We've all been there. You subscribe to The New Yorker every year to read some amazing writing in politics, culture and literature — and because it looks really impressive to hold one of these babies in the subway, too. But instead of feeling a rush of excitement when each new issue arrives at your door, all you feel is shame and embarrassment for having to add one more to your ever-growing pile of quarter-read issues.
But fear not. You may be able to get your New Yorker fix without having to find the time to make it through a lengthy, albeit enjoyable, issue every week.
Last week, Amazon announced The New Yorker Presents, which is like reading an issue of the magazine but in half-hour series form. The show is part of the new Amazon Pilots season, which lets users choose which shows they'd like to see become a full-fledged series on the video streaming platform.
You can watch the first episode for free on Amazon now. From the moment the pilot starts, it's pretty spectacular. The opening weaves in and out of animated covers of past issues of The New Yorker, giving a bit of whimsy to the legendary magazine.
Since the show is meant to emulate the publication, there's of course a table of contents right up front that tells you what you can expect from the episode. The pilot features a scripted short starring Alan Cumming and Brett Gelman, an interview with Marina Abramovic, a documentary by Jonathan Demme based on an article about controversial biologist Tyrone Hayes and a poem read by Andrew Garfield. Don't worry. We also get to see the magazine's famous cartoons with a sneak peek at cartoonist Emily Flake's creative process.
With its mix of documentaries and shorts, The New Yorker Presents reminds me of something you would see on HBO, which has long been an outlet for showcasing this type of media. However, instant streaming platforms, such as Netflix, have really helped make documentaries more accessible to a wide range of people. It's going to be difficult for The New Yorker Presents to stand out among the comedies and dramas included in Amazon's pilot season, but if users do find it, they'll see it definitely captures the magazine's unique flavor on a screen.
The real question, however, is if this series does get picked up by Amazon, what will it do for The New Yorker's brand? Will it inspire more people to subscribe to the magazine or more successfully finish every week's issue? Or will people just turn on the show because it's easier?
Obviously, you can't completely replace the experience of reading an issue of The New Yorker with a TV show. At least for now, The New Yorker Presents seems to show some content that was already in issues of the magazine, which might not be very exciting for avid readers. However, the creators of the show, Alex Gibney and Dave Snyder, have said the show is meant to complement the magazine and drive viewers to read it. It'll be interesting to see if that actually happens, but for now, I'd definitely vote for more episodes.
