Streaming TV series that endure past the second or third season mark feel like a rarity these days. Stretching into fourth and fifth season territory, like Hulu’s madcap Only Murders in the Building, is rarer still.
Speaking of that particular series, which comes from co-creators John Hoffman and star Steve Martin, it’s basically grown into a kind of comedy hall of fame the longer that the show’s gone on. The cast of Season 4 alone, for example, includes Meryl Streep, Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, Eva Longoria, Richard Kind, Melissa McCarthy, Kumail Nanjiani, and Molly Shannon. Season 4 of the comedic murder mystery also happens to be the #1 series this week across all of streaming, according to the latest ranking from Reelgood.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the series just dropped its season finale a few days ago — a finale that saw (*spoiler alert*) the conclusion of the investigation into who murdered fan-favorite character Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch). She, of course, was the lesbian stunt double of Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage.
Raves the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus about the series (which has a near-perfect 96% critics’ score for the new season), “The gang is back together in a more metatextual season full of famous faces, continuing Only Murders in the Building‘s reign as one of television’s most delightful comedies.” No wonder a Season 5 renewal consisting of 10 episodes was quickly announced following the debut of Season 4.
It’s also no wonder, if you ask me, that the series is #1 on Reelgood this week. Reelgood monitors 20 million viewing decisions each month across every streaming platform in the US, from Apple TV+ to Max, Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Paramount+. For the 7-day period that ended on Oct. 30, the 10 TV shows that topped Reelgood’s latest weekly ranking include:
- Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
- Agatha All Along (Disney+)
- The Penguin (HBO/Max)
- Disclaimer (Apple TV+)
- High Potential (Hulu)
- Lioness (Paramount+)
- The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix)
- From (Prime Video, S3 on MGM+)
- Matlock (Paramount+)
- Rivals (Hulu)
Speaking of Only Murders in the Building, one other thing that stands out to me from perusing this latest Reelgood ranking is just how many series follow the traditional TV model of weekly episode releases rather than the Netflix drop-every-episode-at-once release cadence.
I don’t know that I’d draw any over-arching conclusion from that fact about the tide turning, so to speak, but it’s nevertheless interesting that when you look at the most popular TV series right now — shows like Only Murders, Agatha All Along, Disclaimer and Lioness — you’re dealing (or already dealt) with weekly episode drops, which serves to keep interest in a series strong over a longer period of time.
Looking ahead to next week’s TV series releases, meanwhile, I have every confidence that the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s anime series Arcane, as well as Part 2 of the fourth season of Outer Banks, could both likely end up on the Reelgood ranking in short order. For more about both shows, check out our overviews of their new seasons here.
