‘Wednesday’ Tops ‘Stranger Things’ to Set New Netflix Viewership Record
Wednesday’s child is less full of woe today, as the masterful new Tim Burton-directed and produced series managed to do the previously unthinkable — it bumped Stranger Things from its Netflix pedestal.
The new series, based on Charles Addams’ classic comic strip, dropped on Netflix on Wednesday, November 23, and has since pulled in 341.2 million hours of viewing, according to the streamer’s internal data measurement. This beats Stranger Things’ 335 million viewing hours tracked during the release of Stranger Things 4 from May 30 to June 5, which previously held the viewing record for English language Netflix series.
The overall record holder is still Squid Game, which brought in a whopping 571.76 million hours viewed during its initial release week in 2021 and followed that up with two more weeks at the 400-hour mark.
Wednesday also hit the top spot on Netflix for the week in 83 countries, tying Stranger Things.
The series follows the Addams family’s precocious and uncompromising daughter as she is forced off to boarding school at Nevermore Academy, where her parents first met and fell in love. Teenage misanthrope that Wednesday is, she’s unhappy about this new development, and, of course, angry with her mother. She’s also beginning to suffer startling visions that may or may not predict the future.
The black comedy follows a murder mystery, an unlikely friendship, a budding love story, and a tiny town full of secrets, werewolves, serpents, vampires, and monsters.
While there hasn’t officially been an announcement about a renewal for Season 2, Netflix would be unlikely to give up on what has proved to be one of their biggest hits yet, built on a beloved franchise. The team is certainly open to coming back for more, likely with more of the Addams family characters taking on larger roles.
Wednesday, Season 1, Streaming Now, Netflix
