Netflix has a lot of titles. The service currently has 4,033 movies and documentaries and 5,344 overall titles available. And out of all of those movies TV Shows and documentaries, Netflix’s algorithm chooses no more than 75 titles for a category called “Trending Now” at least in a comparison between the Netflix iPad app and the Netflix app on my Roku Streaming Stick. So I found it very interesting to see Lethal Weapon listed as one of the trending titles. In fact not only is the first chapter in the series part of the grouping but LW3 and LW4 also made the list. We think that the trend points to something important for Fox. The network behind the new Lethal Weapon series may well have a hit on its hands.
When we first noticed Lethal Weapon as a title we could not help but notice that it will be expiring on October 1. Seeing that we decided to manually check the rest of the titles on the list of Trending Now. This is because as people who follow the company know, there are monthly reports about what will be coming and leaving the service each month. Of the 72 other titles, (besides the Lethal Weapon movies), listed in the Trending Now category, only 4 movies (Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop 2 Back To the Future and Back To The Future 2) were also on their way out in October. There is a long list of departing titles in October but it’s mostly reality shows, see here . I don’t think I missed any. So this means that the trending titles are not necessarily boosted by what is about to leave.
Flaws in Our Thinking
Lethal Weapon is not the only older title in this category which includes Contact, Escape from LA and Kingpin along with 90’s TV shows Friends and Star Trek Voyager. And unless we have missed something none of those other movies listed are being made into a new series. Star Trek, of course, is getting another shot on TV with CBS’s upcoming project. So it could be that the inclusion of the Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is a coincidence.
The Ratings Have been Strong So Far
Besides our own hunches, the ratings for the show appear to have gotten off to a fast start. The series debuted to a strong start as the show tied Designated Survivor as the highest-rated Wednesday new series. This week the series had a small drop as new shows begin to roll out. It could be that our theory on this is very thin, anorexic even. But It will be fun to see where things go from here. If you have not seen the new Lethal Weapon series you can check it out through Fox’s apps or Hulu. It has great action sequences and snappy dialogue that harkens back the source material. But if you get inspired to knock out the originals you best get to binging right now.