Consistent with their strategy to reach a 50/50 mix of original content, Netflix is delivering a series vehicle for Miranda Sings, the character created by YouTuber Colleen Ballinger. If you’re not familiar with Miranda Sings, her character of an aspiring, yet talentless star can be infuriatingly grating, but has also grown into a meta-commentary on social media. An equal-opportunity satire, Ballinger skewers both Sings and her narcissistic pursuit of hollow celebrity by hopeless hacks, as well as the throbbing hordes of detractors who thrive on anonymously dragging down hacks like Sings. All of that explains her catchphrase, Haters Back Off, which is fittingly the title of the series.
Not much of that comes through in this teaser though, which seems to be geared for fans who are already familiar with the preceding paragraph. A series of onscreen credentials opens the trailer, melodramatically cueing us to be let down at the appearance of Miranda. Steve Little (Eastbound And Down) is a welcome appearance in any comedy series and must be fairly important to the first season, as he’s the only other face that appears, playing Miranda’s supportive Uncle Jim.
With over 5 million subscribers, Ballinger is doing something right. But as anybody who’s clicked away from a Miranda Sings YouTube video will tell you, the problem with satirically annoying performances is that they are still annoying performances. Whether or not Ballinger finds the right balance to counter some of the shrillness will come through when Haters Back Off becomes available for streaming October 14.