Netflix’s latest hit series “Wednesday,” the “Addams Family” spin-off directed by Tim Burton, has reached a milestone that only “Stranger Things” Season 4 and “Squid Game” managed to achieve. “Wednesday” surpassed 1.02 billion total hours watched in just three weeks since its debut, the company announced, with more than 150 million households watching the show. This means that it is now the second most popular English series on Netflix.
“Wednesday” premiered on November 16 and has since become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring billions of TikTokers, including “Mother Monster” herself, Lady Gaga, who recreated Jenna Ortega’s choreographed dance scene ( plays Wednesday Addams) in episode four, “Woe What a Night.” The hashtag #wednesdayaddams has 16.9 billion views on TikTok.
Additionally, the eccentric young adult series was responsible for the surge in streams for The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck,” which, as of this writing, has over 16 million streams on Spotify. Similarly, “Stranger Things” resurfaced the Kate Bush song “Running Up That Hill,” which gained popularity on both TikTok and Spotify.
It’s worth noting that “Wednesday” stole the silver medal for “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” the biographical drama series starring “American Horror Story” actor Evan Peters. Previously the second most popular English-language series on Netflix, “Dahmer” reached 856.2 million hours in 28 days, while “Wednesday” only needed 21 days to become a huge hit. It took 60 days in total for “Dahmer” to surpass 1 billion hours of viewing.
The achievement is remarkable for the streaming giant, especially after it lost more than a million subscribers in 2022. The company ultimately gained 2.41 million subscribers in the third quarter. Also, during this year’s Emmy Awards, Netflix trailed rival HBO Max, with just 26 wins to HBO/HBO Max’s 37.
Netflix is among the top nominees for the 2023 Golden Globes, with 14 TV nominations and nine film nominations. “Miércoles” earned two nominations, including Best Television Series (Comedy) and Ortega was nominated for Best Actress.
Is there a possibility that the series will win a Golden Globe? Probably not. But for a family show to be recognized at any awards show is a big problem for Netflix, especially since the series is a runner-up to popular shows like “Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders in the Building.”
It’s also important to note that “Wednesday” is a spin-off, so it was guaranteed to attract a lot of nostalgic viewers. Yes, the show is brilliant, putting a creative spin on the 1964 TV series as well as the 1991 and 2019 movies. It’s also directed by Tim Burton, the iconic filmmaker behind “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. But unlike “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game,” which are completely different in their own wild ways, “Wednesday” copies a possibly over-the-top tactic many streamers opt for: rebooting franchise after franchise until something sticks.
So while Netflix nailed it this time, the streaming giant needs to release more high-quality original series that have brand-new concepts and characters if it wants to keep up with its rivals.