There seems to be a pretty solid formula when it comes to what makes a show a hit on Netflix. You take at least one but no more than eight teenagers/young adults and have them get involved in various supernatural weirdness and/or shenanigans with light to moderate violence and sarcasm. It’s not new, but it is something that Netflix has been leaning into lately: it’s worked with Stranger Things, Shadow and Bone, The Umbrella Academy, and it almost worked for Warrior Nun (RIP). But the latest one to really stick the landing is Wednesday, probably because it took the formula and added Tim Burton into the mix.
After debuting last month, Wednesday has already reached an impressive milestone by becoming the second-biggest week of streaming ever recorded by Nielsen. Can you guess which show is still the first? What’s even more impressive is that the series had only been out for five days of the viewing window, meaning that number can, and likely will, go up.
Netflix reported that the Jenna Ortega-led series jumped from 341.2 million hours watched in its first five days to 411.3 million the following week. Variety notes that there is a slight discrepancy with the data due to Netflix and Nielsen’s measurement system but the main takeaway here is that this show is getting a lot of traction and has no sign of slowing down.
Despite the major numbers, Netflix still hasn’t renewed the series for a second season, though it’s likely that there will be more of the Addams family coming to screens, and Ortega hopes it gets even “darker.” If they really want some more viewers, maybe they should add a ton of gore to appeal to the Squid Game fans. Wednesday does love her little dangerous pranks!