PSA: Netflix takes requests, but until now, no one knew about it

Netflix has a feature that allows you to make requests for shows and movies you want to watch, but until now, it’s been suspiciously under-publicised. We’re still sceptical about whether anyone’s listening.

If you’re a Netflix aficionado, you might already be fully versed on the ins-and-outs of their Help Centre.

However, most of us have never heard of it. Or at least, have only briefly ventured onto it to find out how to kick our freeloading friends off our account.

But apparently, hidden away from the Help Centre’s front page (which unhelpfully features links such as ‘How does Netflix work?’), there’s a ‘request a title’ form.

The discovery came about on Saturday, after a fan tweeted the official Netflix Philippines account to complain that comedian Chelsea Peretti’s 2014 show One of the Greats wasn’t on Netflix:

Netflix’s reply caught everyone off guard.

Do we know the drill? Unbelievably, Chelsea Peretti herself weighed in.

The link tweeted out by the Netflix Philippines account works in other countries, you just have to be a subscriber to Netflix to submit your requests. In an amusing attempt to prevent spamming, Netflix also clarified: “We keep track of all requests from our members, so there’s no need to request a title more than once.”

The question here isn’t really whether we knew about it. What we want to know is whether requesting a show will actually bring about change. Most likely, it seems, is that Netflix will use this feature to get a sense of where their own shows are in high demand. Requesting access to a show already owned by Netflix but blocked in your country might see results, but asking for access to Amazon’s Top Gear revamp might fall on deaf ears.

Want to know our top picks of Netflix shows this month? Check out our guide to the best Netflix shows, or otherwise check  our top picks of this month’s movies.

What shows will you be requesting on Netflix? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.