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How Stranger Things defined the era of the algorithm
Khaleej Times
|December 04, 2025
The success of the sci-fi horror series, which is about to end its run after nearly a decade, succeeds in part because of how well it evokes pop culture that audiences already love
In the summer of 2016, streaming TV was still figuring itself out. Netflix had been producing original series for a few years, with occasional company from Amazon, Hulu, Yahoo and the like. Disney+, Apple TV and HBO Max were still gleams in some billionaires' eyes. Would the future of streaming be in wild, form-breaking experimentation, like Netflix's Sense8? Would it be nonlinear storytelling, like its revival of Arrested Development? Would it be in prestige comedies, like BoJack Horseman, or prestige-flavoured dramas, like House of Cards?
I'm not sure anybody was expecting the answer to come from a popcorn horror thriller that premièred that July. But the success of
This story is from the December 04, 2025 edition of Khaleej Times.
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