Engagement and completion are two fairly banal words in isolation, but they’re key when it comes to Netflix deciding which of its original shows are worthy of being renewed, and which are set to be cast onto an ever-expanding pile of abandoned originals.
The streaming service has thrown massive sums of money at effects-heavy and fantastical TV shows in the hopes they’d become the next breakout success story, but the fact almost 30 such projects have been axed since the beginning of 2020 alone indicates the misses drastically outweigh the hits.
In a damning indictment of ourselves as subscribers, though, the in-house exclusive with the highest completion rate is a dramatic comedy without a lick of CGI, set pieces, monsters, or explosions. PlumResearch (via What’s on Netflix) has crunched the numbers and determined that Ginny & Georgia has the single highest completion rate among any Netflix OG, with a 73.7 percent marker putting it a mere 0.6 percent ahead of runner-up Manifest, which was ironically canceled by NBC before finding salvation.
Not only that, but Ginny & Georgia was also bestowed with an honor that’s virtually unheard of among Netflix’s vast content catalogue; four months after season 2 premiered to critical approval and monstrous viewership figures, the series was handed a two-season renewal to guarantee it’ll last at least four runs of episodes.
The number of shows that can’t even last beyond one season is alarming to put it lightly, but maybe we’ve been the problem all along when the most-completed production in Netflix’s arsenal is a macabre character-driven story that isn’t concerned with being bold or splashy.