# The Netflix pre-summary summaries are fucking TERRIBLE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438 "2015-11-13T02:54:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/1 "2015-11-13T02:54:18Z")
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just a PS4 thing? Netflix shows have two different “preview summaries.” There’s the legitimate one when you select a show, and then there’s the shitty one when you’re just scrolling through your choices on the main menu. Here are some representative examples, picked more or less at random: **The Seven Deadly Sins (a Netflix Original anime, apparently)** Pre-click version: If you’re gonna fight evil, you’d better find the evilest guys to fight with you. It’s one princess’s best shot. Post-click version: When a kingdom is taken over by tyrants, the deposed princess begins a quest to find a disbanded group of evil knights to help take back her realm. **Bob’s Burgers** : Pre-click: Can a family’s patties pave their way to success? Not if their kids have anything to do with it. Post-click: This Emmy-winning animated series centers on Bob Belcher and his ragtag burger-flippers, who are desperate to get their greasy spoon off the ground. **Narcos:** Pre-click: First they got the coke. Then they got the money. Now the Colombian cartels want the power. Let the drug wars begin. Post-click: The true story of Colombia’s infamously violent and powerful drug cartels fuels this gritty new gangster drama series. **Ultimate Spider-Man:** Pre-click: Recruited by SHIELD to lead an enigmatic teen super squad. The Web-slinger has one goal: Become… The ultimate. (_I kept all the awkward capitalization as-is for that one)_ Post-click: Peter Parker comes of age in an epic tale that finds him torn between his teenage life and a war between SHIELD and villain Norman Osborn. And on and on and on. In every single case, the “pre-click” version is a crappy attempt at punchiness that fails to accurately describe the show. In every case the “post-click” version is a concise, helpful summary. The weird thing is that this is a relatively recent development - there used to be no difference between the two. It’s like an important person’s idiot nephew graduated with a degree in creative writing and couldn’t get a job until somebody invented one for him. I am losing my mind. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/2 "2015-11-13T03:05:58Z")
The first one is a blurb, the second is a program description. Two different things. The point of the blurb is to get you to read the program description. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/3 "2015-11-13T03:18:44Z")
The only thing those blurbs make me want to do is put my controller through the television. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/4 "2015-11-13T03:25:01Z")
But they don’t. They’re not only inaccurate, they’re unappealing. “It’s one princess’s best shot”? Yeah, I’m gonna watch that. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/5 "2015-11-13T03:42:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The only thing those blurbs make me want to do is put my controller through the television. \You’re not their target audience. They’re no different from any blurb on a movie poster: mention elements to intrigue the audience and make them want to find out more. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/6 "2015-11-13T19:09:58Z")
What on earth do you mean I’m not the target audience? I’m a Netflix customer and am therefore the target audience. It’s not like only a certain category of shows have terrible blurbs; they’re spread across all genres. Or are you asserting that you think the blurbs are well written and effective? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-netflix-pre-summary-summaries-are-fucking-terrible/737438/7 "2015-11-13T20:15:52Z")
Have you noticed the movie descriptions on cable (Charter is what I have) are written by different people than the ones who award the stars? I don’t know how many things I’ve read one starting like “This hilarious family-friendly story …” followed by a one star rating.