When a TV blog best known for Alison Brie GIFs and more Alison Brie GIFs demands something, you listen. On Friday, we politely asked that you check out the obscenely good Orange Is the New Black over the weekend, lest we shank you with a screwdriver dildo, and that’s exactly what you did: according to All Things D, more Netflix subscribers watched Jenji Kohan’s prison comedy in its first week than Arrested Development or House of Cards.
If you are looking for something concrete to say about Netflix’s foray into original programming, though, the company was willing to offer one tidbit, which it made a point of mentioning twice during its earnings call: Every time Netflix has rolled out a new show this year, its first-week ratings improved on the previous show.
That is: Arrested Development did better in its first week than House of Cards did in its first week, both in terms of viewer numbers and hours viewed. That isn’t a huge surprise, because House of Cards was a new show, and Arrested Development was a reboot of a series with a big fan base.
But Orange Is the New Black, which debuted earlier this month, did better than any other show Netflix has released…People are either watching it because Netflix suggests it (Netflix said more than 75 percent of viewing comes via its recommendation algorithms) or because people they know are suggesting it. (Via)
So, Orange is a major hit for Netflix, despite receiving little pre-debut publicity and a cast whose biggest star is either the masturbating guy from American Pie or the girl who isn’t Tara Reid from American Pie. This is excellent, exciting news, and one thing’s for sure: the hell is a Hemlock Grove?
(Via)
