This is why Netflix’s Tour de France Unchained Failed

With the trailer for the third and final season of the Tour de France Unchained series dropping this week (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOORzJ4ihZM) and the entire thing landing on Netflix soon, the crew discuss what it got right and what it got wrong.

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but what are we expecting out of Unchained this year we’ve we’ve got a bit of a trailer it seems to continue to paint Pagotch as a bit of the bad guy i think I think we’ve got a little bit of this going on where it’s like uh okay Vingo’s good Pagotch is bad Pagotch’s good Vingo’s bad and then this year it seems like they’re really ramping I mean at least from the trailer we’re getting a lot of the the classic um money is running everything in cycling and Bachar’s face shows up after you see uh you know UAE’s wealth displayed uh so yeah there they seem to be leaning into that arc now mhm there’s um gone there’s a screenshot that one of my friends sent me from that trailer that’s just Tata Pagot saying “Now we’re have to hit the explicit button let’s [ __ ] things up in the middle of the in the middle of the trailer.” So I think I think that is an indication of yeah like the kind of character that they’re going to start portraying him as um the the thing that typified the whole sort of made for f made to try and bump French subscriptions to Netflix yet going out internationally was summed up by the trailer being released by Netflix France in French and then all the teams posting their own versions of the video which was the English translation but I didn’t really see a Netflix account do the ne the English version of the trailer it’s just like this just sums up the whole fumbling of this whole project which is sad because it was at times good at times not so good but on balance it gave it it gave us the Pig Cotum uh saga for which I think you can underline it as that was a net positive for cycling media and sort of narrative story lines and just intrigue uh I know that there are people that listen to this podcast that found us via that Unchained podcast right like there are people that have come into the sport because of it i don’t think it’s you know it’s never it was never going to be what Drive to Survive was because it didn’t happen in the middle of COVID but it I think it as as in general a net positive on cycling last couple years i I’m bummed it’s it’s done i would have preferred it kept going yeah same and it’s it’s one of those things where like to get I think someone commented this on a piece I wrote or told in Discord so I can’t remember who it was but they seem to suggest that the way that Netflix operates is that they ordered three series to start off with and then part of the commissioning process means to get a to get it all recommissioned means putting out for tender again and often there are massive bonuses and stuff put in if you manage to get a if the series proves so popular that then it you know gets reapped and so it becomes that much more expensive that you know not as profitable it’s not a huge hit so then why direct all your resources or a lot of resources to continue with a show when you could try and find the next I don’t know secret lives of mom and wives or whatever you know and and al and logistically much easier to you know bumble around Utah filming women drinking massive sodas than cover the tour to France do you watch the show Johnny seems like I have started watching it it’s nuts i’ve been learning a lot but we’ll save it after dark i you know I live like an hour and a half from Utah let’s go pop over say hi i did check a map and I was like “Oh Christ.” Yeah um but yes Netflix oh Christ yeah literally yeah uh the You know who showed up at my door yesterday elder Price two young Mormon gentlemen it was to talk to me about God knows what you can get that anywhere god does know what yeah they have them in the UK as well unis they like going to I think they like going to Edinburgh Uni anyway we’re getting sidet track but targeting me with my small children so we can repopulate or something like that nice um we’re on a bit of a tangent there yeah Netflix what uh yeah the And also sorry yeah it’s hard to releasing it so close to the tour just seems it’s again this whole thing of how it’s all algorithm right it’s all big company and feeling like they don’t they don’t care about what how people have watched it in the past it’s like okay we’ll try and see maybe it’s another scheduling thing maybe it’s they want that to be their blockbusting that there’s nothing for July maybe we’ll help because people start watching it as the tour to France starts and then obviously in the evenings when the stage is over or for Americans when lunchtime then you chuck that on maybe they have data concurrently maybe they have data that everyone binges it in three days yeah yeah I don’t know but it’s Yeah I think it literally this is a I think it’s a heightened thing because we care about having it in time but I feel like everyone did enjoy watching it three weeks before over like the span of a week yeah getting pumped for the tour reminding themselves and then having like 10 days to wait until the race started that’s always seemed to make the most sense i’ve sent about 15 emails off trying to get an early media screener and haven’t received anything back including to the folks remember who we’re going to be in there we think the podcast this podcast we think is going to be in one of the episodes uh I think it’s going to be Kit saying that Caendish can’t get 35 so we’re about to be wrong maybe that’s how they got blocked um but anyway anybody out there can get me a screener of this thing do you work for Netflix send me an email editor escape.com i like genuinely otherwise I don’t think we’re going to be able to do that podcast we we’re going to be on the ground in France there’s just no there’s no way there’s no way too much to do in Leo you know so many sites to see so many sites to see but yeah it is really sad because definitely I had uh like pals or like friends of friends you meet out who would have watched it learn what you do and then be like “Oh yeah that was actually interesting.” They’d know a bit about what happened mostly they like telling me how fit Top Pino was but um that’s good you know if we have to grow the game through Top Pino’s handsomeness I’m all down for it but it’s just sad you know it was a connection to the outside world that made us made us made cycling seem a bit more normal or and explained it and put a bit of glitz and glam on it which I think we sometimes do with Yeah authenticity isn’t the right word what’s the it like it like what’s the word I’m looking for uh credibility it gives it like like pop culture credibility like broader culture credibility and and yeah that was cool it was cool to see it was just cool to see cycling on Netflix it’s just a shame that it had to be so French like make it make it international make it you know I mean I I feel like the vibe was slightly off where they lean so hard on oh this this thing you know the race is so hard like yeah it’s hard and I think you can incorporate that but like even me I sometimes struggle to fathom how difficult those like riding the tour is even though you’re there every day to a regular person you can’t imagine what riding at the glibby is like when you’ve never seen it you’ve never been there you don’t get to see the whole of the climb unless you’re in the race so I feel like they could have done a bit more to you know that said based on the trailer alone we are in for a Mark Mattio month yeah and you know maybe if if if you know if the folks making this show if they knew eight nine months ago that it wasn’t going to get renewed and they’re you know it’s French Netflix and they’re like “Fine then we’re going all in we’re going all in on Markio this this time maybe we’re just going to get you know eight episodes of Mark Mattio which in that case I’m all for it.” I wonder what we’re going to get up to this uh this time around that’s what I’m looking for we will have to you know as always we will uh we will make these podcasts eventually was might have to do in August wonut’s Kitchen Island we will talk about Waban’s Kitchen Island we will award the awards uh for you know most uh best understanding of the assignment etc we’ll get there we’ll get there [Music] [Music]