‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 Overtakes Season 1 in Netflix’s All-Time TV Rankings

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIn the wake of big spender Netflix’s Q1 shocking subscriber loss news, David Zaslav made a point to say Warner Bros. Discovery “will not overspend to drive subscriber growth” during Discovery’s first-quarter earnings call Tuesday.“As you’ve heard me say, we are not trying to win the direct-to-consumer spending war,” the WBD CEO said, instead promising that the newly combined WarnerMedia-Discovery company would “invest in scale smartly.”Warner Bros.

Kate Aurthur editorThe once-and-future “Grey’s Anatomy” super couple of Jackson and April — played by Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew — are set to appear on the finale of the medical drama’s 18th season on May 26, Variety has confirmed.Williams left “Grey’s Anatomy” last season, having played Jackson since the show’s sixth season. Drew, who’d departed the show in 2018, returned for a guest appearance in May 2021 to send Jackson off to his new life in Boston, where he was taking over his family’s foundation.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHBO’s “House of the Dragon” cost under $20 million per episode to produce its 10-episode first season, which debuts Aug. 21, a source close to production told Variety.For comparison, “Game of Thrones” cost HBO around $100 million to per season.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Farnsby & B,” the Season 2 finale of “Ghosts.”Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finally opened their bed & breakfast in the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale Thursday — only for their dreams to come literally crashing down moments later thanks to a curse. In the closing seconds of the episode, titled “Farnsby & B,” Sam and Jay are ready to welcome their first guests to the Woodstone B&B after defeating their enemy neighbors the Farnsbys in a game of pickle ball to get them to close their spitefully opened competitor, the Farsnby & B.But just as they open the doors, the floorboards crumble beneath them, suggesting the curse Thor (Devan Chandler Long) put on them before he got to know Sam is actually real.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix’s “Bridgerton” was viewed for more than 2.5 billion minutes during the week of its Season 2 debut, according to Nielsen’s newly released streaming Top 10 rankings.The Chris Van Dusen-created period romance was easily the No. 1 program on streaming for the week of March 21-27 on Nielsen’s charts, even though only its first season was available for the majority of that week, as Season 2 premiered on March 25.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAfter months of criticism and anticipation, “The Masked Singer” episode featuring the unmasking of Rudy Giuliani finally aired Wednesday on Fox. The show’s installment with the disgraced former mayor of New York City and former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, got a 0.6 demo rating and 3.6 million total viewers, according to fast-affiliate Nielsen data.Viewership for Season 7 has been in flux since its March 9 premiere, with the Fox celebrity singing competition drawing a season high 4.3 million viewers on March 30, only to reach a season low of 3.9 million last Wednesday — which was beat by last night’s new low.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Matryoshka,” the Season 2 finale episode of “Russian Doll.”In Season 2, “Russian Doll” broke out of its first season’s “Groundhog Day”-style time-loop format with a “Quantum Leap”-like time-travel device that allowed Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) to jump into the bodies of their deceased loved ones by taking a trip on the New York City subway. Nadia becomes her mother, Lenora “Nora” (Chloë Sevigny), in the East Village in 1982, and grandmother Vera (Irén Bordán, younger version Ilona McCrea), in World War II-era Budapest, while Alan is inhabiting his grandmother Agnes (Carolyn Michelle Smith) in Germany during the Cold War in 1944.

