In this weekly data series powered by Parrot Analytics we look at the top breakout shows of the past week. Breakout shows are the most in-demand series that have premiered in the past 100 days.
While Hulu’s “How I Met Your Father” ranks No. 5 on this week’s list of the most in-demand new shows, according to Parrot Analytics data, and Peacock’s “Bel Air” is at No. 7, they’re good examples of series that are reboots of beloved shows that are each charting a different course in sustaining audience demand.
Currently, “HIMYF” hovers below 20 times the average series demand for most of its season. The season finale was released on March 15 and drove demand for the show to the highest levels it has reached since premiering. The show has been renewed for a second season despite a number of negative reviews that have criticized the show’s reworking of the original CBS series format as a shallow nostalgia play.
If “HIMYF” has been criticized for copying the original too closely, Peacock’s “Bel-Air” is an example of a show that has dramatically reimagined its source material (and received a fair amount of criticism for going too far). But the data from the past few weeks suggests that “Bel-Air’s” approach is paying off.
While both “Bel-Air” and “HIMYF” saw a burst of nostalgia-driven interest for their premieres, they’ve taken different trajectories since then. Demand for “HIMYF” sagged following its premiere, while “Bel-Air” has grown its demand and held onto those gains. The lesson? Nostalgia can be a powerful starting point for a reboot but a show needs more than that to succeed.
“Our Flag Means Death,” HBO Max’s pirate comedy from Taika Waititi, grew its demand by an impressive 24% from last week and moved into second place. Similar to Paramount+’s “1883” and HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” this series is a period piece but it shows how a historical setting can be as effectively used for a comedy as for drama.
Two platforms in particular have had several of the most in-demand premieres recently. For the week ending March 18, HBO/HBO Max and Hulu each had three original series among the top 10. All other platforms represented in this chart had only one show make the cut.
Netflix’s most in-demand new series, “Inventing Anna,” ranked as the No. 10 most in-demand breakout series, with its demand rapidly falling. Hulu has had a string of successes with its original series since late last year as it focuses on original content to hedge against the risk of losing the rights to licensed shows that make up the bulk of its catalog.
