It is time for one of Netflix’s strongest sleeper shows to be dethroned at last. That would be Virgin River, the long-running (for Netflix) series that just debuted season 5 a bit ago, which has been ruling the top 10 list and unseated One Piece rather quickly. The show has now been replaced by the former #2, Dear Child, a limited series from Germany.
Again, because we live in something of a TV journalism wasteland, the #1 show on Netflix doesn’t even have enough reviews in for a Rotten Tomatoes score, but the three(!) that have arrived are all positive, and it has an 83% from audiences. What’s it about? “After a woman is hit by a car and hospitalized, authorities try to make sense of puzzling information from the young girl who was with her.”
Having not watched this yet, I really have no idea what this show is, whether it’s sci-fi or supernatural or just a normal thriller. But I may have to give it a shot, given that it’s just six 45-50 minute episodes.
As for Virgin River, topping the charts now in its fifth season, it was already renewed for season 6 before it aired. Netflix loves this show because it performs very well and is extremely cheap to make as it doesn’t require any wild special effects or anything like that (though they are no doubt underpaying its crew and non-A-list cast, relative to its success, as the Writers and Actors strike will claim).
One Piece has thankfully been renewed for season 2, and it appears Netflix may have longer term plans for its new live-action anime universe that fans have been absolutely loving. Fourth is Surviving Summer, back for its second season and doing decently well.
We now have both Band of Brothers and The Pacific on the list at #5 and #8, two of HBO’s greatest shows ever as part of a licensing deal with Netflix. Huge gets for the service, and I do suspect Band of Brothers will creep up higher over time.
Selling the OC and Glow Up, two Netflix reality shows, have not done terribly well, sliding to the bottom of the list, far below what we see from say, Love is Blind. But these shows are so cheap to make it doesn’t matter, and Netflix will need to rely on more of them once their cup runs dry as the strike presses on.
I don’t expect Dear Child to remain on top for long, and I think Virgin River may return to replace it soon. We’ll see.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
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