popular movies every day, so it would pay NF to keep them, remember that NF doesn't get paid on a "per watch" basis. They get their $10.99 a month per customer regardless of whether everybody's watching 10 shows a day, or nobody's watching anything. As long as there's enough "good stuff" to keep people subscribed, NF is making money. Well-known movies like The Shawshank Redemption cost NF more than trite, derivative, TV movies, so NF needs to balance the popularity of a particular title with keeping a constant influx of other popular films. Then, of course, there's also the issue of all the money NF is spending on original content, which, obviously, leaves less for obtaining and keeping the great movies we all want to have available.
Your question "where do they go?" when titles leave is one we often try to answer. On our page for the FOX/FX titles that have left/are leaving, we have identified many that either are on Hulu or will be going there. Back when Doctor Who left NF, there was much discussion as to where we would be able to find it. Of course, some titles fall into oblivion, but for most of those, it's justly so. Titles worth watching usually find their way to another streaming service, e.g., Doctor Who went to Amazon Prime. Many other services allow you to see their titles, so you can check around for what you want to see. We have the beginning of a list of these services on our Streaming Services Guide at: http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/resources-other-streaming-services.html
If I had 100 hours a day and was going to live forever, I'd start a website where you could type in the title of a movie, series, or show, and it would tell you where you could stream it. Other options are subscribing to NF's DVD service, pay-per-view at amazon.com, your local video store (if you still have one), or, my favorite, the library.
Hope this helps a little. Rest assured, you are not alone in your frustration about so many good titles leaving NF. I'm still mourning the loss of all the Silents they used to have.
Hey, just a note. I use this site to find out where things are streaming -
Deletehttps://www.justwatch.com/us
I find it to be extremely accurate and really helpful. It also includes a lot of streaming sites outside of the main few, such as Shudder, Mubi, Filmstruck, etc. Plus it tells you where you can stream for free, rent, or purchase on sites. I've found it to be pretty useful in keeping track of where things go or where I can find them if I need to. :)
Bethany
DeleteGreat note, Bethany - thanks! I'll definitely use JustWatch.
I am about a week late in responding, but I know of one annoying, time consuming way that you could create a cut and paste list from Netflix:
ReplyDelete- Fast forward 2 or more minutes into every title in your list
- Click on 'Account'
- Click on 'Viewing Activity'
- left click mouse at upper left and drag it down to the bottom of the titles
- Ctrl C (to copy)
- Ctrl V (to paste) to Excel, Word...
If you use Excel, or something similar, you can then sort it as you wish.
Of course when you want to watch something you will then have to select 'play from beginning'.
DeleteThanks, Eric. This is an ingenious, out-of-the-box idea, although, as you say, a bit painstaking. But it would allow one to watch a couple minutes of everything on their list - using the Netflix Suggests version of My List, so they could see all their titles without having to delete any - then go in and copy-paste them all to a document. Perfect for those who would rather watch than type.
I don't understand Eric's first step (fast forward...). I can't click on Account when I'm viewing a film. I just started with the second step. I pasted the copy into my word processing program using the "unformated" option. Then I used the sort option (in the Tools menu) to sort the entire file alphabetically. A lot of junk needed to be deleted, of course. I did the same thing for the DVD side, by clicking on the History tab at the top of my Queue. Once I had the lists sorted, I cpied one to the top of the file with the other sorted list, and then realphabetized the whole. Then I highlighted the entire list and used the numbering function. I now have an alphabetical, numbered list of all 3,500 films and series I've watched on Netflix, both streaming and DVD. It took me about 3 hours, including the time to delete all of the individual series episodes.
DeleteCanandaiguaNY - Based on what you have written you now have a list of all that you have "watched" on NF. But, not the list of titles sitting in your "My List", which as everyone has noted, now only contains about 48 titles.
DeleteMy interpretation of Eric's process:
1. Go to your list on whatever you watch NF on. Select a movie, start the movie, and fast forward for 2 or more minutes.
2. This is my caveat: I would only do about 15, possibly 20 movies at a time, as when you go to Viewing Activity (under Account) NF only brings up a certain number of titles. You would have to continuously scroll to bring all the titles up -- as you most likely figured out as you transferred your "watched" list. It took me about that long when I did it.
3. Back to Eric's for "My List" transfer: after you have selected, started and fast forwarded through 2 or more minutes of say 15 movies, then follow the rest of Eric's direction. With this you should be able to create your own "My List" list.
