Critics Hate Them, But These 10 Netflix Shows Are More Popular Than You Realized

Summary

• Netflix recently made the surprising decision to share its viewing statistics.
• The most recent data examines the popularity of shows during the first half of 2023.
• Comparing viewing hours to critics' scores is a good indicator of overall trends.

While it is not uncommon for Netflix's biggest hits to receive universally positive reviews, critics and viewers tend to disagree. A good barometer of this trend is Rotten Tomatoes: few movies and TV shows will have the same Tomatometer and Audience Score.

But a far better litmus test of the public's preferences is the number of hours spent watching a particular show. Until recently, however, Netflix, unlike other streaming services, preferred to hide such data, providing only vague information in the form of global and regional Top 10s. But as of December 12, the streamer is now releasing more comprehensive reports that include the total number of hours spent on a particular show.

The data released by Netflix shows that in the first half of 2023, subscribers did not favor the series that were praised by critics.So let's take a look at the most-watched shows and how they were received by critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

10. Love is Blind, Season 4 — Rotten Tomatoes score 67% vs. 229,700,000 hours of viewing

9. Kaleidoscope, limited series — Rotten Tomatoes score 49% vs. 252,500,000 hours of viewing

8. FUBAR, Season 1 — Rotten Tomatoes score 51% vs. 266,200,000 hours of viewing

7. Outer Banks, Season 3 — Rotten Tomatoes score 56% vs. 402,500,000 hours of viewing

6. La Reina del Sur, Season 3 — 429,600,000 hours of viewing

5. You, Season 4 — Rotten Tomatoes score 92% vs. 440,600,000 hours of viewing

4. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, limited series — Rotten Tomatoes score 95% vs. 503,000,000 hours of viewing

3. The Glory, Season 1 — Rotten Tomatoes score 88% vs. 622,800,000 hours of viewing

2. Ginny & Georgia, Season 2 — Rotten Tomatoes score 60% vs. 665,100,000 hours of viewing

1. The Night Agent, Season 1 — Rotten Tomatoes score 74% vs. 812,100,000 hours of viewing

Striking Difference Between Viewers' and Critics' Opinions

As we can see, the data provided by Netflix are quite unexpected. In the first place was the action thriller The Night Agent, created by Shawn Ryan. Many critics noted that the narrative was rather boring. Only the viewers don't share the same opinion, as the whopping 812,100,000 hours prove.

A striking contrast is the series You, which for the fourth time has received extremely positive reviews from critics. Only the public is completely tired of the concept of a maniac who stalks women and regularly gets away with it, as the series, despite its formidable number of views, has been overtaken by much less hyped releases. As a reminder, Netflix is set to release a fifth and final season — let's see if the number of hours watched will drop dramatically.

General Trends

In terms of overall audience preferences, viewers continue to love Netflix's original reality shows, as evidenced by the fact that the fourth season of Love is Blind was one of the most-watched series in the first half of 2023. On the contrary, the critics have become more and more coldly critical with each season.

An interesting case is the series Kaleidoscope, starring Giancarlo Esposito. Many critics noted the irrelevance of the unique narrative, which implies the possibility of watching the episodes in any order. Viewers, on the other hand, liked this approach. It seems that the latter are much more invested in unique concepts.

The only series where the interest of critics and viewers at least roughly coincided were the Bridgerton's prequel spin-off Queen Charlotte and the South Korean psychological thriller The Glory — fascinating and original plots will leave few indifferent.