Wow stuff from Netflix, Amazon and Hulu

It’s likely you read some fairly dramatic material in The Press last Sunday.

The subject was teen suicide.

Actually, beyond the tragic acts themselves, the excellent news story by Brooke Wolford and an editorial that accompanied it were sparked by the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” — an original production from the giant streaming service.

There definitely was a message in the series, although the show’s executive producer, Selena Gomez, had a very different idea of what the takeaway should be than what’s happened in real life.

Gomez says it was meant to be a cautionary tale, but sadly, far too many young people saw a glamorous version of suicide in “13 Reasons Why” — and acted on it.

In fact, though, there was a second message we can take from that series.

It won’t be quite as tragic, hopefully, but it may last a long, long time.

NETFLIX.

It’s important to note where this series on suicide originated, because there will be plenty more stunning and controversial shows streaming across our TVs, computers, tablets and phones in the years to come.

Roughly four years ago, the visual universe that we visit through these various devices changed dramatically.

Netflix and the lesser-known Hulu had begun life as a DVD rental service and web-only product, respectively.

Meanwhile, sales giant Amazon would find you anything — books, movies, curling irons — made by someone else.

By 2013, all three of these companies had realized there was more revenue available by moving beyond the offer of movies and TV shows via direct stream.

Deep in competition, they each took another leap and began producing their own original content.

It was cautious at first — these weren’t movie companies, after all — but soon enough they began collaborating with some very talented people.

Now here we are, just a few years later, and both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are producing home-grown material that can compete with anything you’d find in Hollywood, Sundance or Cannes.

Hulu remains third for now, but wait: It’s a joint venture that includes The Walt Disney Co., 20th Century Fox, Comcast and Time Warner.

Stand by for liftoff.

ONE THING about competition is that it forces the players to be good.

Spectacular, even.

Unafraid, definitely.

And these clearly aren’t basement operations.

Netflix, which has almost 100 million subscribers in 190 countries, released 126 original series or films in 2016 — more than any other network or cable channel.

But now the empire is striking back, as Amazon seems to be releasing original programming on its Prime streaming service almost every hour — and it’s not bland stuff.

Netflix reaped publicity for “13 Reasons Why,” but Amazon almost simultaneously hit screens of every size with “I Love Dick.”

It’s a series about a New York married couple that moves to the art-based community of Marfa, Texas, and begins all sorts of sexual shenanigans and experimentation after falling under the spell of a charismatic cowboy named Dick.

“I Love Dick” comes from Jill Solloway, the same creator who gave us an earlier Amazon show called “Transparent” — a wacky but compelling series about a family whose patriarch changes genders.

Look, by now you should be getting the point.

All three of these streaming networks are heading for content galaxies far, far away.

This is wow stuff, folks.

Many, many of these productions are simply and wonderfully outstanding, but still...

Be advised.

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Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. You can reach Steve via email: scameron@cdapress.com.