As the COVID-19 pandemic has taken hold of the world, people have been stuck in their homes for months. So it’s no surprise that streaming services saw a major surge in viewership over the past year. And as expected, streaming giant Netflix dominated television with its content, as evidenced by its domination in Google's list of the top 10 trending television shows of 2020.
Over the past year, many Netflix originals have dominated the conversation – both online and in-person. Much of this is due to social media such as Facebook and Twitter driving the chatter, with shows’ hashtags trending for days. Another factor is many of these series tackled sensitive issues and topics during a challenging time. With that said, here is Google’s list of the top trending television series for 2020:
1. Tiger King
2. Cobra Kai
3. Ozark
5. The Queen's Gambit
6. Little Fires Everywhere
7. Outer Banks
8. Ratched
9. All American
10. The Last Dance
Based on the list, the number one spot goes to the cultural phenomenon known as Tiger King. The docuseries dominated much of early 2020, with its outrageous personalities and even more outrageous feud between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskins. Netflix dominates the top five with YouTube transplant Cobra Kai, money-laundering drama Ozark, superhero dark comedy The Umbrella Academy and the much-talked-about The Queen’s Gambit.
The streaming giant takes the number seven and eight spots in the list with teen drama Outer Banks and the Sarah Paulson-led Ratched, respectively. The CW sports drama All American, ESPN docuseries The Last Dance and Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere break up the Netflix monopoly. But even All American and The Last Dance have received help from the streamer, as both increased in popularity due to being streamed on Netflix.
But Netflix has been gaining dominance over traditional television for years, as more people tend to prefer either binge-watching or recording their favorite shows to watch later. The streaming giant has given the world landmark shows such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and The Defenders franchise. I don’t see Netflix's reign ending anytime soon, with series such as Stranger Things, Selena: The Series, On My Block and Grand Army always trending on social media. Although some would argue that the streamer hands out its fair share of cancellations, it still maintains a heavy stable of content.
Given the social media reception of Fate: The Winx Saga and Bridgerton trailers, Netflix should continue to dominate in 2021. This trend may stick if our current circumstances remain well into the new year.
You can check out and stream the shows named on Google’s list over on Netflix, except for Little Fire Everywhere, which is on Hulu.
