Netflix is testing its curated stream of comedy clips on TVs – The Verge

Netflix is testing Fast Laughs, a stream of comedy clips hand-picked by Netflix, on its TV app. The feature lets you sift through a collection of funny short videos — each about 30 seconds or longer — from shows and movies on Netflix, with the goal of introducing you to new content or helping you decide on what to watch.

Once you’ve opted into the feature (and if you’re part of the test), you can access Fast Laughs by scrolling down on the Netflix homepage until you reach the Fast Laughs row. From there, you can click into the feature, where full-screen clips from Army of the Dead, Big Mouth, Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up special, and more overtake your screen. You can use the arrows on either side of the clip to advance to the next clip or return to the previous one, and you’ll also get the option to add a title to your List, as well as jump right into the presented show or movie.

Unlike Netflix’s Play Something feature, which lets you shuffle through content suggestions tailored to your taste, Fast Laughs is curated entirely by Netflix staff — this means you won’t get that personalized touch, potentially making browsing a little boring. But at the same time, the algorithm-stripped Fast Laughs might expose you to different content than what Netflix’s deeply ingrained recommendation system already calls your attention to, which, at least for me, tends to get pretty stale.

Last year, Netflix rolled out Fast Laughs on its mobile app. As opposed to the TV version of the feature, Fast Laughs on mobile presents itself in a vertical, TikTok-like stream that you can seamlessly scroll through. It also provides options on the right side of each clip, letting you share it, add the show to your List, and react using a “LOL” button, making it (understandably so) more social than the TV version.

Netflix’s Fast Laugh feature is slowly rolling out to users in the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and “other select English-speaking countries.” Only adult profiles have access to the feature, and you’ll have to bypass a content warning to start watching the stream. It remains unclear how many people are part of the Fast Laughs test for TVs, as well as when (or if) it will be rolled out to all users.