‘The Sandman’ Recaptures The #1 Spot On Netflix’s Top 10 List

There’s a telltale sign that NetflixNFLX
has a massively popular show on its hands: when a series loses its #1 position, only to gain it back in the same season. And The Sandman achieved that milestone today when it recaptured the top spot from Never Have I Ever.

Here’s how today’s Top 10 rankings panned out:

1. The Sandman
2. Echoes
3. Never Have I Ever
4. The Cuphead Show!
5. Stranger Things
6. High Heat
7. Glow Up: The Next Makeup Star
8. Virgin River
9. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
10. Locke & Key

We’ve already seen this milestone completed a couple times this year with Stranger Things (which has the most #1 finishes of any show ever on Netflix) and Virgin River (which has the second-most first-place finishes). In fact, Stranger Things lost the top spot two separate times to The Umbrella Academy and Resident Evil, only to win it back from both of them days later. And Virgin River did it earlier this month when it stole the #1 spot back from Keep Breathing.

Before 2020, the only other shows that were able to pull it off were Who Killed Sara? (which has has the 12th-most first-place finishes ever with 12) and Tiger King (which has the fourth-most first-place finishes ever), The Queen’s Gambit (which has seventh-longest streak #1 streak ever) and Love is Blind (which has the tenth-most appearances on the Top 10 ever).

With all those accolades in mind, it’s clear that The Sandman is in pretty elite company.

It must be said, however, that The Sandman likely only gained the top spot back after Netflix dropped a surprise episode yesterday. This is seems to be a new tactic by Netflix, as the streaming service did the same thing with Stranger Things in July when it added two more episodes to Season 4. This continued momentum is what allowed Stranger Things to spend 42 total days in first place (the most ever) and claim the new record for consecutive days on the Top 10 (which has been stretched to 87 days today).

But that also makes you realize that Netflix believed in The Sandman like it believed in Stranger Things. It’s a really smart strategy to further propel shows that already have a cult following and keep them in the cultural conversation. By adding new episodes at random, Netflix can ensure that we keep talking about the shows that define their digital library.

So with today’s first-place finish, The Sandman brings its total to eight days this year, something only eight other shows have done. And, again, these are all elite shows: Stranger Things, Virgin River, Inventing Anna, Bridgerton, The Umbrella Academy, The Lincoln Lawyer, etc. Today’s finish also brings The Sandman’s Top 10 streak to 17 days.

We’ll see if The Sandman can hold onto the #1 spot for longer. After all, the show only added one episode. And there’s quite a bit of competition right now from Echoes and Never Have I Ever. So if The Sandman can string together another lengthy run, then we’ll know for sure that it has entered elite territory.