The Witcher is officially a TV phenomenon. Netflix has released the viewing stats for its shows, and according to Variety, 76 million households tuned into the Andrzej Sapkowski adaptation within the first month of its release. That means 46% of subscribers have tossed a coin to their witcher.
This doesn’t necessarily mean all those people followed Geralt and co.’s adventures to the very end. As Variety notes, the company has changed its definition of viewer from those who completed 70% of an episode or movie to those who’ve watched something for at least 2 minutes.
According to Variety, the company also put a Google Trends chart in their investor letter that showed searches for “Witcher” far outpaced those for “Mandalorian,” “Jack Ryan,” and “Morning Show.” (It’s important to note that “Baby Yoda” was not one of those competing Google terms.)
As for whether this means the time-hopping fantasy saga is truly more popular than those other shows, that remains up for debate. One thing we do know is that the success of Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s Netflix adaptation has done wonders for Sapkowski’s original series. Last week, Orbit Books announced that it will be reprinting over half a million more copies of the Witcher books to keep up with “exceptional demand.”
Will just as many fans tune in for season 2? We’ll find out when The Witcher returns to Netflix in 2021.
Huzzah! Good to know this series is getting at least some of the attention it deserves. (-:
I’m pretty sure that damn song is more than 2 minutes long which might help explain viewing numbers.
Regardless, if it helps season 2 happen, I’m in favor.
Watched two episode and bowed out. Bad writing, bad acting. And the Bard. Horrible character.
@@.-@ – consider hanging in. Eps get better starting at no. 3 and finish quite strong on the back end.
It’s interesting because alt-right types hated The Witcher series because it had made a number of originally white characters black or brown and had so many prominent female parts, while critics in left-leaning media like The Guardian generally didn’t like it either because they thought it was dumb. And hardcore books and games fans were divided at best, with many thinking the adaption made unnecessary or ill-considered changes (though that is what hardcore fans always think). Seems like the only people liking it were everybody else.
@@.-@ it definitely gets better from episode 3-7 but the season finale again became kind of silly I think, the battle of Sodden had a lot of illogical moments.
@morgondag: the reaction to this show was indeed interesting. Far stronger than I expected. It seemed for awhile that there might be some organized or concerted effort to sink it. So much complaining.
I guess the show hit a nerve for some people. It was complex enough to engage their interest, even if they didn’t like some aspects. From anecdotal evidence among friends and family, it also seemed to fill the niche left by GoT, and they want more.
I also bailed after two episodes. The writing is terrible. The CGI isn’t good. It seems worse than Hercules and Xena in terms of writing and production quality.
@rob: “It seems worse than Hercules and Xena in terms of writing and production quality.”
Well, at least you said “seems” and admit you bailed early, hence, not a solid basis for a critique. If you’re going to argue better “production quality” on a low budget syndicated 90s show as better than this… you lose me.
Hercules and Xena (I liked and watched both) were mostly pure cheese. Witcher is more ambitious and sophisticated than that.
In a number of episodes in the middle the Geralt line is each based on a finished story with a clear plot with a point – the striga, dragon, djinn and cursed knight episodes – while in the Jennefer storyline she is an interesting character with development. Only the Ciri parts are mostly not very interesting. The beginning and end of season are the weakest parts.
@morgondag: Ciri’s presence should have been reduced. Her importance is evident later, but not till the novel sequence gets started.
The entire premise of the “Something More” story was that, without something to care for or about, Geralt and Yennifer’s relationship was missing something, hence all the breakups and long absences from each other. One can argue with that premise, but it’s not even evident when Ciri is already too much in the foreground.
I can’t imagine how anyone could watch S1 of Hercules or Xena and praise their production values over any show produced today, 25 years later. And while I like Xena (not a real fan of Hercules, though I’ve watched it), its first season is nowhere near as good as S1 of The Witcher.
