The hit comedy series New Girl will be leaving Netflix next month, which poses a huge comedy problem for the streaming platform. Netflix has become the world's biggest streaming service, which is partially thanks to building an endless catalog of exclusive content, whether award-winning series like Sex Education or prestige movies like The Irishman. However, while those projects get a lot of attention, it's the binge-worthy sitcoms that have helped Netflix keep its longtime subscribers. And shows with six, seven, and even nine seasons are why Netflix gained hundreds of millions of subscribers in the first place.

New Girl will stop streaming on Netflix on April 17, as it'll be moving to Hulu and Peacock. But the Zooey Deschanel-starring sitcom is just the latest in a string of long-running sitcoms to leave the streamer. Other big-name comedies such as The Office, Parks & Rec, Arrested Development, and many others have all left the service over the past few years. Those binge-worthy series are also comfort shows, and Netflix is considerably lacking any of its own comfort shows. That could be a huge issue for Netflix, and the streamer might start to see its subscriber base decline.

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Netflix's Comedy Losses Have Gone To Other Streaming Services

Michael Scott looking at the camera in The Office

Ironically, the reason why so many celebrated sitcoms are leaving Netflix is because of how successful the streaming service has become. Following Netflix's phenomenal groundbreaking way to consume shows and movies, every network and studio saw how lucrative a streaming service was and set out to make their own. There are now so many other affordable streaming services, and The Office and Parks and Rec have moved to Peacock, which belongs to NBC. Eventually, every show will belong to its network's own streaming service, which means that the only comedies that will be available on Netflix will be the streamer's own.

Why Netflix's Comedy Losses Could Especially Create An Audience Problem

Paul Rudd as Mike in the Friends finale

As Netflix is quickly losing sitcoms, not only does it leave a huge gap in the streamer's library, but many of those shows are the only reason some users subscribed to it. US Netflix no longer has Friends, a huge show that many only used Netflix to watch, and that's likely the same for New Girl too. That means that users would likely drop Netflix for Peacock or whatever streaming service their favorite show has moved to. However, not many stats back this up yet, as Netflix gained millions of subscribers after Friends left the streamer, but that was due to the pandemic (via Fortune).

While Netflix is fully invested in stand-up specials, the streamer, unfortunately, doesn't have many comedy shows, and it doesn't have a single long-running sitcom. The streamer has a habit of canceling shows after just one or two seasons, as series become way more costly when they enter their third and fourth seasons. While that saves money in the immediate future, the opposition to creating long-running series means that Netflix is without a long-running tentpole comedy, and that's what would keep subscribers. Netflix needs to develop as an Office-like sitcom that can run for years before every other existing sitcom has left the service.

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