Is * this * how we get to The Baby-Sitters Club?
Image: netflix
As for blatant ads, this one is pretty good.
On New Years Day, Netflix invited subscribers from far and wide to kick off 2021 by calling a recommendation hotline – supposedly staffed by famous operators ready to help you with your binge. Netflix announced the service (one we’ve been providing for years, thank you very much) with a musical track on Twitter that sees “Auld Lang Syne” again as an anthem on the list.
You can reach the hotline at 1-866-NYD-2021 to review the experience yourself or to leave a comment this Twitter thread to request a personal recommendation. If you just want to know what happens when you call, read on. I’ve gone through the entire phone tree (that’s basically all the hotline amounts) and transcribed some of the highlights.
Happy New Year! We’ve put together a team of renowned experts to help you find the perfect item to check out today!
Just tell us what you’re in the mood for and we’ll get back to you – you can also call our recommendation hotline at 1-866-NYD-2021 🎉 pic.twitter.com/vYmDczd4ph
– Netflix (@netflix) January 1, 2021
“Hello and welcome to the Netflix New Year’s recommendation hotline offered by Netflix in the year 2021,” said an overly chipper operator. “2021: At least it’s not 2020. If you’re wondering why Netflix is bringing back the phone hotline, it’s because Hollywood loves rebooting.”
Speaking of Hollywood, the voice then tells you to enter the extension for your famous operator – assuming you know.
To find celebrity extensions, you can guess entries and dial in a pre-recorded message. (For example, choose “666” and you will get Chilling Adventures of Sabrina stars Kiernan Shipka and Gavin Leatherwood who recommend spooky shows.) But if you’d rather not guess, get a complete guide to the celebrity extensions on Netflix’s official Instagram story. There are posts from Jimmy O. Yang, Gabriel Iglesias, Rahul Kohli, Michelle Buteau, and more.
If you skip the famous Easter egg hunt altogether, the operator will present you with nine options that match the keyboard:
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‘1’ for ‘if you want something completely new on Netflix’
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“2” for “if you have a hangover”
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‘3’ for ‘if you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolution’
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“4” for “if you feel a deep sense of existential dread and want to embrace it”
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“5” for “if you feel a deep sense of existential dread and want to avoid it”
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“6” for “if you are really optimistic about the year ahead”
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‘7’ for ‘if you tried to order a pizza but dialed this number by mistake’
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“8” for “if you are looking for something to watch with your family”
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“Under no circumstances should you press ‘9’”
So if you hit 9, “I see you’re quite a rebel who doesn’t obey the rules. Well you’ve reached the part of the hotline where I mention 99 TV shows and movies all of which are now streaming on Netflix. Okay, here we go. ”
The operator does indeed go through a monologue of 99 titles, and if you are still on the line at the end of the game, he will say, “Are you still there? fuck? and take you back to the menu.
Check out the other eight options and you’ll get some pretty decent jokes about drinking, parenting, and the year ahead – plus some solid (albeit biased) streaming recommendations.
UPDATE: Jan 1, 2021, 11:49 am PST This story has been updated with new information about the hotline’s celebrity extensions feature.