What are the most watched Netflix shows of all time?
Netflix is winning the OTT streaming platform now across the world. Although, it is still competing with Hulu, HBO, and Amazon Prime Videos in the USA.
In India, Netflix is yet to achieve the most number of subscribers like Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Videos.
Well, I thought of sharing with you the Netflix shows that are widely popular and most-watched.
If you haven’t yet watched them, you can certainly use this quarantine time to binge-watch the mostwatched Netflix shows of all time.
Let’s get started with the list of the Netflix series:
(The Series are not in order)
Friends
Friends is still the most watched shows on Netflix. It doesn’t need any introduction.
Every year there is rumor of canceling showing ‘FRIENDS’ on Netflix, but since it is an on-demand one of the most binged American sitcoms, Netflix rather planned to keep it even though they had to pay a lot.
I read it on a post in Vulture that Netflix paid close to $80 million to the Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to keep the show running.
WarnerMedia might run the classic ‘Friends’ on its own subscription streaming service when the contract gets over with Netflix.
That’s a lot of money indeed. But this proves that even after years, ‘Friends’ is the lovable and most watched Netflix shows.
Netflix hasn’t revealed any viewing figures for ‘Friends,’ not that is known to me.
My husband and I still enjoy watching at least one episode a day of ‘Friends.’ This is the 4th time we are re-watching the sitcom because it is the best.
Although Netflix is releasing a lot of original series that are worth watching and some of them are also popular and have a huge viewership per season. I will soon include them in this list, keep reading.
The Office
The Office is probably the only competitor to Friends. While researching the most-watched Netflix shows, I found out from several sources like Popculture, and Chicago Tribune that the popular TV show ‘The Office’ has beaten ‘Friends’ as the most-watched licensed Netflix Tv show.
The Office popularity has crushed other series. Hopefully, the show will continue to be streamed on Netflix till 2021.
So, if you haven’t yet watched this weirdly amazing sitcom show, utilize your leisure time in watching The Office, if you love streaming.
You
Netflix claimed in 2019 that a lot of people are binge-watching ‘You.’
According to Netflix, the original series starring Penn Badgley as an obsessive stalker has been viewed with more than 40 million viewership in the first four weeks of the streaming.
So, when Netflix releases its original series ‘You,’ I was also one of the binge-watcher of this series.
I found the character Joe, an awful intense psychopath who believes he is a good guy, and he deserves to be loved by a perfect girl.
The most exciting thing about the series is the background narrative by Joe himself. It is like writing a journal. He is describing his feelings, his desires, and wanting to be seen by his ladylove and unseen by the rest of the world.
He is way too complicated a character in his mind.
I found season 1 of Netflix’s thriller original series ‘You’ more exciting and captivating than the season 2.
There are plenty of reasons why ‘You’ is one of Netflix’s most-watched shows. In case you have missed it, stream it this weekend.
Breaking Bad
The next most watched, addictive, and best-ever shows of Netflix is ‘Breaking Bad.’ Everyone will agree with me. Breaking Bad is a show that everyone recommends to watch on Netflix.
The transformation of Walter White from a high school teacher to the drug lord Heisenberg is epic. The slow transformation of a protagonist to an antagonist.
The relationship between Walter White and Jesse Pinkman is tumultuous that keeps you wonder throughout the Breaking Bad series. They share a love-hate relationship that takes both through a hell of life-threatening situations.
I was pretty late when I finished watching ‘Breaking Bad’ it was in late 2015 when I first took the Netflix’s subscription.
The initial few episodes were slow to grab my interest, but once I figured out how interestingly the character Walter White is playing, it hooked me up till the very end.
After years, Vince Gilligan’s ‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad’ movie got a release on Netflix that took us back into the frame of Breaking Bad. According to Nielsen, the Breaking Bad movie ‘ El Camino’ reached 8.2 million viewing figures in its first weekend.
Stranger Things – Most Watched Netflix Show
I am a die-hard fan of Duffer brothers Netflix Original series ‘Stranger Things.’
The science-fiction horror drama series is an extraordinary tale of four friends and a little weird girl ‘El’ who discovers a series of extraordinary mysteries and experiments that involve supernatural forces.
All this took place in a fictional small town Hawkins in 1983.
Season 3 had way more exciting plot as compared to season 2 to watch. Season 3 deals with adulthood, teenage love, and facing old and new enemies.
There are a great many wow factors in the series. The season 1 had limited viewers, but what’s shocking was the number of viewership Netflix declared on the season 3.
Netflix claimed that the sci-fi drama was viewed by more than 64 million in just four weeks of its release, and it was a record-breaking number ever for Netflix.
In 2019, Stranger Things became one of the most-watched Netflix series. The making of the fourth season of ‘Stranger Things’ had officially begun, but due to COVID- 19 pandemic, it is now on hold.
