Is Asphalt Ryan Murphy’s First Runaway Netflix Hit?

With dominating both the cultural conversation and the list of Netflix’s top 10 most-watched shows, “Dahmer” is the busiest show on TV. But when questions arise about the show’s sensitivity to the victims of Jeffrey Dahmer and Evan Peters pronunciationA big question has cropped up as the show has entered into full swing: Is this Ryan Murphy’s first runaway hit for Netflix?

Two weeks after its first release, “Dahmer” remains the No. 1 show on the streaming service, clocking a total of 496 million hours after its first 12 days. In terms of Netflix series debut this year, the first week’s viewership was only behind ‘Stranger Things 4’ and ‘Bridgeton’ Season 2. In fact, word-of-mouth has helped cement “Dahmer” as the ninth most popular English-language show in Netflix history.

The 10-episode series — which reunites Murphy with “Glee” co-creator Ian Brennan and actor Evan Peters to chronicle the story of serial killer Jeffrey Demar — became that watercooler-type series for which Murphy first came to prominence. In his previous longtime home of 20th Century Fox television, the prolific writer/producer/director went on to create hits like “Glee”, “American Horror Story” and “American Crime Story” until Netflix granted him five years in 2018. Not worth the deal. Up to $300 million – ABC hit-maker Shonda Rhimes had also dropped her longtime ABC Studios deal for Netflix (though for a reported $100 million).

While Netflix hasn’t provided viewership data for any of Murphy’s previous four series and two films for the service (the streamer didn’t start sharing audience data until June 2021), “Dahmer” for the platform It’s far from the biggest show he’s ever made. So far. Bigger than his colorful drama “The Politician”; Larger than “Ratched” Sarah Paulson-fronted; And certainly bigger than his one-season historical drama “Hollywood”.

While none of his previous projects beyond “Halston” would be considered a bust (though that limited series picked up an Emmy for star Ewan McGregor), what Murphy’s previous Netflix shows failed to do was “Peak TV.” The noise broke through. A resonable hit.

According to data compiled by Whip Media (which takes data from TV Time, a TV and movie app that tracks audience interest across 22 million global registered users), interest in “Dahmer” is similar to that of “Bridgeton” produced by Rhimes. rate is increasing. ” in its first season and was faster than Rhimes’ true-crime limited series “Inventing Anna” earlier this year. Data from Whip Media also shows that “Dahmer” is more likely than “The Politician” or “Hollywood”. Three times more popular in comparison and 20% ahead of Murphy’s next closest series, “Ratched”, in terms of interest.

Netflix, another major A-list creative tempted by traditional TV, Rhimes has lagged well behind Murphy in output since signing his deal in 2017, but he has a massive following in the amount of viewers he’s created. What is lacking? “Bridgeton” (which Rhimes produced Shondaland) and “Inventing Anna” (which Rhimes produced himself) were hits that also dominated the zeitgeist, the former being the most-watched Netflix series in history at the time. There was a beginning and was fully formed. The fledgling Netflix franchise.

In fact, both seasons of “Bridgeton” and the limited series “Invention Anna” are in the top 10 most-watched Netflix shows of all time. Aside from “Demer,” none of Murphy’s series made that cut. And two of Murphy’s 2020 movies under his Netflix deal, the musical “The Prom” and the drama adaptation “The Boys in the Band,” are nowhere to be found in the top 10 most-watched Netflix movies. That’s how it says it all.

First announced in 2020, “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (the show’s official title) finds Murphy telling the story of the infamous serial killer by focusing on his victims. Neri had been hooked on the project since Peters was cast in March of 2021, and Netflix essentially surprised the show at the end of September.

No screeners were made available for critics to review prior to the show’s release, and streamers announced the premiere date at the same time as they released the trailer – just five days before “Dahmer” became available to stream. day before. And while the reviews for the show have been merciless (it’s currently 53% sits on Rotten Tomatoes) and family members of serial killer victims have said that the show takes advantage of the tragedy that happened to their loved ones, the fact that Everyone Talking about “Dahmer”.

While the serial killer series’ second season remains incomprehensible, what’s next for Murphy on Netflix and beyond?

He is scheduled to release a true-story thriller series called “The Watcher” (which he co-produced and co-wrote largely with Ian Brennan) on October 13, starring Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale. And while a second season of “Ratched” was ordered and Murphy said the first he wants to do a third season The position of both “The Politician” is unclear.

A Netflix representative did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on those projects — or the future status of Murphy’s deal with the streamer.

Despite his Netflix partnership, Murphy remains in business with Fox’s FX, with at least three more “American Horror Story” seasons on the way and a second season of “Feud” (subtitled “Capot’s Women”) finally going forward five years later. is increasing. The first season aired.

With “asphalt” cutting through the noise (something that’s becoming increasingly difficult in the television realm), there’s a sudden renewed interest in what’s cooking next to this mighty producer.