And, arguably, those titles didn’t stand a chance regardless of where and how they were made available.

Now, plenty of unknown and/or canceled Netflix shows just aren’t very good. But, at the same time, far more series have languished in the less frequented areas of Netflix’s catalog, dwarfed by a homepage that’s more algorithm than marquee and an ever-hastening social media conversation ready to move on faster than you can say “Bridgerton.” In the avalanche of new Netflix TV shows, super successful series like “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game” have snowballed into cultural moments that pull in millions upon millions of eyeballs. See “Russian Doll,” “Ozark,” “The Crown,” “Black Mirror,” and “The Kominsky Method” among other celebrated TV titles. Netflix boasts consistently strong awards contenders in both drama and comedy categories at the annual Emmys (in addition to the streaming service’s handful of Oscar-recognized films). From “BoJack Horseman” and “Arrested Development” to “The Queen’s Gambit” and “The Umbrella Academy,” the entertainment company once known for mailing DVDs en masse has become a producing powerhouse.

Since getting into the content production game with “Lilyhammer” in 2012, then breaking through with “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” in 2013, the pioneering streaming service has made thousands of hours of TV in dozens of different languages. Hunting for buried treasure? Mining for hidden gems? Panning for entertainment gold? Use whichever excavation metaphor you fancy, but your findings will stay the same: Netflix has some good stuff, some bad stuff, a lot in between, and digging through it all takes forever.

Best movies 2017 first semester