This was grossly underwhelming, but since it’s Stranger Things– and we all loooove Stranger Things– I’m going to pass this along to you.

Netflix wants to keep people talking about this smash hit series Stranger Things, and so they released this video yesterday during the Halloween holiday. It’ll initially pull you in because of the production value, which makes it look and feel like a vintage 80s newscast. But then you may end up feeling like I did by the end of it. Check out the clip, then join me after for what made my face look like I was sucking on a lemon.

What I thought it was a laaaaaame decision was the cheeky tone. This felt more like an SNL spoof than something that actually came from the folks who gave us Stranger Things. I think it would’ve been far more effective, and vastly more clever, if they’d kept the in-on-the-joke wink at the audience vibe away from this clip. The newscaster acknowledging Barb’s “mom jeans” and her “oversized pair of absolutely fantastic glasses” needlessly broke the fourth wall in a really unfortunate way.

Leave the jokes to the late night TV shows. If you’re going to release videos with the hope of keeping your audience engaged, then look up the word “verisimilitude” and apply it to the fantastic world you created with Stranger Things. We don’t want to see you mock your own show.

Stranger Things will be back with a second season next year.

SOURCE: Netflix