'Orange Is the New Black' Could Be the Next Netflix Mini-Hit in the Making
The first post-Arrested Development original series from Netflix couldn't possibly come with the same level of hype, and probably won't reel in the extremely disruptive streaming service's next few million subscribers, but a new trailer for Orange Is the New Black reveals a foray into, shall we say, highbrow Lifetime that will certainly expand the binge-watching base.
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Orange stars Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, a woman who goes to a federal women's prison for carrying a suitcase full of drug money under the influence of her girlfriend. The catch: She's ripped away from her privileged life, a pretty white woman who has to contend with the racial dynamics of the prison. At one point in the new trailer, out today and viewable below, she says: "I have been felt up, stalked, and called Taylor Swift. So can you please just cut me some slack." The show is based on a memoir by Piper Kerman. Jason Biggs plays Chapman's fiancée and Natasha Lyonne also stars. (Lyonne's famous fans are already coming out to support her on Twitter.)
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Netflix's original series have been a good (if expensive) bet for them so far. The buzz-worthy House of Cards and Arrested Development paid off — Cards with a subscriber jump to merit a $100 million investment, and AD with early numbers that overcame the bad reviews. And while Eli Roth's Hemlock Grove got terrible reviews, people did watch when its 13 episodes debuted all at once in April. So it will be interesting to see how Orange is the New Black goes over when its 13 episodes are available for binge-watching on July 11th. It doesn't have the Fincher and Spacey-approved sleekness of Cards, or the built in fan-base of Arrested. Nor does it have the genre appeal of Hemlock, but it does offer an American Pie reunion of sorts, and, hey, it's not TV — it's Netflix.
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