When I have time, I am going to try this.
just a reminder, if you want a list of what you've already streamed or rented by mail and have been rating, you can get all of your ratings saved in a few minutes with netflix ratings extractor. it has nothing to do with saving your My List, but it's a lot easier and copies and pastes cleaner than the process CanandaiguaNY described for backing up history, assuming you do rate everything. it will also have anything you've rated (stars only) but not seen through netflix.
Deleteup until about 4/1/17, that is, since it uses http://www.netflix.com/MoviesYouveSeen
DeleteTravis - spiffy. This was so much easier (as you said) and it's in an easily transportable form, so now I can import into my spreadsheet! 0:) Thank you.
DeleteI noticed on my phone app (and I think my Fire Stick app) that Netflix now shows the rating in the corner for TV shows when you first start playing them. I'm not sure if it also does this for movies, since I haven't watched any lately. This seems to take the place of when and where the expiration date would show if you played a show or season that was expiring. I'm guessing this means that we now have no way of knowing if only certain seasons of a show will expire now. Thanks, Netflix!
ReplyDelete
DeleteHi Nica, I just took a quick look at episodes of Brickleberry (on my computer) and Kevin from Work (on my smart TV). The availability notices were still there, so it doesn't look like they've done away with it. I didn't see any ratings info, but I don't do the ratings thing, so that might be why. I think they might put one after the other. Try it on something we know is expiring.
i think she means maturity rating. if i recall correctly from early this month, Garfunkel And Oates indeed had both notices. i'll keep an eye out for next time in case i'm remembering wrong, but i don't stream tv series often on netflix. to answer Nica's other question, i later streamed expiring movies and didn't get either type of notice.
Delete
DeleteThanks, Travis. Duh, of course - maturity rating. I checked out another show. The availability notice came on first, then the maturity rating. Take heart, Nica.
Yes, I meant maturity rating. And I checked again this morning and must have just missed it the other day (or my Netflix forgot I hadn't watched the show yet that day), since both appeared when I checked today. But I did check a movie and its rating appeared.
Deleteyup, i just started a movie, and it told me it was "RATED R" (it didn't say it was also expiring in less than 2 weeks). i think the content advisory follows from their new initiatives i posted a link about in a reply in the complaints section (http://fortune.com/2018/03/05/netflix-parental-controls-disney-streaming/).
DeleteNetflix is the worst designed site in the history of the universe. It was OK like a decade or more ago, back when it used some basic common sense layout like a list U could rearrange by entering numbers next 2 each line item & then hitting 'save changes' button or something, but EVERYTHING they have EVER done since then only RUINS their site EVEN MORE, like 4 instance the ABSURD 'over-animation' of every silly little feature like blow up windows & sliding & fades & other useless KRAP!! It's like with the Windows operating system ~ they keep superloading the 'skin' with JUNK that does NOT improve functionality & just makes the interface MUCH worse. Simply list ALL of the $hit we save in our list, along with 'expiration' dates, etc., & remove ALL the animated bull$hit. It will run 10,000X faster, smoother, more reliable, & more functional... but of course they do NOT want that because that would make people use their site MORE, & their goal is 2 get your MONEY, not have U actually enjoy & use the site... just the 'idea' that there is lots of 'content', even though 98% of it is $hit, like all their 'original' series, which R always just "KILLWHITEY!" propaganda, etc. So now U all know WHY they do it this way = 2 drive U AWAY from the site 2 just get 'annoyed', but not enough 2 B so annoyed that U cancel your membership. It's a TRICK!!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHey, all you loyal blog followers - have you ever wondered how many page views you are all generating? Since we opened shop on October 1, 2015, we've racked up almost a million page views, which includes all pages on the blog. I thought it was time to put up a counter, so you could see when that happens. It's at the very bottom of the scroll, in the footer, beneath the page links. I checked the box to make it animated, so it would work like an odometer, but it didn't do anything, even though new page views were coming in. You have to refresh the page to see a change. We get around 30,000 page views a month, so the big number should happen sometime in April. Yay!
Kudos to you Carol--we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you picking up the mantle to keep this website alive and kicking!
Delete
DeleteThanks, Anonymous, it's my pleasure.
It helps that this site is now the first result on Google when you search "expiring on Netflix."
DeleteI use to always go to new Netflix news and what is new on Netflix but since it is 90% original garbage I go here first to see what is expiring.
DeleteForgot I also still go to instantwatcher too.