You can also read more:
45 Best Movies to Watch on Disney+ Hotstar 2020
38 Best Movies to Watch on Amazon Prime Video 2020
The Witcher
Netflix’s The Witcher is a fantasy-action drama series still streaming on Netflix. The fictional drama series follows the tales of The Witcher Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter.
Henry Cavill played the character The Witcher (Geralt), and he is one of the reasons for the success of the series.
Instead of Geralt (Henry Cavill), I liked the performance of Yennefer, a century-old sorceress. Her transformation from the Yennerfer who gets mistreated by everyone and cursed with a twisted spine and jaw.
She transformed herself into a full-fledged sorceress who is too powerful to defeat.
No doubt, the series has gained an incredible response from the audience, but as a viewer, I felt the role of Geralt as ‘The Witcher’ wasn’t that captivating. It role could have been a better and added value to the series.
According to Netflix, 76 million users had chosen to watch the series, and it is massive.
Money Heist
Money Heist is a Spanish heist crime-thriller (La Casa de Papel). The plot is simple, a mastermind Professor who has a plan of the biggest heist in the Royal Mint of Spain to print billon of euros.
For his heist plan to execute, he hired eight people, each with a unique attribute. The group of thieves holds hostages inside the Royal Mint of Spain to negotiate with the authorities.
On April 3rd, amidst the pandemic lockdown, Money Heist released its fourth season globally and became the most addictive and in-demand shows on Netflix. It seems there is never a dull moment in this popular Spanish heist drama series.
Well, it seems Money Heist has to draw more viewers from the 2020 ‘Tiger King’ and rose close to 65 million viewership.
Even some celebs are posting on their Insta stories on how much they are enjoying ‘Money Heist.’
The Professor is a fascinating character in the series, and as the season grows, the group of eight thieves gets more relentless to follow the Professor’s plan.
How do they end up?
Watch it now on Netflix.
Sex Education
Netflix’s ‘You’ and ‘Sex Education’ has almost the same, quite fantastic viewing figures. While Netflix’s original movie ‘Bird Box’ has been viewed by around a massive 80 million Netflix users.
British teen-comedy ‘Sex Education’ has been viewed by 40 million the same as ‘You’ in its first month of release.
Netflix’s ‘Sex Education’ is hilariously diverse and educational. A majority of teen series focuses on romance and adulthood issues. Sex Education has something specific to talk about.
The first season deals with Otis (Asa Butterfield), a high-school student whose mom is a sex therapist. Otis has the interest to solve other sexual problems, but he is too shy to talk about his issues.
There is also a fantastic character Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Otis’s best friend and a gay who is hilarious yet sensible when talking about sexual relationships.
More than sex, the series also shows us how teens react to their issues. It is a great valuable TV show that turned up to discuss the so-called must hilariously discuss ‘unethical’ stuff.
Elite
Elite is yet another Spanish teen suspense thriller series to be watched on Netflix. The plot of Elite is full of mysteries. It focuses on the life of several high-class students of Las Encinas, an exclusive private school in Spain.
There is a mystery of murder, love, romance, parties, and betrayals in the most-watched Netflix show ‘Elite.’ The series also explores social class disparities and religious cliché.
If you are a fan of Spanish movies and series like Money Heist, you should watch ‘Elite.’
It is not a school drama so, definitely not for the below 18. It is a passionate and interesting show for the adults who loves teen drama.
According to Netflix, the Spanish drama series has received a viewing figure of 20 million. (Source: Digital Spy)
Also Read:
Best Bollywood Suspense-Thriller Movies and Web Series 2020
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Orange is the New Black
Orange Is the New Black is one of the longest-running and award-winning series and is one of the first Netflix Original that has received 105 million viewers, according to a Variety cover story.
It is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman; Orange Is the New Black that depicts the story of Piper how she landed in jail and what does she experienced inside the walls.
I have watched the entire seven seasons, and I loved it. There are some characters like Suzanne (Uzo Aduba), Poussey (Samira Wiley), Red (Kate Mulgrew), Tasha (Danielle Brooks) whose performances I liked the best.
It is entertaining, meaningful, romantic, hilarious, racist, and historically a series where a dozen of black women, brown women, trans women, immigrant women, and mentally-ill women have been shown under a single roof.
Orange Is the New Black shines a light on the issues of the America justice system, economic inequality, police violence, racism, biased political judgment; everything has been systematically mirrored throughout the seven seasons.
The Walking Dead
American zombie series ‘The Walking Dead’ has continued to be the most viewed Netflix series for years. It has ten seasons, and I have watched til season 8. For years, it remained ranked, but its viewership has fallen drastically now.
