If there exists a bar for the variety of original programming that one company can produce, Netflix is using that bar as a toothpick while it orders one curious series after another. The streaming service’s most recent deal is for The Get Down, a 1970s musical drama created by The Great Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann, who developed the project with The Shield creator Shawn Ryan. I like a little grit with my music every now and then.
Netflix ordered 13 episodes of The Get Down, which will take place in New York City during the 1970s, before things got cleaned up. The series centers on a group of South Bronx teens who will change their environment forever. Though they don’t know much about family and shelter other than that which they provide for one another, they have more than enough dance moves, spray cans and shit-talk to keep things interesting.
In the press release, The Get Down is called the “mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco.” This really was the dawn of a new era in music, and Luhrmann has a massive section of music history to mine for The Get Down’s musical sequences. I can’t say I’m overly enthused to get disco back into my life, but it’ll be worth it if the hip-hop and punk songs are top notch. I hope the “music consultant” list for this show is ten pages long.
Check out the first teaser for The Get Down, which features the classic song “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band.
This will be Baz Luhrmann’s first major musical project since 2001’s Moulin Rouge, and the filmmaker will helm the first two episodes along with the season finale. His Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin will get to showcase her talents here as well. Luhrmann had been mulling over The Get Down for over a decade, and he and Shawn Ryan (who has an overall deal with Sony) first started working with Netflix on it in 2013.They reportedly set up a writers room and brought in casting directors ahead of the series order, certain that it would happen, according to Deadline. It must be nice to have that much confidence in today’s TV world.
As far as I can tell, this will be Netflix’s first musical series, adding to its list of firsts. Its first superhero series, Daredevil, will be out in April, with the first sci-fi series, Sense8, coming later this year. And then there’s Chelsea Handler’s talk show, which won’t be around until next year.
I don’t know about you guys, but now I want to watch Romeo + Juliet while an Afrika Bambaataa album plays in the background. Expect The Get Down to hit Netflix in 2016.
