[currymj]

if you go to the "documentary" section on Netflix or another streaming service, there are dozens and dozens of really low-quality documentaries. Some are on conspiracy topics (UFOs, ancient aliens) or stupid and sensationalist. They all seem to treat the audience like they are not very smart.

I think most were produced on small budgets to run during the daytime on cable channels like History or Discovery, and then sold to Netflix as well.

These could definitely give someone a bad impression of what counts for documentary film in America, and in terms of raw numbers there are way more of them than anything else.

However, the documentaries produced for American public television (like those of Ken Burns) tend to be very good. And there are also high-quality American documentaries that go on the festival circuit.

[Terretta]

Right, this would be like going into Amazon Prime and saying the median content is what American TV is like.

To be fair, it may be, but the Certified Fresh tab of Rotten Tomatoes is what viewers talking about TV have in mind.

To your point, look somewhere applying a touch of curation by quality for a fairer take on what Americans want in a documentary.

https://www.metacritic.com/browse/tv/genre/metascore/documen...

https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-netflix-docu...