Deletecongratulations on your big day.
Delete
DeleteThanks, Travis - it makes me happy that people find this blog useful, and are so willing to contribute expiring titles and helpful, interesting comments on all the pages. It also appears that new people are finding us, likely due to the My List truncation problem. It's nice to have a supportive community of people who share a common interest.
Another way to mitigate the dreaded MY List truncation problem (apologies if someone already posted this method - skimmed thru and didn't see anything similar):
ReplyDelete1) Type the title you want in the Netflix Home Page search bar (OR, click on the link to the title from this blog if it appears on the Soon to Expire page)
2) If the title is already in your queue, DELETE it and then RE-ADD it by clicking on the check box next to the words My List and then clicking the plus (+ My List) sign.
If the title is NOT already in your queue, then add it by clicking the plus sign (+ My List) to add it to your list.
3) Go back to your list and viola! The title appears at the very top.
4) Repeat steps 1-3 for every title you want to move from way down to the very top or add then watch. Just be mindful that this will work only 48 times before the very first title you "moved" disappears. (But most likely you won't need more than that.)
5) Once ALL titles appear, you can then re-sort them in any order you wish as you did prior to the truncation problem. (AGAIN, only for the top 48.)
I have been doing this for the past week or so and it has worked very well. So long as NF doesn't EFF up any more functionality, this is the quickest way I know of to mitigate the truncation problem.
Forgot to mention two important caveats to the above method:
Delete1) You must be in the My List page on an INTERNET BROWSER.
2) Your List view must be set to MANUAL.
The method above only works from any NF application where added titles automatically default to the top of your queue. If you try it from a Roku app, DVR or other device with a Netflix app where new titles are added to the end of the queue instead of the beginning, it won't work.
is today officially one month of this? anyway, i think you're right, i just skimmed the above and didn't see anyone laying this out quite so clearly. it's what i've been doing and i think Carol, too, inferring from her described methods, and very likely others, so absolutely this is the easiest way to get the items to the top so long as this madness continues. i was first a little hesitant because i didn't want these old titles used for new recommendations from netflix ("because of your interest in..."), but i've made my peace with that part. having to do this is still a nuisance, but it beats forgetting about an expiring title that no longer shows in the list.
DeleteKevin's method is what I was suggesting in my March 18 and March 19 postings above. Kevin's putting it in a step by step form is useful.
DeleteBut I am not limited to just accessing MyList on an Internet browser. I can delete and then add back a title using the Netflix apps on my iPad, my Roku or my very old Vizio (although with the old Vizio app, the readded title appears at the bottom of the MyList rather than at the top, so it's not useful for this purpose).
You are so right, Canandaigua. I figured that someone else must have thought of and posted this method. But at least I have confirmed that it does work. Hopefully others will find our posts useful until NF does the right thing and finally fixes this problem.
DeleteI added the Internet Browser stipulations because that is what I could guarantee would work. Roku / Ipad COULD work, I just couldn't be 100% certain since I don't own either. But I do own two Samsung DVR's with the Netflix App and both add new titles to the end of my queue, not the beginning. Obviously it depends on which version of the app is on your device.
I guess the rule of thumb is, is long as you device adds titles to the top and not the bottom, the delete-then-re-add method will work. :)
So...I chatted with a customer service person and they told me this issue is only in the US. Which is BS as I have several friends in AU and NZ and they are having the same issue.
DeleteSupport told me to go to Account > Order in My List > and change it to Netflix Suggests to see all of my titles (in a tile infinite scrolling list, and not a simple text row list)
I found this completely unacceptable from support and being a US only issue? Isn't Netflix a US based company?? I mean for craps sake...this sounds more like an excuse because they won't admit messing up.
Shortly later they sent this:
DeleteNetflix Beynn Louis
Thank you so much for reporting.. I contacted our 2nd level of support and they said that "We are aware of an issue where the customer may not see all of their selected titles populate when viewing 'My List' on the website." They are actively working on a fix, but they did not gave us an estimated time on when it will be fixed.
Netflix Beynn Louis
But no worries, I already submitted a ticket for your account to be prioritized. Thank you for your time and patience as we work on this together.
