[imagesource: Netflix]

There are no spoilers here. We come in peace.

Thus far, I have managed to watch two Stranger Things episodes.

My first thoughts – each episode is really long (an hour and 17 minutes a pop), and each episode is exactly what you’d expect from a show set in and around 1986.

You want nostalgia, you get nostalgia.

After three years out of the game (the final episode of season three was released on July 4, 2019), fans were clearly chomping at the bit because the show has racked up some insane binge-watching stats.

Data released by Netflix shows it’s become the most viewed series in a single week since Squid Game burst onto the scene. That’s even more impressive when you consider that it hasn’t yet had a full week on Netflix.

Season four dropped on Friday, May 27.

Here’s CNET:

In the week ended Sunday, Netflix customers globally streamed 286.8 million hours of Stranger Things 4. That’s the most viewing of a show in a single week since the Squid Game phenomenon reached its peak at 571.8 million hours in one week straddling September and October last year.

By comparison, Bridgerton’s second season, which was released March 25, generated 193 million hours of vieweing in its first three days; it went on to become Netflix’s most watched English-language TV show yet.

Something tells me Martin Brundle won’t be watching much Bridgerton going forward.

Having been extremely cagey about releasing any data publicly, Netflix changed direction last November and launched a website showing its most-watched shows and movies.

For the week dated May 23 to May 29, here are your global top 10 series (English language):

Image: Netflix

Almost five times that number in second place. Total domination. In fact, four of the top five spots go to Stranger Things.

In case you require further evidence of the series’ cultural impact, consider that it has pushed Kate Bush’s 1985 track ‘Running Up That Hill’ to number one on iTunes.

Below from Sky News:

The fourth season of the science fiction show began with the song playing through the Walkman of character Max Mayfield (played Sadie Sink).

The lead single off Bush’s album, Hounds of Love, then continues to feature again in other scenes of the series…

This has resulted in the English singer-songwriter’s song to soar straight to number one on the iTunes charts and number 106 on Spotify’s top 200.

She must be loving those royalties.

Here’s the track for those unfamiliar with the classic:

[sources:cnet&sky]