Obama in Talks to Provide Shows for Netflix

[Cirque du So-What]

WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama is in advanced negotiations with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows that will provide him a global platform after his departure from the White House, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Under terms of a proposed deal, which is not yet final, Netflix would pay Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, for exclusive content that would be available only on the streaming service, which has nearly 118 million subscribers around the world. The number of episodes and the formats for the shows have not been decided.

Mr. Obama does not intend to use his Netflix shows to directly respond to President Trump or conservative critics, according to people familiar with discussions about the programming. They said the Obamas had talked about producing shows that highlight inspirational stories.

But the Netflix deal, while not a direct answer to Fox News or Breitbart.com, would give Mr. Obama an unfiltered method of communication with the public similar to the audiences he already reaches through social media, with 101 million Twitter followers and 55 million people who have liked his Facebook page.

more...

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/us/politics/obama-netflix-shows.html?referer=https://duckduckgo.com/

[Squinch]

1. Nice! Get that Media, dear President of mine!

His and Holder's quiet efforts on voting and gerrymandering are getting results.

So glad to know he's in the world.

[NightWatcher]

2. Bad news about that.

https://entertainment.theonion.com/netflix-executive-unsure-how-to-tell-barack-obama-his-s-1823651466

Netflix Executive Unsure How To Tell Obama His Show Is Just Fawlty Towers

LOS GATOS, CA—Acknowledging that the former president’s enthusiasm for the project made it all the harder to come clean, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos was reportedly unsure Friday how to tell Barack Obama his series idea was just Fawlty Towers. “Oh God, he clearly put so much work into the pitch, but I don’t know how to tell him that John Cleese and Connie Booth already did the exact same thing, like, 40 years ago,” said Sarandos, attempting to find a tactful way to inform the former chief executive that his idea for Chez Obama, which would star the 44th president as a temperamental hotel proprietor who gets into all manner of farcical situations as he tries to corral his eccentric guests and wacky employees, was basically identical to the beloved British sitcom. “I’m just sitting there nodding along as he goes on and on about how there would be so many opportunities for physical comedy in an episode where a bellhop’s pet rat escapes the same day as the health inspector arrives, and I freeze. What am I supposed to say? He’s honestly never heard of this show before? Then he gets all excited talking about how Michelle could even play the intelligent, put-upon chambermaid, and my heart just about broke.” After receiving the bad news, an undaunted Obama immediately launched into his backup pitch for a 12-part miniseries about the early Roman Empire as told from the perspective of the elderly emperor Claudius.