@Luke @Carol
ReplyDeleteWhoa, whoa, whoa! I am by no means denigrating anime. I watch a lot of anime! I am a huge scifi/fantasy/anime/comic book fan. "I" did not say that anime never wins awards and is hardly ever critically acclaimed. The article did. However. That is a true statement. Animes--generally speaking--do not win awards often. However. That doesn't bother me. I never said that winning awards or getting critical acclaim was the end goal. I watch shows like The Flash and Arrow and Timeless and Assassination Classroom and RWBY. I don't think a single one of those has ever won an award and I don't care. Just because something does not win an award does not make it not worth watching. And just because I said they don't win awards, does not mean I don't want to watch them.
I know that tone is hard to read in text contexts, and I am sorry for the miscommunication earlier, but let me make my feelings on the subject perfectly clear. I do not hate anime or anime watchers or anime that doesn't win awards or anime that does win awards. I enjoy it all. I am an anime fan myself, so you don't need to tell me who anime fans are.
Also, I am not "disgusted" by Netflix's business decisions. I admire them. I think that Netflix is doing something genuinely brave in trying to go all-original. Just because I don't believe I am the intended target viewer for their future streaming plans does not mean I am mad at them over this. I am completely fine with this. I have many other sources to watch streaming with and when Netflix changes to something I no longer enjoy, I will easily switch my main streaming platform to one of the other multitude of streaming sites. I have no problem with this, I would just like to be on top of it so that I am not blindsided when titles expire, which is why I am on this site to begin with.
And lastly, yes I called anime watchers stoners, but that was a joke. I guess if you thought I was mad at/disgusted with anime viewers, I can see how calling "them" stoners could be seen as an attack, but now that you know it is "us" not "them", can you see it for the jest that it was intended to be? I know not all anime viewers are stoners. I also know the number of stoners in the anime watcher demographic is not zero, and if you have ever been to an anime convention (which I have, because, again, I am an anime fan), you will know this to be true.
TL;DR - I am not mad at anime fans, I am not mad at Netflix. I did not mean to insult anime fans, because I am an anime fan myself. Sorry for the confusion.
(Sorry for the late post, but I haven't checked this site in a while.)
DeleteThanks for clarifying your thoughts and feelings, Sammy H. I'm feeling better about the whole thing, now. :-)
I watched anime but I am not renewing Funimation because some of the series on there are vile yes when I watch cartoons I want them to be funny and light heart if I want dark there is plenty of non animated content. Then there is Dragon Ball Z which just drags on forever and I got bored with it.
DeleteSo for those who like anime there is a option but I prefer American cartoons instead.
Has Netflix not added any titles to its streaming service in the past couple of days or is Instant Watcher and UNOGS just not being updated as much anymore? Neither site shows any recent releases for Sunday and Monday. The last thing added was an Australian series on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI really do wish Netflix would go back to how they had their new release section instead of the worthlessness they've turned it into in recent months. One would think they'd want to promote new titles.
they added 26 titles in the last few days per https://www.netflix.com/browse/just-added
Deletethat URL and the "recently added" category in the app are the best bets for finding new adds without resorting to outside resources, but i swear i also see titles under "watch again" and elsewhere that i've watched previously that aren't listed as recently added. maybe netflix doesn't advertise them to me in the first few days because it knows from my ratings data i've seen them already, but that could very well be wrong. as previously discussed, some of these older movies aren't tagged as "new," maybe because they are newly added but not new releases as netflix defines them, by age? it's netflix, who knows. you'd think with billions of dollars they'd be able to buy some sense, but then it just wouldn't be the same.
Thanks. I've tried that before and it never has everything that's recently added. Some of the "just added" titles can be from weeks ago. I really wish they'd go back to how it was a few months back. You could click on new releases and it would have rows for each genre. Very easy to find what you're looking for in order to add them. The current way is useless.
Deletethe link only shows titles less than a week old.
Deletei don't remember what app you use, but on the ps3 app, there is a section that has a button for more categories. that brings up a new menu with a list of basic categories (not the clever ones netflix writes but genres, new releases, and netflix originals). one of the categories is recently added. this then brings up several compressed columns and rows of titles added in the last couple weeks, as recent as i think 24 hours. it basically mirrors the above link from the web site. this is different from the same or similarly named recent releases category that is part of the main browsing mode that only scrolls left and right and, as you point out, can have weeks and maybe even months old titles that netflix wants us to watch.
I only access Netflix on my desktop computer. On their useless Recently Added section, it has rows and rows based on "because you liked such and such a movie" or "because you liked such and such a show".
DeleteOn the rare occasion, it'll just have a row for comedies but not like what it used to be which was a row for each genre which made it very easy to navigate.
