The Witcher producer says show had to be ‘simplified’ for Americans

The Witcher executive producer, Tomek Baginski, is being dragged by fans online after claiming the show’s third season has dwindled in popularity due to the series bosses having to appease American audiences. In a recent interview with Polish news site Wyborcza , the producer claimed some of the bigger changes between the books and the Netflix show were due to the audience: ‘When a series is made for a huge mass of viewers with different experiences from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary.’ He emphasized ‘it’s painful’ for the show bosses to make these simplifications but declared a ‘higher level of nuance and complexity’ simply ‘won’t reach people’. Later in the interview, which was translated by fansite Redanian Intelligence, Tomek claimed the attention span of younger viewers has also been a driving factor behind some of the changes. He said: ‘When it comes to shows, the younger the public is, the logic of the plot is less significant. Tomek Baginski has found himself facing a surge of irate fans online (Image: GETTY) ‘Those people grew up on TikTok and YouTube, they jump from video to video.’ When the interviewer pointed out they were part of the generation Tomek was talking about, the producer advised: ‘What you do to yourself makes you less resilient for longer content, for long and complicated chains of cause and effect.’ Tomek’s comments have not been taken lightly by fans of the show, with many taking to Reddit forums dedicated to the franchise to air their frustrations, as one joked: ”America dumb’ is a wild excuse for him to use.’ Another shared: ‘In other words: ‘We compromised the quality of the product, because we only really care about making profit’.’ A few Redditors pointed out that The Witcher franchise had been popular long before the Netflix show (Image: NETFLIX) Many pointed out Game of Thrones, a notoriously nuanced and highly complex show, was one of the most popular television series of all time. One also highlighted another error in Tomek’s logic as viewership has dipped in the latest season: ‘If he says they dumbed down the show to reach a larger audience, then the viewership should increase if he was correct. ‘The fact that the viewership decreased and people complained about how dumb the show was means that they underestimated their audience and shouldn’t have dumbed it down at all.’ An infuriated Erik Kain described Tomek’s comments for Forbes Magazine as ‘one of the most insulting interviews I’ve ever had the misfortune to read’. The journalist sarcastically added: ‘We are too stupid. It is not the show’s fault, but our own and we must humbly receive our lumps. ‘We were so confused by the books that we didn’t turn them into best sellers in the United States. Our poor, empty heads were so rattled by the complexities of CD Projekt Red’s games, that we didn’t turn that trilogy into one of the most lucrative and well-regarded RPGs in history.’ The Witcher season 3 is streaming on Netflix now