'Wednesday' Soars Past 'Stranger Things,' Becomes Top Netflix Series

The Addams family has got a rising star on their hands. The newest Netflix original series has dominated over every other show in total viewing hours. The comedy-horror is everything out of the ordinary, erupting from an upside-down world that has Netflix users raving over the supernatural drama. Let us take you on a journey...

If you're an Addams family OG, then let us take you back to 1991, the original production that focused on the odd aristocratic family. They went about their days unaware of how much they stood out from society and frightened the citizens around them. The Halloween favorite formed a growing cult of viewers, but it seems there was one member of the gothic family that had too much potential to ignore. In the original film, Christina Ricci trademarked those long black braids and collar-fitting dresses. The deathly stare in her eyes lured everyone in. But now, she's passed on her iconic role to someone else on the rise, Jenna Ortega. The 20-year-old has flawlessly adapted to the character, possessing the exact sullen face and bone structure audiences originally fell in love with. 

Jenna Ortega has tapped into her character like never before. She is everything Wednesday proclaims to be. As she starts her attendance at Nevermore Academy, Wednesday slowly becomes more in contact with her personal psychic abilities and ventures into solving her parents' murder mystery case from 25 years prior. Ortega's performance in the series has been reflected in its stats, swiftly brushing past Stranger Things in most watched series on the streaming platform. In June, Netflix announced Stranger Things broke a record when it reached 335.01 million hours watched, behind Squid Games, which holds the top spot on the charts for 571.8 million views during its peak week. But now, the series, Wednesday, has accumulated an astonishing 341.2 million viewing hours, marking the series in the platform's Top 10 chart and the most hours viewed in one week for an English-language TV series. The series has also been placed in the Top 10 in all 93 countries, claiming the No.1 spot in 83, going head-to-head with Stranger Things. Of course, while Ortega is solely the heart of the show, she is accompanied by the talents of Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Morticia Addams, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, and the iconic Christina Ricci, who exceedingly has returned to her Addams family roots. 

The Addams Family legacy has gone down as quite the trick-or-treat in past years. The spin-off is everything we didn't know we needed. Original creator, Barry Sonnenfeld, teamed up with new creators/screenwriters Caroline Thompson, Larry Wilson, and Paul Rudnick. Take a closer look at how Ortega transformed into Wednesday, her way, in the modern and spooky series.