I've been catching up on my non-Netflix Korean TV titles and so that's basically all my home page shows lately. I only have 11 more of those and then the only non-Netflix titles in My List will be current shows like Wentworth and The Walking Dead where I'm waiting for another season to show up.
All the non-Netflix movie titles that were on My List have been watched now so I haven't had anything on there expire in months which is nice.
oh, ok, yeah, the usual "recently added" category is at least somewhat curated by netflix and not an unfiltered view of all recently added content. other people who use apps to stream may be able to reach the same kind of menu i'm talking about, e.g., Carol describing scrolling up to save time going through the categories; it's going up, in my case immediately above My List, that gets to the section that has buttons for more categories, searching, profiles, settings, and signing out. unfortunately, it's through this section you can't access that one can browse regular genres with less manipulation from netflix.
DeleteNothing at all funny about where this originated, and although Taylor Swift's older songs were catchy - I'd rather watch expiring Netflix than communicate with her. But, I am very curious about how Netflix can be used to talk to famous people.
ReplyDelete"Reinking told the officer the harassment began a few weeks earlier when Swift hacked his Netflix account and told him to meet her at a Dairy Queen, the report states. He told the officer that when he showed up she ran off and disappeared."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/travis-reinking-what-we-know-about-the-waffle-house-shooting-suspect/ar-AAwdfpL?li=BBnb7Kz
Yeah, Taylor's pretty shifty. You've got to keep an eye on her.
DeleteI don't know how she contacts her fans through their Netflix accounts. Sounds complicated. Justin Bieber just contacts me through my microwave like a normal person.
DeleteLOL
Is the truncated list problem due to Swiftian messages overwriting MY LIST. Was she trying to give all of us free Blizzards, but it all went so wrongly?
ReplyDeleteCan I BELIEB that I can ask the microwave to reveal the full list again, JUST-IN case I want to watch #49 for the 113th time: https://www.netflix.com/title/70169918.
NF, I can no longer belieb in you and your paltry one note quality Canadian offerings: https://www.netflix.com/browse/person/30154830.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHesitate to post about this because it MIGHT get fixed, but from what they told me last night everyone now should be missing their Manual Ordering, and just have a "Watchlist" in poster format. My "testing participation" setting is again set to "On" and I can't turn it off. The rep said it's not just me, but a system-wide problem that will be fixed. Just like the truncation problem "will be fixed." So is everyone experiencing this or were they lying to me?
ReplyDeleteMy List is in Manual Order as I type.
DeleteI do expect Manual Order to go away at any moment however which is unfortunate. I'll miss having titles in alphabetical order so I can find them quickly.
Thanks Luke. You won't believe this but THEY FIXED IT. Just like they said they would. That's why I wasn't sure if it was worth posting about. Turns out it wasn't.
Deletefake news, bro
ReplyDeleteo:( Mine is still truncated as well.
DeleteYes the truncation continues. I was posting about a separate issue that was resolved. But be prepared for Manual Ordering to disappear altogether soon.
Deletewhat is truncation and what is this everyones talking about with their lists??
ReplyDeleteMy List has two formats, Netflix Suggests and Manual Ordering. You can switch between formats by clicking "Order in My List" in the Profile section of the Account page. Both formats used to have a capacity of 500 titles, but for quite some time Manual Ordering has been "truncated" to only 48 titles. They said they were going to fix it and restore the full capacity, but they apparently never will. And Manual Ordering is probably going to be eliminated altogether. The main reason I care is that Manual Ordering shows expiration dates, Netflix Suggests does not.
Delete
DeleteHi Jeremy, if you go to our "Submit Titles - Guidelines" page, it has a partial screenshot that shows what the manual My List looks like:
http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/guidelines-for-submitting-new-titles-to.html
Sometime around the beginning of March, that list was cut off (truncated) after the first 48 titles. If a person only had 48 titles on their My List, no problem. But most of us keep at least a couple hundred, and some have the maximum 500. We can no longer see availability notices on expiring titles for anything after the first 48. I'm assuming you either don't use this feature, or don't have more than 48 titles on it, so you're not experiencing a problem, but it's very frustrating for those of us who can no longer see all their titles on the manual My List. That's what all the discussion has been about.
Netflix got rid of categories on My List, so I could no longer put my comedies together, my thrillers together. Nine months ago I called to complain that I can move things in my list down a screen (albeit slowly, painfully), but up a screen no longer works. Now, with this truncated list, I can't even see all of them. I've called Netflix three times over March, April, May: "Your feedback is super important to us..." and yet the truncation persists.
