‘Wednesday’ Is Somehow #1 On Netflix Again, Five Weeks After Release

I am not sure I’ve ever seen a show behave quite like what we’re seeing with Wednesday on Netflix, though then again, there have been few shows like Wednesday on Netflix, period.

While Wednesday had a long run as Netflix’s #1 show for several weeks after its launch on November 23, it eventually dropped down in the rankings, and we’ve seen at least four other new #1 shows since then, Harry & Meghan, The Recruit, Emily and Paris and The Witcher: Blood Origin.

But now? All of those are dropping fast and somehow, five weeks after release, Wednesday is back as the #1 show on Netflix.

Why…did this happen? There’s been no news about Wednesday season 2 yet, which would create a spike in interest. They did not pull a Sandman and add in a bonus episode or anything. The only thing that makes sense is that with everyone home for the holidays, that the one show that got recommended around through word of mouth more than any other is Wednesday, and as such, it has shot back up the list with a broader appeal than the more niche Emily in Paris or The Witcher.

Netflix has released its top-performing shows of the year list, and Wednesday is #1 with 1.3 billion hours viewed as of a few days ago, second only to Stranger Things season 4 at 1.87 billion hours. It beat out Dahmer, Bridgerton Season 2, Inventing Anna, Ozark season 4, The Watcher, The Sandman, The Umbrella Academy season 4 and Virgin River season 4, most of them by close to a billion hours viewed in total.

As ever, Netflix has still not officially announced a season 2 for Wednesday, but it’s just about the most obvious renewal in Netflix history. It’s likely that contracts are being negotiated behind the scenes, and I would expect an announcement soon for probably at least two more seasons, if not some sort of five season master plan. I’m not sure how the show was originally conceived with an overall arc, but it’s now one of the most popular shows in the entire world, so it’s going to get whatever it needs to tell whatever stories it wants from here.

Netflix is a service which has an unfortunate history of cancelling loads of teen girl/YA-style shows after one or two seasons, but Wednesday is a glaring exception, a series that has broken through across all demographics and become one of their most popular…ever. Expect another half decade of Wednesday to come, at the very least.

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