I promise I’ll stop talking about Quibi so much after the service launches next week. I’m just really, really curious about how the streamer will work. Will 10-minute-long episodes feel natural, will they feel satisfactory? Or will it all come across as a gimmick that doesn’t translate well to reality?
We will find out when Quibi fires up on April 6. Until then, they’re pushing their programming hard. We’ve already seen glimpses of their other shows (excuse me, their other “Movies In Chapters”) and today we get a taste of When The Streetlights Go On, which is a coming-of-age murder mystery originally adapted from a movie script. After it was supposed to be a movie, it was set to be a Hulu show. Then Hulu passed after the pilot and Quibi picked it up. They rewrote, recast and reshot the show and now Quibi is set to debut it next week.
Streetlights tells the story of a suburban community shaken up by the murder of a beautiful teen. The characters attempt to live their lives and make sense of the killing as a police investigation heats up. The trailer makes a point to let us know that the whole thing takes place in 1995 (even though the music played at the beginning of the preview sounds like it’s from the 80s...) and there is a real sense of time and place, even in the short trailer. I’m a sucker for nostalgia (aren’t we all?) and it’s nice to see the 1990s highlighted in something, rather than the 80s which typically gets all the love.
When The Streetlights Go On looks really solid but my optimism regarding Quibi remains cautious. I want to like the service, I want to like their bite-sized approach to entertainment. But a part of me thinks that I might grow tired of the short format quickly. How can you grow attached to a story told in such tiny chapters? I’m not sure but Quibi is quite confident in their content, that’s why they’re launching with dozens and dozens of shows on the 6th. Best of luck to you, Quibi. Let’s see what you’ve got in store.