ReplyDeleteSo, does anyone know how to escalate with Netflix? It's the only company I've ever called that won't let you talk to a supervisor. Has anyone been able to do that? Years ago I was given an e-mail address for development - I sent the same e-mail a dozen times (i.e. in thesubject line: second request...twelfth request), waiting two weeks between each. Never got a response of any kind.
When my wife and I had trouble with Comcast (literally considered the worst customer service company in the U.S.), we got nowhere on the phone or e-mail, but then she tweeted. All of a sudden, we had Comcast corporate calling and asking what they could do to fix the problem. Turned out Comcast hadn't buried the cable properly and each time the lawn crew weed-whackers came out, they hit the exposed cable insulation some more. Fixed it over the weekend, and cable worked great. I haven't asked her to try it with Netflix - has anyone else tweeted about the truncated list?
yeah, companies usually do respond better to a good public shaming on social media than to a polite, private call. i remember checking twitter when this became an issue and didn't see any tweets about it. netflix hasn't fixed it because only customers they don't value noticed or care about this. feel free to prove me wrong, anyone reading, and thanks in advance.
DeleteThanks Travis. Do we (or maybe only Carol) know how many unique hits expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com has gotten over its lifetime? You mention the customers NetFlix doesn't value, but if millions (I'm hoping) are checking out Carol's expiring information, it seems like that might get NetFlix's attention since NF Customer Service has told me they are numbers-driven a few times. (I'm not saying I believe them...)
DeleteI am sure they are number driven but if you have 100 or so people complaining what is that .01 percent if that. The key is if there are hundreds of people reading this and they all tweet their displeasure over the next few weeks then the news and blogites that pay attention to the netflix news feed will start writing articles about it. That publicity could get other people to go hey I am pissed too and all of a sudden their twitter feed might get event more hates. Then maybe they would finally fix their stupid list. They don't even have to fix it, if they would just add a paging mechanism so there is a way to see your whole list then at least we can see things. Sure it would still suck but it is better than not being able to see anything.
Deletethey have billions of dollars. they could have easily fixed this if they wanted to. it's not like this is a startup developing a new app. that said, i'm down to tweet about this if others are.
DeleteSorry, I thought my point was clear, but realize I didn't spell it out. As far as I know, My List with Manual Ordering is the only place in Netflix to show expiring titles at least for those of us with PCs. My List with Netflix Suggests ordering does NOT show expiring information. Ergo, if millions of people check this blog out for expiring information...Vs. "100 or so people."
DeleteNote: I have no earthly idea if what applies to PCs applies equally to all the other ways people manage their NF queues. Can someone enlighten us for both a) if truncation is occuring on devices other than PCs and b) if you have the exacy same Manual Vs. NF Suggests ordering choice?
millions of people do not check this blog out for expiring information. the number at the bottom of the screen is the total page views. every time you refresh the page or click to another page, the number goes up.
Deletethe only remaining way to get an expiration date on the netflix web site is My List in manual order. My List is in the same order and not truncated on other apps, as has been discussed, including those that give a 2-week window for expiration dates, provided you check every entry individually.
DeleteFirst, I want to point out that the Netflix Suggests version of My List DOES have the availability notice for expiring titles. It’s just a pain to find it. See our FAQ page at:
http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/where-how-to-see-expiration-dates-on.html
Re: Page views/readership
The Blogger stats can't determine how many distinct individuals visit the blog. I get an overall stat for total page views per day (average: around 1500), and also, a number for each page showing how many times that page was used as the entry point to the blog. Yesterday, for example, the main page was the entry point 320 times; the Discussions page was the entry point 30 times. My best guess is that we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 regular readers, not all of whom read all pages. U.S. Netflix subscriptions are in the 40+ millions, so, clearly, those of us who care about keeping track of what's expiring are a minority group. That's not to discourage anyone from tweeting about the loss of most of the manual My List, and trying to get some social media support going. It certainly couldn't hurt to try.
Carol, do you mean the "Details" tab of a title? the date is in there, but that's not in My List. thank you for pointing it out all the same, especially because last time i looked i couldn't find it, which was either because it was a tv series expiring in more than a week (but already showing the date in manually ordered My List) or just because it was a tv series. what i just checked now was a movie.
