Netflix’s most-watched shows of 2022
With less than a month till the end of 2022, discover the top 10 most-watched English language shows on Netflix.
1. Stranger Things, fourth season
The fourth season of Stranger Things was released as two volumes with a total of 9 episodes. In this season, the audience gets a better understanding of Eleven’s background and life story before she became a hero. Strangers Things has been viewed for 2,967,980,000 hours since it was released in late May. The show has become so popular among teenagers and young adults that even its soundtracks led the charts for weeks. Today, Stranger Things holds the title of number one on Netflix 2022 as well as the title of all-time number one on the streaming platform.
2. Dahmer- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, first season
The first season of the American true crime anthology series Monster focuses on the life of American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, played by Evan Peters. Peters previously worked with the show’s executive producers and co-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan on different seasons of American Horror Story. Although it was controversial at times, the show received high praise from the critics, especially for its acting by Evan Peters and Niecy Nash. The show has been watched for 962,470,000 hours since its release on September 21. Although initially it was supposed to be a one-season show, thanks to its success Netflix already renewed its contract with Murphy to continue the show as an anthological series.
3. Bridgerton, second season
Bridgerton is an American historical-romance drama show based on the book series of the same name by Julia Quinn. The second season was released on March 25 and was a huge success, racking up 656.16 million hours viewed in its first month. The show focuses on the story of the Bridgerton family in Regency-era London. One of the reasons why the show has been a huge success is that it’s centred on the female gaze which challenges the norms of the romance genre in the TV and film industry. The second season of Bridgerton has been viewed 949,010,000 hours so far.
4. Manifest, fourth and last season
Manifest was initially released on NBC in 2018 only to be cancelled after its third season in June 2021. It tells the story of a group of passengers and crew of a commercial airline disappearing and reappearing after five years. The supernatural drama, much like its plotline, got its own revival thanks to Netflix with its fourth season. Netflix renewed the show for its last season by ordering 20 episodes in two volumes. The first volume was released on November 4, and before too long it has been viewed for 916,830,000 hours making it an absolute favourite.
5. Wednesday, first season
Although it came out relatively late in the year, having premiered on November 16, the first season of the American comedy-horror show Wednesday has been viewed for 752,520,000 hours, making it a big contender for the top three before the end of the year. Wednesday tells the story of a young girl who possesses psychic powers. The show is based on fictional the Addams Family. Four out of eight episodes were directed by Tim Burton who is known for his quirky style. The show received high praise from the critics and the audience especially for the performance of Jenna Ortega who plays the main character.
6. Ozark, fourth and last season
Ozark is an American crime-drama show starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. It tells the story of a middle-class family moving to the Lake of Ozarks and becoming money launderers. Thanks to its Breaking Bad style premise and the great acting by Bateman and Linney, the show has been praised and nominated for Emmys as well as Golden Globe Awards. The fourth and last season of Ozark was released on April 29 in two volumes with a total of 14 episodes. Thus far the show has been viewed for 751,600,000 hours.
7.Cobra Kai, fifth season
Cobra Kai is a direct sequel to The Karate Kid franchise telling the story of the characters from the original films and their lives 30 years after the films. The fifth season is actually only the third season of the show released on Netflix. The ten-episode season was released on September 9 and has been viewed for 658,360,000 hours. It has received positive reviews from critics and audiences mostly due to its nostalgic connection to the original franchise.
8. Inventing Anna, limited series
Much like Dahmer, Inventing Anna too is based on real-life events. The limited series was created for Netflix based on an article in New York Magazine titled "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by Jessica Pressler. The show was released on February 11 with 9 episodes telling the story of an alleged German heiress, and how she was able to con the high society of New York. Russian-born Anna assumes a persona to get funds from the elites of New York to open her private club only for crème de la crème of New York high society. The show received praise for its outstanding acting by Julia Garner portraying Anna Sorokin / Delvey. Since its release, the show has been viewed for 654,560,000 hours.
9. Umbrella Academy, third season
Umbrella Academy is a superhero show based on the same name comic book series written by Gerard Way, illustrated by Gabriel Bá, and published by Dark Horse Comics between 2007 and 2008. The show tells the supernatural story of seven children born on the same day at the sale exact time around the world. They all get adopted by the same person and are educated to form a superhero academy. The seasons alternate in time (time travel) and setting (different timelines and settings due to time travel) and all children have different superpowers. The third season was released on June 22 with a total of 10 episodes. Umbrella Academy has been viewed for 414,630,000 hours since June.
10.The Crown, fifth season
The Crown is a historical drama focusing on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II from 1947 till the present day. The fifth season was released on November 9 on Netflix, just one day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The show received praise for its historically accurate costumes and the likeness of actors chosen for their real-life counterparts. Matt Smith portraying Prince Philip in the first two seasons of the show has said during an interview with Variety that Prince Harry once had addressed him as “granddad”. However, the show also received a great number of criticisms and was deemed by critics as a “sensationalist show”. Due to the controversies, Netflix categorized the fifth season as a “fictional dramatization.” The twelve-episode season was released on November 11 and has been viewed for 403,660,000 hours so far.
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Credits for the Main photo: Bridgerton, second season