Bridgerton is Netflix’s fifth largest original series launch to date

Dear readers, no one should be scandalized by the news that Netflix’s period romance Bridgerton is a big, big hit.

Even Lady Whistledown couldn’t possibly be shocked by the success of Netflix’s Bridgerton. The splashy period romance has been everywhere since its Christmas Day release – your group chat, your Facebook friends list, and what feels like every entertainment site on the web.

Turns out there’s a reason for that. The series is a riotous success by all accounts, including Netflix’s.

The streaming giant tweeted that its Julian Quinn adaptation is projected to be sampled by over 63 million households in its first four weeks. (Whew!) If that number holds, it will make the period romance Netflix’s fifth-biggest original series to date, trailing pop culture phenomenons such as Tiger King, Stranger Things season 3, and the first season of The Witcher.  

The series follows the story of the eponymous Bridgerton family and their trials and travails of London’s brutal marriage season. Eldest daughter Daphne engages in a fake courtship with the roguish Duke of Hastings that ultimately turns into something much more real. It’s swoony, romantic, packed to the gills with gorgeous costumes, and filled with intriguing female characters alongside all the handsome men.

No wonder everyone’s watching it.

Bridgerton’s success comes on the heels of another massive Netflix hit, The Queen’s Gambit, the drama about an orphan girl’s determined rise to world chess champion. It was reportedly viewed by 62 million households in its first month of release, making it the streamer’s biggest scripted limited series to date.

There is no official word yet on whether the series will return for a second season. But with numbers – and buzz, don’t forget – like this, it seems difficult to see how Netflix doesn’t renew it. After all, there are several more books in Quinn’s Bridgerton series of novels, as well as a variety of vaguely connected stories within the same universe.

Here’s hoping we get to see every one.

Have you watched Bridgerton yet? Let us know your thoughts on the show!