Delete
DeleteHi Travis, for sure, the availability date does not show on the posters of the Netflix Suggests My List. (If only!) But, theoretically, one could open each title info page, and check the Details to see if it was expiring. As I said, it's a pain, but my point was that it would be possible to check through one's Netflix Suggests My List to find expiring titles. It would just take about an hour for every minute it takes to check on the Manual My List.
The Details page shows expiration dates for series on the same day they show up on the Manual My List. It's on the apps where this becomes a problem. They seem to be programmed for a 2-week notice for everything, although the full notice does appear when you actually start to play an episode in a series. When only some seasons of a series are expiring, the notice doesn't show up on any My List or the Details page, but only when you play an episode.
I'm sure you know all this already, Travis, but I wanted to clarify for anyone who is still putting all the pieces together.
thanks. i think what happened was i checked a show that had been renewed (that wasn't in my top 48), which is why it didn't have a date there, and i must have concluded that feature had been removed like so many others. most importantly, i wanted to emphasize that i was wrong before about manual My List being the "only" way to see an expiration date on the site, this being the other way. also, my experience is the same about apps and the notices. in that way, it is nice to have the popups in the corner even though popups are otherwise annoying.
DeleteCarol thanks. Travis mentioned page views, but you came up with what I was after: estimated 500 regular readers. Not enough for NF to care about directly, but maybe we all can launch a coordinated twitter campaign.
ReplyDeleteSo, what I'm hoping for now is a Twitter master. (Maybe one of your 500 knows how to get Trump motivated...) But, seriously, hopefully someone will give us some advice on how to hit the twitterverse in some sort of coordinated way.
i am by no means a twitter expert, but let me give some tips before anyone less familiar gets started so you make the most of your effort.
Deletefirst of all, if you don't already, upload an avatar. you may be ignored if you have a default avatar. people are suspicious these days of bots, and no avatar also screams "nobody" (i.e., the same way they ignore us on the phone even if they say otherwise). you may also want to see a name. if your username is tj345345, maybe add your first name, for similar reasons as the avatar.
second, it may help to direct your tweet to someone, although it's not a deal breaker so long as you mention "netflix" in the tweet. you could address them by including in your tweet @netflix (include the at symbol). some other accounts i noticed that could be useful are:
@NetflixUIE
@WeAreNetflix
@netflixdesign
you may want to go even more specific. check out https://twitter.com/search?f=users&q=Netflix%20Engineer
finally, if you can think of a clever hashtag that isn't too long or too offensive, it could help. those sometimes have a snowball effect and begin trending. you could also see if there are any trending hashtags already that you could apply to the situation.
DeleteGreat info, Travis - thanks!
I'm not on Twitter but, rather than trying to get the President of the United States involved, wouldn't it be wiser and make more sense to attract the attention of those actors who currently star in a Netflix series? It just seems to me that they'd be more likely to spread the word and would have more clout with and knowledge of this issue.
DeleteI typed out a rather long post yesterday only to have it vanish when I pressed publish. This one will be shorter and written in my word processor until posted.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised there is no entertainment media coverage of Netflix streaming's disregard of their customers. Talk about in the bag, on their knees and part of the problem. There is a long list of features that have been cut off and calls to customer service gets the same BS answer of 'We're working on that', until people give up. Customer satisfaction surveys, let alone customer service satisfaction surveys? Not Netflix streaming. Netflix DVD on the other hand still has a queue, still has five star ratings, still recommends movies I like vs what they want me to watch, still has mouse-over details, still has move to position ###, still has more than 48 titles, still delivers good content and surprisingly doesn't carry Netflix “Originals”. So entertainment media news, where are you? [Insert blue dress joke here]
if you use noscript addon, you have to allow a 2nd version of something like gstatic.com to publish. i believe one is http and the other https. if you don't use this addon, disregard.
Deleteanyway, yes, entertainment media is totally in netflix's pocket and enamored of its content and winning business model. it's understandable. average customers don't care about these issues, and unless the anonymous poster above and anyone else reading here didn't use the words netflix my list in a tweet, even those of us who supposedly cared have all but given up in trying to get netflix to do the right thing. ever feel like you're just a mouse in their maze? https://research.netflix.com/
one other piece of trivia, relating to but not mentioned on the dvd page here: one reason why so many of the netflix "originals" aren't available to rent through the netflix dvd service is contract exclusivity. as we know, but many don't realize, these series and films are often produced and at least partly owned by outside companies who control what happens beyond the streaming platform. some of this content has been licensed for exclusive retail, like at target. companies also worry about disc piracy. it was relayed to me that it's become easier, but i don't know if that's true (i don't think it was very hard a decade ago). the netflix dvd supervisor said to me specifically that they now have season 1 of the crown but have it on good authority that future seasons will not be made available to them, even though it's a netflix show. this whole situation of netflix content not being rentable through netflix but for purchase and rental elsewhere has always struck me as really weird, just a little less so now (more on the dvd page of this blog).