I tried it; I really tried it. But the Xena comparison holds up. Better production values, but writing that’s both paper-thin and hard-to-follow. Loved Henry Cavill as Superman, but here he just grunts his way through his lines. At least Conan had that barbaric glee in the middle of fights going for him.
I watched the whole series and enjoyed it immensely AND it’s dumb as a box of rocks. I’ve taken to describing it as the NCIS of epic fantasy. The show’s a mix of GoT, Westworld, and the Walden Media Narnia movies that goes down just like a network procedural. The story is as deep as a sidewalk puddle, but good lord is Anya Chalotra pretty. I’m kinda embarrassed about the time spent watching it AND I can’t wait ’til next season.
Its a google trends chart, you could double check if Baby Yoda or if Baby Yoda + The Mandalorian had more searches than The Witcher before making this important note, that implies that the Mandalorian might be more searched for than the Witcher
@3: You’re braver than me. I barely lasted until the end of the first episode.
“Bad writing, bad acting.” YES, with such a stellar cast! And what about the tropical paradise themed wizard’s tower?
And the Walmart Legolas wig! I can’t get past that wig. If anyone had put any effort into making that wig believable…. But no. It clashes painfully with Henry Cavill’s complexion –not to mention his dark stubble, and body hair, and his actual dark hair poking from under it…
@8: “I also bailed after two episodes. The writing is terrible. The CGI isn’t good. It seems worse than Hercules and Xena in terms of writing and production quality.”
Ditto. Plus it makes Hercules and Xena look like Shakespeare.
@Ashgrove: well, at least the Tor reviewer watched 4 episodes before dissing it. That you think you can form and assert a definitive critique with only one episode is questionable. And said with such certainty too.
“Plus it makes Hercules and Xena look like Shakespeare.”
This is hilarious. It’s almost rising to meme levels. Are you guys claiming this organizing somewhere else? Gamer sites, perhaps?
It’s fine though, no one is forcing you to watch the series. And it’s doing well enough on it’s own. I still don’t get the concerted effort to dump on it though. When someone complains too much, I have to wonder why.
@18: Hunny, first of all, I suppose (or hope) the Tor reviewer was being paid for watching this trainwreck. Hopefully paid. Hopefully good money.
And a discerning person with a half-functioning brain does not really need to watch four entire episodes to make up their mind. If the producers found a better writer, a better director (and a much better wig), perhaps. Otherwise, me, I’ve seen all I need to see. (Including the pathetic tower of that pathetic wizard.) Good riddance.
And if you think Hercules and Xena ARE Shakespeare, or at least Zelazny, well, why don’t you read some actual Shakespeare or Zelazny first?
@Ashgrove: either you didn’t read upthread or there’s a comprehension issue here.
I said earlier that I watched both shows but neither rises to the level of art. They are both super cheesy. Although Xena had some higher aspirations in later seasons: she got crucified during a storyline about persecution, for example.
“And a discerning person with a half-functioning brain does not really need to watch four entire episodes to make up their mind.”
There were other reviewers who skipped 4 episodes, starting with the 5th, who then faulted the show for not making sense. These kinds of supremely arrogant putdowns are ignorant. Your smugness in particular is amusing. That’s why I keep wondering why people who didn’t like it can’t leave the show alone. They must strongly assert the superiority of their judgment.
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Apologies. I let my annoyance get the better of me.
There are rumblings in other parts of the internet of gamergater types organizing to bash this show for what they see as SJW nonsense. It has been persistent, but so far hasn’t worked. The show is successful.
I apologize as well. We are all entitled to our own tastes and opinions, and to not share them, as well. And we should be able to express them without jumping down each others’ throats, like the adults we are.
It’s just… All the reviews, and previews, and everything, kind of built up my expectations, yet I was very disappointed. Obviously other people aren’t, and that’s fine, too.
I do think they should find a better wig. That’s the one thing I cannot get over. Should we do a GoFundMe?