In this weekly data series powered by Parrot Analytics, we look at the top new TV shows of the past week across broadcast, cable and streaming that have premiered in the past 100 days.
Netflix’s latest South Korean drama, “All of Us Are Dead,” had a phenomenal debut in its first week since premiering on January 28. For the week of January 29 – February 5, the show had 26.5 times the average series demand, making it the fourth most in-demand new series that debuted in the past 100 days.
The demand for “All of Us Are Dead” — a teen thriller set during a zombie apocalypse — underscores the rising interest in K-dramas following the global success of last year’s megahit “Squid Game,” which emerged as the most in-demand new series premiere in 2021 globally. Netflix also had two other Korean series that premiered after “Squid Game” with high demand: “The Silent Sea” and “Hellbound.”
Also new to the top breakout shows chart this week is “The Legend of Vox Machina” from Amazon Prime Video. The animated fantasy series, which premiered on January 25, had 22.7 times the average series demand thanks to a strong fan base for the “Dungeons & Dragons”-based web series “Critical Role” on which it’s based.
The team behind that series went to Kickstarter looking to make a single 22-minute special — and ended up funding a 10-episode season. Then Amazon Prime came on board for two 12-episode seasons.
In some ways this show parallels the earlier success of Netflix’s “Arcane,” which is still ranked in sixth place, with 24.6x the average series demand. Both shows are adult animation and based on video game IP. The success of both these shows points to two trends to watch — growing demand for adult animation and gaming as a source of IP.
Hulu’s new series “Pam and Tommy,” which chronicles Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s marriage and infamous sex tape, sneaked into the 10th spot on the list, with 19.2 times the average series demand. With episodes scheduled to be dropped weekly, the trajectory of this show remains to be seen. Critics on RottenTomatoes have given the series a solid 70% fresh, but some fans have grumbled that Anderson did not sign off on the series — an ironic oversight for a show about the nonconsensual release of a sex tape.