Travis, your site was interesting, especially the motto "Letting members make the decisions" https://research.netflix.com/research-area/experimentation-and-causal-inference
DeleteIf only we could figure out how to get this to help with the, hopefully, unintentional A/B experiment about the truncated list on PCs...
I just got off the phone with Netflix Customer Service. I explained to him why the truncated list was such a problem for me, someone who built his four queues over a decade ago (1st for both my wife and me, 2nd for TV and other series only, 3rd for my wife only, and 4th for me only.)
DeleteI mentioned My List, Manual Ordering, is the only way to quickly view all the expiring items and how incredibly annoying it would be to have something you wanted to watch disappear without warning. I mentioned that since I can only see 48, that means any of the up to 452 can expire on me and I would never know. (TG4C - Thank Goodness 4 Carol.)
He swears they are aware of the issue and he said things have recently gotten worse, to wit, now folks can't see anything on their list, let alone 48. So, he says, "Don't worry - we really are working on the issue - I've had a lot of complaints about it."
On another subject, I asked about what I wrote above: "Letting members make the decisions." He said, to be honest, it's Netflix employees who are chosen for the A/B experiments. I told him - you know the adage about who has the worst maintained car? A car mechanic... I said having Netflix employees do the experiments seems to yield similar results. He laughed, knowingly. I said, I used to sort my queue by categories so if my wife said she wanted to watch a comedy, I could go look at that grouping - now, I have to search the movies one by one.
I said I understood why Netflix went from numbered ratings to thumbs up and down, but not having any history whatsoever for a previously watched movie was really, really annoying. Now, my wife and I might be 5 or 10 minutes into something before we realize we saw it before. He said he had a ton of complaints about that... Netflix boneheaded decisions have made the news before...and I'm pretty sure the rating system change did too (I've slept since then), but Netflix just seems to enjoy continuing to be tone deaf - arrogant? stupid? blind? don't care?, or a mixture?
Finally, he recommended this site to me: https://media.netflix.com. Curious if anyone uses it and if they find it useful, and if so, what is useful? I occasionally check out the Recently Addeds, but I tend to find most through "More like this." And, of course, Carol's listing of expiring movies is another way I get things.
we all know, from cringing on the phone with them and sighing under our breath, how slow on the uptake and oblivious netflix employees are, too, so i agree, bad idea relying on them for useful feedback.
Deletethe longer this goes on, the less credible the explanation is that it's not on purpose. i could believe they were stupid for this to happen and arrogant and tone deaf and blind to and uncaring about the customer experience not to fix it quickly, but i think this is something else that speaks to netflix at its most cynical. google's motto was "don't be evil," but the more we find out about these powerful tech companies (FAANG) the more it seems they've transgressed that point and aren't looking back.
as for watching movies without realizing you've seen them before, something nice about having a dvd plan still is that it does still retrieve my (star) ratings, so i see these under "watch again," but otherwise there's no indicator i've rated it. i would have to rely on my IMDb ratings if i couldn't remember and didn't have the dvd plan with all of my ratings. they took away a simple convenience we relied on for reasons that again seem more cynical than to do with a groundswell of opposition from customers.
FWIW, on my PC under Ratings, I can see my actual star ratings in history up until the change to thumbs up/down. I have one older TV and a Blu-ray player that have retained the old Netflix app version that includes star ratings, and have recently rated a few movies watched using those devices. I had been thinking those ratings were missing completely from my Ratings list because they did not appear. This morning, I discovered that the ratings, stars included, ARE there down further in the list at the top of the section showing previous star-rated movies. So the more recently watched star-rated movies are out of date order, but they do show the correct date watched and the stars. If you have any device that still provides for star ratings, try rating your movies there and, hopefully, the star ratings will show up in your Ratings history.
Delete
ReplyDeleteWe're almost at 200 comments, so I have put up a new page. Please put all comments there, now. The url is:
http://expiringonnetflix.blogspot.com/p/discussions_26.html
Thanks!