Netflix’s alien invasion series 3 Body Problem is once again one of the biggest TV shows in the world this week, with its continued dominance a welcome sign to those of us who have our fingers crossed that Netflix will green-light a second season soon. The wildly expensive and star-studded show, admittedly something of a mixed bag, was a fairly engaging trip down a sci-fi rabbit hole for viewers like me — especially thanks to the way it presented all the complexities of humanity responding to a far-future alien invasion.
Season two of 3 Body Problem will significantly accelerate the show’s core timeline, while among the many unresolved issues that are still nagging at me (and that I want to see a new season address) is physicist Ye Wenjie’s “Einstein riddle” to Saul, who not only couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was getting at but soon after was tapped to be a Wallfacer. Her riddle, near as I can tell, underscored one of the only weakness that the technologically superior San-Ti race is known to posses: That, for all their advancements and constant surveillance of humanity, they don’t understand metaphor, which means Saul just got some major knowledge handed to him right under the nose of the aliens.
3 Body Problem, meanwhile, is the #1 show this week atop a very eclectic ranking of some of the biggest and best new releases from across the streaming universe. According to the latest data from the streaming search engine Reelgood, what you’ll find below are some of the most popular TV shows right now across all of the major streamers — from Netflix to Max, Apple TV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock.
The list includes everything from historical dramas to gangster romps, sci-fi, a docuseries, and much more.
Reelgood Streaming Charts monitor 20 million viewing decisions each month across every streaming platform in the US. For the 7-day period that ended on April 3, the 10 shows that topped Reelgood’s latest TV chart are as follows:
- 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
- A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+ with Showtime)
- Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (Max)
- Shogun (Hulu)
- The Gentlemen (Netflix)
- We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu)
- Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
- The Chosen (Angel Studios)
- Resident Alien (Peacock)
- Apples Never Fall (Peacock)
We’ve already written considerably about 3 Body Problem, of course. There are two things that jump out to me straightaway from the results of Reelgood’s latest ranking, one of which is 3 Body Problem remaining the most-watched TV show for a second week in a row this week (no surprise, it’s also once again the #1 Netflix show in the world this week, according to the streamer’s latest global Top 10 data).
The other tidbit here that caught my eye is the strong first-week showing of an historical drama, A Gentleman in Moscow, that’s only available on a relatively small streamer. To watch the show, starring starring Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, you’ve got to not only have a Paramount+ subscription but have also signed up for the Showtime add-on.
Apple TV+, which has cranked out one failed period drama after another, must surely be looking at the success and prestige attached to A Gentleman in Moscow with a fair amount of chagrin. According to Paramount+, McGregor portrays Count Alexander Rostov “who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past has placed him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol and threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again.
“As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.”