Netflix is on quite an interesting kick as of late, given that at this moment, its top four shows are all reality-based across a wide spectrum of topics. Recently dethroned is Murdach Murders: A Southern Scandal, where a second season of the show just arrived and it spent a shockingly long amount of time on the top 10 list, being just three new episodes, six total. It chronicles murders in a South Carolina community, and their ties to a powerful local family.
The rest? The new #1 is Encounters, a UFO documentary series that seems like it would be better placed on TLC. It’s four episodes long and debuted at #1, which is impressive, and appears to suggest people really, really like aliens. One episode is even about UFOs appearing after the Fukishima power plant disaster in Japan? Uh, okay.
Second place goes to Love is Blind, which will continually be rolling out new episodes, a reality show exception to Netflix’s binge philosophy. Another murder docu-show, Who Killed Jill Dando? is number four.
Only after this point in the list do we get to scripted series, the final season of Sex Education, which never hit number one, a new season of Virgin River, still doing very well, the kidnapping mystery Dear Child, where I was the only one to not like it, it seems. Then The Pacific, One Piece and New Amsterdam.
Outside of Love is Blind, which is probably going to get 15 seasons when all is said and done, it’s unclear which of the other reality shows need another season. If Encounters is this successful, I have to imagine that it’s easy enough to find four more sets of UFO encounters to make more content here. Given that Ancient Aliens has lived forever, perhaps Netflix wants their own variant of that. As for the others, I’m not sure if there’s anything left to tell in either the Murdaugh Murders or Jill Dando’s case.
So, what’s coming up next? In October, Lupin season 3 will likely do extremely well, as that series has been a huge sleeper hit for Netflix in the past. Mike Flanagan’s Fall of the House of Usher on October 12 is what I’m looking forward to the most. Those appear to be the big, obvious choices for series that will do well, but as we’ve seen, these reality shows are hard to predict and they can come out of nowhere to blow up big. We’ll see what’s next.
Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Read the full article here