Bridgerton star Simone Ashley who plays Kate Sharma on the popular period drama has spoken out on her “empowering sex scene” during an intimate chat with Alison Hammond.As fans hope to see more romantic moments between Kate and her new husband Anthony when the series continues, the 27-year-old revealed she also wants to see more steamy scenes in season three.“I think there’s much to be explored with Kate and Anthony,” she enthused, as she chatted with Alison on This Morning.“And I think that’s something I’d like to see even more in season three.”Despite the show’s infamous sex scene, the second season drastically toned down the raunchy scenes in favour of some tamer romantic encounters.Disappointed fans urged show bosses to bring back the raunchy scenes as viewers remain gripped to their passionate romance in the Netflix hit show.Some of Bridgerton’s sex scenes have been deemed rather scandalous compared to other period dramas, but Simone admits she actually found them some of Kate’s most empowering moments.She recalled one example: “We have a moment in episode seven where Kate’s the one to give consent and she’s like, ‘don’t stop, don’t stop,’ translating to, ‘I want this, I want this,’ which is so powerful in itself.“That scene in episode seven was incredibly empowering because Kate really does take the reins in that sense and she knows what she wants, and it was amazing to kind of represent that for women and to tell that narrative.”Fans were concerned the Sharma sister may not remain on the series as regulars after Simon Basset star Regé-Jean Page dropped out of the series after just one season.The actors have since confirmed they are more than willing to come back as part of the regular cast for season three and

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe finale of CNN+’s “Land of the Giants: Titans of Tech,” titled “The Netflix Effect,” launches Thursday, perfect timing for an entertainment industry that is both reeling amid Netflix’s shocking Q1 subscriber miss, poor second-quarter outlook and the wait to see if CNN+ can find its groove as quickly as it might need to in order to survive.Based on the “Land of the Giants” podcast from Vox Media’s Recode, the CNN+ docuseries explores the complicated histories of Meta (a.k.a. Facebook), Apple, Amazon, Google and now Netflix.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIrony Point is a production company that might not yet be known widely by name, but its projects, Netflix’s critically acclaimed “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson”; Paramount Plus’ revival of “Inside Amy Schumer” and Schumer’s recently renewed Hulu dramedy “Life & Beth”; Michael Che’s Lorne Michaels-produced HBO Max show “That Damn Michael Che,” and Marvel’s new scripted “Squirrel Girl” podcast, certainly are.The banner, which is currently one year into a three-year deal at Netflix, is headed up by co-presidents Alex Bach and Daniel Powell. And their rapidly ramping up company is one that studios and talent are going to regret not having gotten into business with earlier five years from now.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix reported its first-quarter 2022 earnings Tuesday, revealing how the company did in terms of subscriber signups and financial growth in the three-month period that included the debuts of “Bridgerton” Season 2 and “The Adam Project.”The streaming service lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1 and said it expects to lose another 2 million in the current second quarter. In January, Netflix reported it had 221.84 million subscribers at the end of 2021. The new total is 221.64 million subs.Netflix previously forecast 2.5 million paid net adds in Q1 while Wall Street analysts expected Netflix to add 2.8 million new subscribers worldwide in the first quarter vs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Ariadne,” the Season 1 finale of “Russian Doll.”It’s been more than three years since the first season of “Russian Doll” launched on Netflix, and as such, even the most die-hard fans of the Natasha Lyonne time-loop dramedy need to forgive themselves if they don’t remember exactly how the first-season ending played out. But it is important we get that straight now if you want to enjoy Season 2 right when it launches Wednesday.So here to clear up what she considers a “misnomer” about the conclusion to “Russian Doll” Season 1, which had a lot of threads to follow in its closing moments, for Variety is star and co-creator Lyonne herself.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIt should come as no surprise that cost is the main reason given for why someone will likely cancel a streaming service subscription — but what might be surprising is what those consumers feel is actually a fair price for Netflix, Disney+ and more platforms.According to Fandom’s second annual State of Streaming report, which was released on Tuesday by the mega-fan platform, 61% of those surveyed believe their streaming subs are too expensive and value the average streamer at $7.46 monthly.Here are the “average prices” consumers want to pay for top SVODs, per the Fandom study, in descending order: Netflix ($10.60), HBO Max ($9.30), Disney+ ($9.20), Hulu ($8.60), Amazon Prime Video ($8.60), Apple TV+ ($6.9), Paramount+ ($6.8) and Peacock ($5.5). The same report also revealed that 62% of surveyed consumers think “genre is the key differentiator” between streaming platforms, “with Disney+ being acknowledged as the genre-leader to date.”“I always look at originals and the way that they market originals is really the key to not only capturing audience, but keeping audience,” Anthony Iaffaldano, Fandom’s vice president of insights, told Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix has ordered an adult animated series based on the card game “Exploding Kittens,” starring “Lucifer” star Tom Ellis and Lucy Liu. A new mobile game adaptation, “Exploding Kittens – The Game,” is being co-developed and will launch via the streamer in May, well ahead of the TV show’s planned 2023 debut.The show, which is executive produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, follows the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell as it reaches epic proportions when both God and the Devil are sent to Earth – in the bodies of chunky house cats.Along with Ellis and Liu, “Exploding Kittens” stars Abraham Lim (“Clickbait,” “The Boys”), Ally Maki (“Wrecked,” “Toy Story 4”), Mark Proksch (“What We Do In The Shadows,” “Better Call Saul”) and Sasheer Zamata (“Woke,” “Home Economics”).

