- Netflix claims its new period drama series Bridgerton, produced by Shonda Rhimes, is on track to reach 63 million subscribers in the first four weeks.
- That would Bridgerton one of Netflix’s top five original series since the company started telling anyone who watched for two minutes as a viewer.
- Variety gathered data from Netflix to determine all of the most watched Netflix originals since late 2019.
Almost eight years after Netflix released its first original series, the streaming service has many originals to tell. This month alone, 49 original programs, films and specials will debut in the service. In fact, one even debuted today. While it may be almost impossible to keep up with all of Netflix’s production, many shows are coming to reach a large audience, from infallible box office hits to smaller chess shows.
Netflix has always kept its cards closed when it comes to audience numbers, but recently started to pull the curtain a little bit and take a look at the stakeholders. For example, earlier this week, Netflix announced that its new period drama Bridgerton was on its way to surpass 63 million views in the first four weeks. That would make it the fourth most watched series on Netflix of all time, but how is the rest of the first five series?
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Like Variety explains, Netflix changed its viewing metric in late 2019 to count anyone who watched any movie or episode on a show for at least two minutes as a viewer. Many popular shows were released about a year after the metric changed, but these are the top five seasons of the original Netflix series at that time:
5. The Queen’s Gambit
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the drama of Netflix’s limited series, THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT, is a maturing story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers a surprising talent for chess while developing an addiction to state-supplied tranquilizers as a sedative for children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms herself into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.
4. Bridgerton
From Shondaland and Creator Chris Van Dusen, Bridgerton follows Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest daughter of the mighty Bridgerton family on her debut in the competitive Regency London wedding market. Hoping to follow in her parents’ footsteps and find a partner spurred on by true love, Daphne’s prospects initially seem unmatched. But when his older brother begins to discard his potential suitors, the high society scandal written by the mysterious Lady Whistledown casts slanders over Daphne. Enter the highly desirable and rebellious Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), a committed bachelor and the capture of the season for the mothers of debutantes. Despite proclaiming that they want nothing the other has to offer, their attraction is undeniable and sparks fly as they find themselves in a growing battle of intelligence as they navigate society’s expectations for their future.
3. Tiger King: Murder, Chaos and Madness
Among the eccentrics and cult personalities in the strange world than the fiction of the owners of big cats, few stand out more than Joe Exotic, a mulleted polygamist, gun in hand and country singer who presides over a roadside zoo in Oklahoma. Charismatic but misguided, Joe and a cast of unbelievable characters, including drug lords, crooks and cult leaders, all share a passion for big cats and the status and attention their dangerous animals garner. But things take a dark turn when Carole Baskin, an animal activist and owner of a big cat sanctuary, threatens to put them off the market, fueling a rivalry that ends up leading to Joe’s arrest for a rental murder plot, and reveals a distorted tale in which the only thing more dangerous than a big cat is its owner.
2. La Casa de Papel (Money Heist): Part 4
La Casa de Papel Part 4 begins in chaos: The teacher thinks Lisbon (Itziar Ituño) was executed, Rio (Miguel Herrán) and Tokyo Úrsula Corberó) blew up an army tank and Nairobi (Alba Flores) is fighting between life and death . The gang is going through one of its most difficult times and the rise of an enemy among its ranks will put the assault in serious danger.
1. The wizard
Convinced that Yennefer’s life was lost in the Battle of Sodden, Geralt de Rivia takes Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home, Kaer Morhen. While the continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons struggle for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses within.
You can visit Variety’s site to see how the rest of Netflix’s 17 most-watched originals perform.
Jacob started covering video games and technology in college as a hobby, but it quickly became clear to him that this was what he wanted to do for a living. He currently lives in New York writing for BGR. His previously published work can be found on TechHive, VentureBeat and Game Rant.