2020 is a pretty good year for Netflix. The streamer has grown more than anyone expected in large part due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has left most of Hollywood kneeling. Netflix with its extensive library and deep reservoirs has weathered the pandemic better than any studio or streaming service. Even now, it remains the only streaming service to launch new content month after month and see great results.
Netflix started its year with original programming like Ozark which outshined the previous season in audience views and established itself as a drama that wasn’t only an awards heavyweight. That was followed by an unlikely hit, Tiger King: a documentary series based on owners of exotic pets in America. The crime documentary detailed the life of Joe Exotic a flamboyant owner of the biggest private Tiger park in America. The series was a pop culture sensation particularly in America and became a big hit for the network.
Read more: Disney’s streaming service fights Netflix for space in Covid-19 world
The success of Tiger King was followed by Money Heist, Netflix’s heist caper that sees a group of criminals rob the Royal Mint in Spain. The show’s 4th season which premiered in April quickly became the biggest foreign show for the network. The network added Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction and Mindy Kaling produced Never Have I Ever to the mix with both becoming runaway hits for the streamer. The former is in fact gearing up to be Netflix’s biggest film to date.
Tyler Rake is kicking ass.
👊💪💥💥💪👊
EXTRACTION is well on its way to becoming the biggest-ever film premiere on Netflix — with a projected 90 million households getting in on the action in the first 4 weeks.
Thanks to everyone who watched so far! pic.twitter.com/WqZWrW2gBV
— Netflix Tudum (@NetflixTudum) May 2, 2020
Netflix’s second game
Netflix has some big content set for this month. The streamer has already dropped the awaited first season of Ryan Murphy’s alt history take on Golden Age Hollywood appropriately titled Hollywood. The show was not the breakout hit many hoped but is slowly and steadily racking up streams from around the world.
Read more: ‘Extraction’ becomes the biggest Netflix film ever
It has also dropped the second season of the tragicomedy Dead to Me which is a favorite of fans of the streaming service. In addition, The Eddy jokingly dubbed as Damien Chazelle’s apology to black people after excluding them from his jazz oriented musical La La Land, was released. Also released for viewing is the return of Netflix comedy Unbreakble: Kimmy Schmidt in the form of an interactive, Choose Your Own Adventure game.
From Álex Pina – creator of Money Heist – and the producers of The Crown, with all the twists, turns and 🤯of The Stranger. White Lines arrives 15 May. pic.twitter.com/xufzEUemud
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) April 22, 2020
White Lines, Space Force and The Lovebirds
The big release this month is split between White Lines and Space Force. White Lines comes from Alex Pena, the creator of Money Heist and is a Narcos type series about a woman who goes to Ibiza to find her missing brother and gets involved in lots of danger. The show is produced by the team behind another big Netflix series The Crown and could be another giant hit for the service if the show’s promised twists and turns manage to grip the audiences. The series will hit the streaming service on 15th May.
Read more: How is global film industry fighting Covid-19
There is also Steve Carrel’s Space Force a workplace comedy about an armed service of NASA, Space Force. This is the veteran actor’s big return to a comedy show following The Office which continues to be one of the biggest hits for the streaming service and one of the most popular sitcoms around the world. Space Force also features other big names in comedy including Friends star Lisa Kudrow, Glee breakout Jane Lynch, Sonic’s Ben Schwartz and Academy Award nominee John Malkovich. The show is created by the Parks and Recreation’s Greg Daniels and bows out May 29.
Other noteworthy content dropping this month includes Control Z, a Spanish TV show compared to Elite which is another foreign hit for the streaming service. There is also Paramount’s The Lovebirds starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani that was set to be released in theaters but ended up on Netflix following the Corona virus pandemic. The movie is about a date night that goes terribly bad when the couple gets involved in a murder.
Netflix’s May lineup is very solid and it is particularly great that the streaming service is unafraid to release so much new content in a single month considering there is little to know when new series and films can be shot in the wake of Covid-19 shutting down productions.