The Surprising Series That Beat Out The Crown In Netflix's Top 10 Shows For November
Surprisingly, The Crown wasn't the most-watched series on Netflix in November 2020.
The Crown, a dramatized retelling of the Royal Family's history, has long been a ratings champ and awards-season player for the streamer. As such, expectations were understandably quite high for the series' fourth season ahead of its November 15, 2020 premiere — particularly since said fourth season was set to follow the royals into the tumultuous 1980s and thus the Princess Diana era.
By all accounts, the latest run of episodes in Peter Morgan's beloved historical drama has more than delivered the goods, with Olivia Colman continuing her scene-devouring run as Elizabeth II, and newcomer Emma Corrin positively wowing as Lady Di. But even as the immaculately produced The Crown seems primed to make yet another run at awards-season glory, it's hit a bit of a snag in its endeavor to claim another ratings crown in Netflix land.
In fact, season 4 is currently bringing a bit of shame upon the House of Windsor, with The Crown surprisingly outshone by not just one, but two other Netflix series in November. While some might've anticipated strong viewership from another Netflix period drama The Queen's Gambit, there's little question The Crown's creative team is a bit shocked to have also fallen behind the number two show for November, Netflix's animated series Cocomelon.
The Queen's Gambit and Cocomelon have officially stolen the viewership crown from The Crown
As reported by Forbes, while The Queen's Gambit ruled Netflix's top spot for November on the whole, The Crown did, in fact, claim that spot for 11 straight days after its premiere, so it's not all bad news for Morgan and crew. In truth, no one should be all that surprised by The Queen's Gambit's reign, as it arrived under the guidance of Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Minority Report, Logan), and features a powerhouse performance from legit superstar-in-the-making Anya Taylor-Joy.
It should also be noted that The Queen's Gambit actually premiered in late October, and spent much of November riding an impressive wave of overwhelmingly positive word of mouth. Not surprisingly, The Crown's word of mouth wave is still very much swelling, so there's every expectation that the series will land in or closer to the top viewership spot for December — especially as folks will have more free time on their hands over a holiday season that will sadly require many to continue keeping their distance from family and friends.
That being said, even if The Crown overtakes The Queen's Gambit for December, Cocomelon may be harder to overthrow. Turns out, the strong November showing for the animated family series (which follows a group of siblings on everyday adventures in the titular small town) was just one of many for Cocomelon in 2020. The long-running program has actually spent the bulk of 2020 ranked among the streamer's Top 10, and may well end the year as the most watched show on Netflix.
So even if The Crown's initial showing seems like a disappointment, all involved can take heart that they're at least being bested by Netflix royalty.