Sadly, however, machine guns and red boiler suits alone are not enough to sustain a viewing experience through multiple episodes and series. A machine gun and a boiler suit are international symbols to let you know that this programme will be mysterious and exciting, and will be taking place in a version of the world that is at best heavily stylised. If there is a machine gun in the thumbnail image, you can guarantee someone will be shooting a machine gun soon. Machine guns are exciting because they imply sudden violent death. From The Sopranos to The Wire to Breaking Bad, criminal gangs have always made for gripping TV. Red boiler suits on their own could mean a bunch of plumbers or firemen, but red boiler suits plus machine guns implies a uniform beyond the reach of the traditional authorities, which is to say a criminal gang. When you see a red boiler suit, you know you will not be watching a period drama or a romcom. They only have a couple of seconds to draw you in. Netflix knows that the thumbnail image you see when you are deciding what to watch is crucial to keeping your engagement. When you break it down, it’s obvious that these parts are all vital to a successful television programme. After the triumph of Money Heist and Squid Game, we know that great television comprises four main elements: red boiler suits, machine guns, desperate poor people and large cash rewards. After all that searching and experimenting, the answer turned out to be simple. In the end, these were all mere warm-up acts for the one true format, which Netflix was brewing in a lab somewhere in the bowels of California. Bridgerton showed the enduring allure of Regency Britain. Game of Thrones showed that tits, dragons and sarcastic dwarves translate into many languages. The Simpsons and Family Guy achieved widespread popularity with inventive, socially conservative cartoons. Friends and Seinfeld gave it a crack, proving the universality of having mates and jokes. After billions of hours of television, millions of concepts, thousands of channels, someone was going to work out the formula for the ideal show, the Neo of programming, a chosen one that would pull the sword out of the lake and make all others bend the knee.

Simpsons hit and run crack