Wow, I did not see this coming. I figured that Stranger Things, which Netflix just announced had its biggest English-language premiere of all time, has already lost its #1 spot on Netflix’s top 10 list, not even a week after it was released.
How did that happen? The new #1 show that has supplanted it is a documentary about the fallen Sean “Diddy” Combs called Sean Combs: The Reckoning. Here’s the synopsis:
“With unprecedented access in the days before his 2024 arrest, this documentary series thoroughly examines the rise and fall of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
It’s four episodes long, where almost all are an hour. Three of them cover his backstory, though the third episode starts to get into accusations about abusive relationships. Then, the finale is a number of accusers talking about claims of abuse which ultimately led to his arrest, trial and sentencing.
In October, Combs was sentenced to 50 months in prison with 12 months time served. In recent days, there have been a bizarre series of “leaked” prison shots of Combs in the Fort Dix prison, credited to TMZ, but they were made by AI after Google recently launched a photorealistic generation tool. Wild times.
Even though this is a high-profile case and series of crimes, I’m still kind of amazed it managed to knock Stranger Things down. Granted, fans of this show were so rabid to watch it after three years that they probably binged it all right away. And it was only four episodes with three more coming on Christmas Day and the two-hour finale on New Year’s Eve, so obviously it will be back on top in the coming weeks. It may go back to #1 once people get through the Diddy documentary.
At #3 we have a Matt Rife Christmas comedy special, a controversial comedian to say the least. Former #1 The Beast in Me is down to #5, but as a miniseries, it’s not looking for a season 2 renewal at all. Newcomer, the licensed series Victoria is at #7 with three seasons to watch, encompassing the entire run of the 2019 show.
December is mostly going to belong to Stranger Things, and I’m expecting to hear about potential spin-offs to come, though obviously that is all going to wait until after the finale. I don’t think Netflix is willing to let this property go if it’s putting up these kinds of numbers, though its creators, The Duffer brothers, will soon leave for Paramount. We’ll see what happens there.
Let me know how the Diddy documentary is. I don’t think I can stomach it myself.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.