AI slop has infected our streaming services

With streaming costs always climbing, many viewers have turned to free, ad-supported television (FAST) channels for their entertainment needs. Whether you’re using a platform built into your smart TV, a mobile app on your phone, or a streaming stick made by Amazon or Roku, anyone can watch hundreds of channels, which air everything from local news to “Law & Order” reruns free of charge. 

As of this month, if your FAST provider of choice is Roku, Amazon Prime Video, or the Comcast-owned Xumo Play, you also now have access to a channel that strains the definition of “entertainment”: Fairground AI Creator TV, which airs 100 percent AI-generated content.

Beyond the obvious cost-cutting appeal for streaming CEOs, Fairground’s Colin Petrie-Norris sees the channel as a way for AI artists to skip Hollywood “gatekeepers” and get their work seen by millions. He even suggested to Variety that in 1-3 years, these creators could have the reach of Mr. Beast, who has 513 million YouTube subscribers.

I don’t know about you, but I was sold the moment the phrase “The Mr. Beast of AI” entered my brain. So I decided to subject myself to an hour of Fairground’s “entertainment” to see how close we are to a future in which generative AI can put all those big-shot Hollywood creatives out of business.

PS: It turns out The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel had the same idea as me, except that he wasted eight hours of his life on Fairground AI instead of just one. His bemused thoughts are also worth a read.

A random sampling of AI slop

In one hour of watching Fairground AI earlier this week, these three pieces of content (which I cannot reasonably call “shows”) stood out.

“Myths & Legends (Circe)”: Generative AI can only churn out amalgamations of preexisting ideas, so choosing to create something based on a passage from “The Odyssey,” one of the oldest stories in human history, makes sense. But this five-minute short about Circe and Odysseus is unwatchable. Every scene is shot in slow motion, while a garbled AI spits out nonsense sentences like, “The most dangerous knowledge is not the kind that deceives, but the kind that asks nothing in return.” In one instance, a scene cuts off mid-word, then loops back and replays the previous 30 seconds again. Even small children would recognize this as trash.

“Greenbrier”: A young girl fell and died. Or was she murdered? We slowly find out, as a woman begins conversing with her dead daughter’s talking scarf. A voiceover that sounds like a very tired Siri encourages you to emotionally invest, telling viewers, “Some grief falls; Some grief hides,” as the crying woman wipes dirt from a grave. (Her hand briefly disappears while doing this). Fun fact: “Greenbrier” was generated by a man whose announcement that he is running his own AI film festival was widely mocked on social media.

“Sign”: This short is by far the best thing I watched. And yet, it is worse than even the most ill-conceived, no-budget TV show. Pros: The (not-real) camera actually moves, there are actual lines of dialogue instead of endless voiceovers, and the AI images are bright and diverting enough to amuse a small child. Cons: All the usual signs of AI slop (image blurring, garbled text) are still there, and the story – about mysterious signs showing up on Earth that portend the arrival of random objects like a bear riding a bicycle – makes zero sense. You can actually watch “Sign” in full on YouTube, where it has more than 1.2 million views. For the sake of humanity, please don’t.

Play or Skip

Have a show you can’t stop watching? Email me about it at [email protected], and your recommendation may appear in a future edition of The Queue.

Press play on these movies and shows:

“The Christophers” (2026) 

Director Steven Soderbergh loves a good heist, whether it’s pulled off by high rollers (“Ocean’s 11”) or blue collars (“Logan Lucky”). In his newest, a struggling artist but excellent forger (Michaela Coel) is hired by the estranged children of a once-famous painter (Ian McKellen) to make sure their inheritance (in the form of his paintings) is secure. (Hulu, starting Saturday)

“Mother Mary” (2026)

It’s a double dose of Michaela Coel in this edition of The Queue! In this David Lowery film, she plays the former costume designer and BFF of a Lady Gaga-esque pop star (Anne Hathaway) who reaches out after 10 years of estrangement to commission a dress for her comeback tour. (HBO Max)

“Conan O’Brien Must Go” Season 3

Even in his late-night days, Conan O’Brien has always loved to travel for remote segments. Now he has an entire show allowing him to play the fool all over the globe, with this season (which premieres at 9 p.m.) taking him to India, Morocco, the Netherlands, and the Philippines. (HBO Max)

But go ahead and skip this one:

“The Shards” Season 1

Bret Easton Ellis (“American Psycho”) and Ryan Murphy (the upcoming “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story”) both love to shock and titillate, occasionally to great effect. But working together on this Hulu show, the ironic posturing and utter emptiness is overwhelming. (Hulu)

End Credits

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Queue. If you’re a fan, please consider recommending this newsletter to your friends.

Until next time, good stream hunting, everyone!