The AMC hit now streaming on Netflix has once got 15 million viewers for each episode. It used to be an incredibly popular only best zombie series. But it has fallen significantly from the last season.
Now that Netflix Original has many good alternative zombie movies and series, people who love zombies have diverted from watching ‘The Walking Dead.’
‘The Walking Dead’ has an IMDB rating of 8.2, which is great.
13 Reasons Why
Netflix’s teen series 13 Reasons Why is a suicide drama where the story revolves around the character Hannah, a young woman who suicide because of 13 reasons.
Her classmate Clay finds a mysterious box that contains 13 recordings made by Hannah before her suicide.
And in those 13 recordings, she explains why she took her life. Rotten Tomatoes score 81%.
The show received an average of around 2.6 million viewers in the US, and the second season received an average of over 6 million US viewers. (Source: Decider.com)
‘13 Reasons Why’ focuses on issues like bullying in high schools, harassment, rape, and suicides.
The Umbrella Academy
‘The Umbrella Academy’ is Netflix’s third most popular TV series in 2019, and over 45 million Netflix users had viewed the series.
The series is based on the comics, and the Netflix original has gained quite a huge fan following of this series. The series has a superhero theme that people loved watching. It deals with issues like family relationships, romance, and other familiar topics.
You can watch this weirdly amazing Netflix’s series in 2020.
Lucifer
With the IMDB rating of 8.2, Netflix’s fantasy drama ‘Lucifer’ has continued to dominate Netflix’s series. It also named one of the most-watched Netflix shows in 2019.
After the release of Netflix season 4, the series has been a hit.
The plot of ‘Lucifer’ revolves around a devil/demon Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) who comes back to Los Angeles to run a nightclub and his nuances. It is an interesting series to watch.
Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai brings back memories of the 90s’ ‘Karate Kid’ movie series. The karate drama series becomes a hit.
The series began streaming on Netflix in early September, and as per Netflix, 50 million member accounts have watched the series. Cobra Kai has recently released its third season.
The plot continues with the rivalry between two earlier champions Daniel LaRusso and Jonny, with them joins a group of teenagers engaged in a Karate championship.
I have just started watching the third season of the series, and it is quite thrilling to watch.
The Haunting of Bly Manor
I love watching horror and thrilling movies and series, and Netflix has several good shows and films to watch.
‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ has taken the spot, and the audience has truly loved the series for its uniqueness and engaging content.
When Netflix released the series in the first week of its streaming, it entered the number two slot with an estimated 1.18 billion minutes watched.
Unless you watch the entire series, you won’t understand what it is really about.
The Crown
The four seasons of the series ‘The Crown’ have created a buzz about the queen and the royal family. There were speculations about the integrity of the royal family.
The series got upbeat in popularity with its fourth season, where the focus shifted on the character Princess Diana and her turbulent marriage with Prince Charles.
According to Nielsen’s streaming top 10 series ‘The Crown’ tops in its chart. The series also ranks 8.7 in the IMDB.
No one can deny that each actor in the series have given their 100 percent to bring perfection and do justice to the British royal historical drama.
I loved Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season. It looked tremendously exciting to see two powerful women characters onscreen at the same time.
Emily in Paris
Netflix brought a fresh limited series for us, ‘Emily in Paris’ in 2020 and this happened to be one of the most watched Netflix shows in 2020.
Though Netflix does not reveal the actual viewership data, it is estimated that it has been watched for approximately 676 million minutes.
The series gained huge popularity in the United States. The show focuses on Emily Cooper, an American staying in Paris, and her American perspective about the French people, culture, and language. The content is absolutely fresh, and I loved the character, Emily Cooper.
‘Emily in Paris’ portrays the cultural clash and disparity that is fun to watch during the 2020 lockdown.
The Queen’s Gambit
Netflix Original series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is my favorite series for the year 2020. The miniseries has indeed occupied my mind and attention with its smart, well-crafted story and with the brilliant performance of Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth, the young Chess prodigy.
This is perhaps the only series that I enjoyed the most watching in 2020. According to the sources, the limited series has been watched by 62 million subscribers in the first 28 days of streaming. It is indeed one of the most viewed shows on Netflix 2020.
Never have I Ever
The coming-of-age drama series on Netflix created by Mindy Kaling is an awesome TV show to watch. The story focuses on an American Indian high school’s teenage life who unexpectedly lost her father and found herself difficult adjusting to her life without her father and her confused identity.
Why is the show popular?
Each episode highlights new issues and questions that every teenager faces. There is a beautiful blending of humor and sarcasm in the dialogues.
The show handles the issues of loss, grief, loss of identity, and teenage nuances subtly.
It is indeed a binge-worthy TV show.
Conclusion:
So, these are the most binged Netflix shows that Netflix has revealed its viewing figures.
I recommend you to watch them all.