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In the just about three years since the debut of Netflix's Stranger Things , the show has been nothing short of a cultural behemoth. Not only has the show possibly become the streaming giant's biggest hit, but its stars have gone on to some great things: Winona Ryder has seen a career resurgence, David Harbour has been nominated for a pair of Emmys and recently landed a coveted MCU role, and the kids have been all over the place .
Unfortunately, in what was likely an effort to continue to capitalize on lead-up-to-Stranger-Things-mania, Netflix announced a new project that might have been conceived with good intentions in mind, but clearly sounds like a misfire. That idea comes in the form of a show hosted by Gaten Matarazzo, better known as the sci-fi show's Dustin, called Prank Encounters. Described as an "epic hidden-camera prank show," the show seems to essentially be a mean version of Undercover Boss.
A press release put out by Netflix says that the show "takes two complete strangers who each think they're starting their first day at a new job," before eventually revealing that the paths of these two strangers will collide, at which point "these part-time jobs turn into full-time nightmares."
A show starring a very wealthy young TV star messing around with someone just looking to make a living doesn't sound like a particularly appealing idea on it's head. Hearing about the massive raise that the Stranger Things got ahead of Season 3-the kids, including Matarazzo, saw their per-episode salaries jump from the $30,000 range to the $200,000-$250,000 range, according to DEADLINE -makes this idea particularly icky.
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Vulture said that the planned prank show sounds like a Black Mirror episode, and that sounds spot-on to me. In the same vein, it sounds like something out of a cult classic movie like Mike Judge's Idiocracy , or my personal favorite film of last year, Boots Riley's debut Sorry To Bother You . In the latter film, a slightly-altered near future imagines a game show on television called I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me, which finds its contestants... well, it's self explanatory. That show might make a nice programming block with Netflix's new offering, right?
Matarazzo, who also has an executive producer credit for Prank Encounters, shared the press release for the show, and got, as they say, ratioed :
https://t.co/92dIYAqD3o - Gaten Matarazzo (@GatenM123) June 14, 2019
It's a funny situation, and one that has to be imagined that most have to imagine could've been handled with better judgment. When Matarazzo, 16, plays Dustin, he's one of everyone's favorite characters on Stranger Things. But this show is just a bad look.
Fire your agent right now lmao - Champions (@Chrundlethegre3) June 15, 2019
bad idea bro - veryfakephil (@VeryFakePhil) June 15, 2019
Gaten, can we talk - Mara Get Rid of the Nazis Wilson (@MaraWilson) June 15, 2019
Do the folks getting pranked get ridiculous compensation? Like a years salary of what they would have gotten if it was a real job? If so, I'd be excited to watch. Otherwise, it'd be just cruel. - Joseph Alminawi (@Swiftor) June 15, 2019
Let's hope they rethink this idea-or at least make some serious modifications-before it hits production.