‘American Primeval’ Dethroned In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A New Show

This article was published on 1/14 and republished on 1/15.

As you may have realized by now, I am always tracking what series is at the top of the charts on Netflix, and now I think we’re seeing a whole new era of this emerge. The WWE Monday Night RAW era.

After sitting on top of the Netflix top 10 list for a while, American Primeval, the limited series starring Taylor Kitsch, is now down to #2 thanks to the arrival of Monday Night RAW on well, Monday night. What I believe may be happening now is that every Monday, RAW may end up being the most-watched thing on Netflix before it quickly drops off. Granted, this is only week two of this deal with Netflix, but RAW is a program that will run forever and likely put up good numbers whenever it airs. It crashes down the list after people are done watching it live, but I do wonder if every single week we will begin with RAW domination of the list.

As for American Primeval, the show had mixed reviews with a barely fresh 61% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are much more into it with a great 87% score on their end. Given that this is a limited series, it will be ending now. Probably. Maybe. Netflix has been know to take successful limited series and turn them into longer productions, but I’m not sure American Primeval has done that well to warrant going that extra step. It’s not impossible, I just don’t think it’s all that likely in this case. It is not based on a book, so maybe they could invent more stories in this vein, but we’ll see.

The rest of the list has Squid Game at #4 for season 2. It was putting up record viewership numbers last we checked, but the question remains of whether it can keep up that pace to surpass Squid Game season 1 as the most-watched series in Netflix history. It’s a tall order, and it must not trail off in order to that. We are three weeks after release and it’s still #4, however, so that’s a good indicator it continues to do well.

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AMC has finally added The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live to Netflix, the Rick and Michonne series that is meant to be an end to their story. Probably. Maybe. So far that is indeed a limited series while others like Daryl Dixon and Dead City press on. My wife is thrilled about the addition of Younger to Netflix which she is now watching for what I believe is the eighth time. Not exaggerating.

I was into wrestling when I was younger, but I just don’t have the time to watch three hours of RAW a week at this point, but I’m glad people are enjoying it on its new home.

Update (1/15): As expected, WWE RAW only lasted on top for a single day, and American Primeval has shot back up to the top of the list with RAW down in third place now, and it will continue dropping off fast and most people want to watch it live. Racing up to #2 is AMC’s The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which I believe is higher than any other Walking Dead series has gotten on that list. My guess it that Rick Grimes being shown off front and center may have gotten some lapsed fans to return, ones that gave up on the series after he died (“died”).

Unlike my colleague Erik Kain, I didn’t mind the show all that much. I thought it was better than the Daryl Dixon spin-off, though not as good as Dead City with Negan and Maggie. But it was certainly better than anything in Fear the Walking Dead past season 2. So sure, I recommend it for fans I guess. The ending is sort of weird, however, and it’s unclear what Rick’s fate is from here in the still-ongoing Walking Dead spin-off universe.

The rest of the list still has Squid Game season 2 planted at #4, and we have some new data from Netflix on its latest figures. Here’s what they just said:

“For the third week in a row, Squid Game is dominating the Top 10 charts and is the most watched title of the week with 26.3 million views, reaching the Top 10 in all countries. The season has amassed 152.5 million views since its premiere on Dec. 26, making it our third most-watched season on Netflix ever alongside Squid Games season 1 and Wednesday.”

It may hit the top at this rate, we’ll have to see. But it’s still a long road ahead to reach that mark.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.