Netflix’s 10 most-viewed original TV shows of all time: Squid Game was a smash success of course, but how did Bridgerton and Tiger King compare?
STYLE ranks the streaming platform’s best originals based on how many members watched them within their first 28 days of airing. Here are the streaming giant’s biggest hits so far.
Reel lives: 11 actors who won Oscars for playing historical figures
10. Sweet Tooth season one – 60 million
Description: “On a perilous adventure across a post-apocalyptic world, a lovable boy who’s half-human and half-deer searches for a new beginning with a gruff protector.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 98 per cent
What critics said: “Sweet Tooth is especially compelling as many of us move toward some form of post-pandemic normalcy, raising questions about what new world awaits us after such tremendous, collective loss.” – Salon
9. The Queen’s Gambit – 62 million
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 97 per cent
What critics said: “Raise your hand if you anticipated a coming-of-age, period-piece drama about a female chess prodigy in the 1950s and 1960s becoming perhaps the most addictive and binge-worthy series of 2020.” – Chicago Sun-Times
What to watch on Netflix in October – from a new K-drama to Diana: The Musical
8. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness season one – 64 million
Description: “A zoo owner spirals out of control amid a cast of eccentric characters in this true murder-for-hire story from the underworld of big cat breeding.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 86 per cent
What critics said: “A compelling series in fits and starts that doesn’t amount to much more than a trip through an extremely strange world filled with extremely strange people.” – Newsday
7. La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) season four – 65 million
Description: “Eight thieves take hostages and lock themselves in the Royal Mint of Spain as a criminal mastermind manipulates the police to carry out his plan.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 75 per cent
How Squid Game’s Jung Ho-yeon and Blackpink Jennie became BFFs
6. (tie) Stranger Things season three – 67 million
Description: “When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one strange little girl.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89 per cent
What critics said: “It’s a real and joyful return to form for the show that has been taken fiercely to the hearts of people who weren’t there the first time round and, perhaps even more fiercely, by those who were.” – Guardian
6. (tie) Sex/Life season one – 67 million
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 23 per cent
What critics said: “Sex/Life drowns itself in the shallow end, so to speak, by failing to even generate much heat. There are plenty of R-rated scenes – so many, actually, that they get repetitive.” – Time
Who’s your hottest Oscar tip? 24 new films to keep your eye on
4. (tie) The Witcher season one – 76 million
Description: “Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster-hunter for hire, journeys toward his destiny in a turbulent world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 67 per cent
What critics said: “And although The Witcher is more fantasy balderdash, it’s also somewhat addictive fantasy balderdash. Bring on the blood-spilling, the orgies, the haunted forests and wizards: it seems we can’t get enough.” – Detroit News
4. (tie) Lupin season one – 76 million
Description: “Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 98 per cent
What critics said: “The series doesn’t waste a single minute, packing each and every moment full of suspense. Put all of that together, and it’s an early front-runner to steal a spot as one of the best shows of the year.” – Slate
Hollywood’s 10 highest-earning roles for women – so who got US$95 million?
2. Bridgerton season one – 82 million
Description: “The eight close-knit siblings of the Bridgerton family look for love and happiness in London high society. Inspired by Julia Quinn’s bestselling novels.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 89 per cent
What critics said: “There are eight episodes of Bridgerton, and they all have endings that are like chapters in a good book: they leave you in a spot where you just want to read one more chapter before you turn off the light for the night.” – NPR
1. Squid Game season one – 142 million
Description: “Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits – with deadly high stakes.”
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 92 per cent
What critics said: “A twisty, fast-paced, action-packed show whose episodes end in killer cliffhangers – in other words, the ultimate binge bait.” – Time
- The streaming service said that survival K-drama Squid Game was its biggest original series ever with 142 million households watching in the first month
- Money Heist, The Queen’s Gambit starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Stranger Things, Sex/Life and Lupin ranked on our list, but they weren’t all loved by critics