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarner Bros. Discovery and AT&T each ended the trading week with their respective shares selling at a 3% increase from where the stocks opened Monday.The newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery, born out of the $43 billion merger of Discovery, Inc.

exactly happened between Anthony and Kate on that gazebo? With so much to discuss, we called up showrunner Chris Van Dusen to ask every lingering question that remains about Bridgerton season 2. Spoilers ahead, obviously.Glamour: I need to know: Where is Francesca?Chris Van Dusen: I personally love that character, and I love working with [actor] Ruby Stokes. We unfortunately lost Ruby midway through filming due to another project.

Simone Ashley is looking back on the work it took to get her to where she is now, Bridgerton's rising starlet. MORE: Simone Ashley reveals surprising adverse reaction on Bridgerton setThe actress visited the Ellen Show, which was temporarily being hosted by comedian Tiffany Haddish and Ellen’s resident dancer Stephen 'tWitch' Boss.The three discussed Simone's upbringing, how she got into acting, behind-the-scenes details of filming the hit Netflix show, and she even revealed an incredible hidden talent.WATCH: Simone left mortified by fans reaction to showMORE: Bridgerton star Simone Ashley's new cut-out dress will blow your mindThe 27-year-old is of South Asian descent and was born in England before she moved to Los Angeles when she was ten-years-old.On Bridgerton, she plays the elusive Kate Sharma, a newcomer for the show's second season. The second installment's plot focuses on Jonathan Bailey's character, Viscount Bridgerton, on his journey to find the perfect match for him, and follows his growing interest in Kate.True to her California upbringing, her first role, which she confessed was a "wild experience" was in Straight Outta Compton, the biopic portraying NWA's trajectory and Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Dr.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Bridgerton” Season 2 has landed the title of Netflix’s third-most popular English-language TV series — a list that is calculated based on shows’ first 28 days on the streaming service — in just 17 days.Per Netflix’s newly released Top 10 data for April 4-10, “The series had 115.75M hours viewed on the English TV list, appearing in the Top 10 in 91 countries, making it the most viewed title for the third week in a row. The season also entered the Most Popular list at #3 with 560.50M hours viewed.

Like the whole world right now, we're obsessed with all things Bridgerton. If, like us, you binge-watched the whole series in one sitting, you will no doubt be loving all the fabulous characters, what they get up to, and of course, what they wear.

Would you have liked a bit more topless action in Bridgerton season two?

Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley has confirmed which Netflix show her loyalties currently lie with, amid speculation she wouldn’t be returning for the fourth season of Sex Education. The star, who rose to fame for her role as Olivia on Sex Education, confirmed the news on Tuesday as the fanfare around the second series of Bridgerton showed no sign of dying down. Olivia and Kate Sharma – the leading lady of Bridgerton season two – are entirely worlds apart, so it’s no surprise she won’t be keeping them both on.