Stranger Things creators reveal why the Netflix show nearly didn't get made

Studio executives 'didn't get it'

Despite summer notoriously being relatively bad for TV drama releases, this year has seen the release of an across the board hit: Stranger Things.

Netflix's original show has been praised by critics and fans alike, many praising the creative the twin sibling behind the project, the Duffer Brothers, who wrote and directed the series.

However, the Winona Ryder-starring horror series almost didn’t get made because various TV studios “didn’t get it”.

In an interview with Rolling Stones, the brothers recounted how, when they were shopping the series around, many executives didn’t like the idea of having children as the leads without it being a children’s show.

"You either gotta make it into a kids show or make it about this Hopper [detective] character investigating paranormal activity around town,” one apparently told them, to which Matt Duffer replied: "Then we lose everything interesting about the show.”

He added: “There was a week where we were like, 'This isn't going to work because people don't get it.’”

In the same interview, the brothers spoke about how they never thought they would be in contact with Netflix, home to the likes of Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, but friends managed to put them in contact with the streaming service’s executives.

Meanwhile, a release date for the soundtrack to Stranger Things has been announced, the whole record currently streaming on Spotify.