Will Arnett commentating on boring things is Netflix's genuinely good April Fool

It’s April Fools’ Day tomorrow, which means that anyone with a sibling younger than nine is getting whoopee cushion’d at least twice before noon, and the internet will be so rammed with nauseatingly unfunny #FAKENEWS and branded trolling that it’s probably worth giving Facebook the morning off.

Netflix’s April Fools’ prank, however, is pretty good. In fact, we kind of wish it was real. Sign into your account now and you’ll see “Netflix Live: Sneak Peek” on the homepage. Click that and the message “connecting to Netflix Live” will pop up for a few seconds. What you’ll actually be redirected to is a fake live-stream (it’s actually 48 pre-recorded minutes) of a show the streaming service claims to be launching officially on April 1.

The entirety of the ‘preview’ consists of Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Bojack Horseman, The LEGO Batman Movie) extensively narrating some decidedly boring situations. Imagine Will Arnett, with that unmistakeable, gravelly voice of his, commentating on an inactive photocopier, or a particularly awful attempt at parallel parking, and you’ve got a good idea of where they’re going with this.

But as we’ve learned from the Drummond puddle and video games like Train Simulator, mundanity can be captivating. Don’t be surprised if you end up sitting through the entire thing transfixed by the funnyman actor’s rambling.

e2444cece2cd2232bcc59b2b5124cb54-1556687140-gIg3-column-width-inline.png — Riveting...seriously

We don’t know how much longer Netflix will leave the video up for, but those who have already stumbled upon it seem to be enjoying themselves.

Matt Tate is a freelance journalist and contributor at for Shortlist. Formerly Stuff Magazine’s news editor and based in the UK, he’s been writing about consumer tech for around eight years, with a particular focus on gaming.

For his sins, Matt is a huge Tottenham Hotspur fan and unfortunately spends a lot of his time scanning his published work for Spurs-related digs that may have been slyly inserted by editors. Otherwise, he’s often buying Lego sets he can no longer accommodate and trying to perfect his carbonara recipe. He can be found tweeting (mostly about football and video games) at @MattWTate.