‘You,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ & More Shows That Netted a Nifty Netflix Boost
You
You need only look at the near-vertical spike on Google Trends’ line graph to see how popular this psychodrama has become since becoming a “Netflix Original” last month. Cue headlines like this one from Complex: “Thanks to Netflix, ‘YOU,’ a Show From 2018, Is 2019’s First Hit.”
Grey’s Anatomy
In a 2016 article about the Netflix Effect, Marketplace marveled that viewership of this ABC medical drama’s pilot episode had doubled in the past five years and that almost 40 percent of the viewers who streamed the show summer before had started watching the show during the regular season that fall.
Schitt’s Creek
This Pop comedy’s ratings have doubled since its debut, and co-creators (and father-and-son team) Eugene and Dan Levy both believe its availability on Netflix is partly responsible. “When we got on Netflix, there was a noticeable improvement in awareness of the show,” Eugene tells Vulture. Adds Dan: “I definitely think that the combination of airing on Pop early in the new year and then re-airing in Netflix in the fall — it’s kept the conversations happening around the watercoolers in a way.”
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
No one can keep Kimmy Schmidt down… not in a bunker and not in development hell! After Tina Fey and Robert Carlock created this comedy for NBC, the Peacock Network opted to sell it to Netflix, where it has streamed four seasons so far — with a fifth and final chapter on the way.
Black Mirror
Not only did Netflix purchase this British sci-fi anthology from Channel 4 in 2015, it also went on to release both of the show’s Emmy-winning episodes, “San Junipero” and “USS Callister.” Plus, Netflix gave us the interactive “Bandersnatch” installment as a one-off special this December.
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Haven’t heard of Crackle? No worries — this Emmy-nominated talk show made the leap from that digital network to Netflix in 2017. In the resulting 10th season, host Jerry Seinfeld carpools for caffeine with the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Tracy Morgan, and Kate McKinnon.
La casa de papel
Good thing Netflix acquired this Spanish action series in 2017 and ordered additional episodes. The show, alternatively known as Money Heist, ranked #4 on the list of top 10 binge-watched shows of 2018, following only Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, and 13 Reasons Why.
Longmire
A&E canceled this Western crime drama, starring The Matrix‘s Robert Taylor and Battlestar Galactica‘s Katee Sackhoff, in 2014. Three months later, however, Netflix brought it back from the dead. And by producing three more seasons, the streaming service doubled the show’s lifespan.
Trailer Park Boys
This Canadian mockumentary, which original aired on Showcase, found a whole new audience when Netflix picked it up in 2014. Since then, Netflix has produced four more seasons, plus three new specials.
If you’ve come to know Penn Badgley as less of a “lonely boy” and more of a stalker boy in recent weeks, you likely have Netflix to thank.
The streaming giant inherited the TV show You from Lifetime and made it a viral sensation. And that series isn’t the only one Netflix has saved.
Click through the gallery above for other TV shows — from Schitt’s Creek to Grey’s Anatomy — the company resurrected, or at least revitalized.
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