Why is Rivals, the horniest period drama on TV, the one Disney+ won't promote?
The Jilly Cooper adaptation returns November 11 after a five-month mid-season hole. Its fans spent the gap begging the streamer to tell anyone the show exists.
Rivals finally resumes on November 11: a three-episode drop on Hulu in the US and Disney+ internationally, then weekly to the finale. That completes a 12-episode season the streamer sawed in half — part 1 wrapped on June 5, on a cliffhanger, and then nothing for five months. Season 1 arrived in October 2024 as a single binge; the follow-up got the split-and-wait treatment instead.
The r/PeriodDramas thread about the return date reads like a support group for people recovering from that gap:
"I almost died this summer and one of the things I think about often is I would've died without seeing part 2 of the season lmao"
And the second-most-common sentiment is the one that indicts the streamer:
"Love this show! I hope it gets promoted so more people find it!"
Fans shouldn't have to do a marketing department's wishing for it. This is an adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 1988 bonkbuster with David Tennant as a scheming TV mogul, Aidan Turner — Poldark himself — as a crusading Irish broadcaster, Alex Hassell's Rupert Campbell-Black seducing half of 1980s Gloucestershire, and Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson stealing scenes. Naked tennis, stately homes, class warfare: every ingredient Netflix turned into a global event when it was called Bridgerton.
Netflix built a holiday season around Bridgerton. Disney+ split its own version in half and went quiet for five months.
The Bridgerton that Disney+ keeps in the attic
The comparison isn't flattery; it's a business model Disney+ is declining to use. Bridgerton became Netflix's crown jewel through saturation — trailers everywhere, premiere-date countdowns, a spinoff. Rivals has the same raw materials, a devoted audience, and a parent company that treats each return like a scheduling obligation. A five-month hole in the middle of a 12-episode season is how you treat inventory, not a flagship.
The twist the thread's anxiety doesn't account for: the show is safe. Disney renewed Rivals for season 3 back in June, before part 2 even had a date.
Don't miss: Heated Rivalry has been streaming for a year. Fans still paid $1.4 million to see it in theaters
That sharpens the question instead of settling it. A streamer confident enough to order season 3 of its horniest hit still can't be bothered to put posters up for season 2 — the fans found this show on their own, and at some point Disney+ should try helping them.
Previously we wrote: Is Love Island sinking? Maya Jama just left after three years