Popular shows of 2020 include some strange outliers which no one expected in 2019. It ranged from classic children’s action show on Netflix to the Chess drama that swept the nation. The most talked-about shows come up to be a complete surprise.
There could be several reasons behind a show being a hit. Maybe they became a hit because there weren’t other new shows to compete or maybe they just grew popular because of the word of mouth recommendation. Some of the favorite shows of 2020 are as follows-

The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen's Gambit
The show follows a chess prodigy. It might seem that it can’t compete with its rival viral sensation, Mandalorian. To everyone’s surprise, this series received more than 62 million views. It became Netflix’s largest-ever scripted miniseries. While we were at the peak of the election season and amid pandemic, a series on a sports underdog was ‘grade-A-escapism.’

The boys

The Boys
It was a massive success that gave Amazon a hit of their own. The first season had a decent following. In the second season, the fan following doubled. In just a few weeks, the second season got its spin-off. The success of the second season was because of its better schedule of weekly release. It helped the people who joined the second a fresh to catch up with the bandwagon.

Tiger King: murder, mayhem, and madness

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
It is a Netflix documentary series centered on Joe’s exotic, exotic animal business and a series of scandals. It spanned from animal abuse to attempted murder. The success of Tiger King was because it is a complete mix of all our favorite binge-watching obsession packed into one tiger print package.

The Umbrella Academy

The Umbrella Academy
It was the third most popular show on Netflix in 2019. Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy in 2020 began with a change in the draft as it impacted more of the pop culture. The first season was all about the origins and set up. On the other hand, the second season was cut loose and we had some fun. It became Netflix’s top original show.

Ozark

Ozark

Ozark was a fan-favorite right from its first two seasons, but its viewership increased with the release of Season 3 in 2020. In Season 3 the viewers tripled from what the show had during Season 2 premiere. The show is about Jason Bateman’s Marty. It follows his journey as he shifts his family across the country to launder money for a drug lord in the Ozarks.

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso
The show is based on a series of commercials for NBC’s European soccer coverage. The first season of Ted Lasso was about the journey of an American football coach who moves to the UK to teach soccer. It might not seem that interesting at first but it is a heartwarming and humorous show. It initially didn’t have a lot of viewers but soon gained viewership within 50 days of its release.

Avatar: The Last Air bender

Avatar: The Last Airbender
It was a popular show aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. It remained the beloved series for fans even when the 2010 live-action film adaption made by M. Night Shyamalan was poorly received. When the series came on Netflix in 2020, it became a hit once again. It provided to be an escape from real-life problems of the year.

The Circle

The Circle
The series followed a group of strangers that met each other from their own apartment. They used to chat either on direct messages or privately and in groups. The goal was to become the winner of the social competition.

The Great

The Great
This show became a success in 2020 by making an intentionally ahistorical and fun depiction of history. The show was set in the past but used that to explore more modern preoccupations. It shook off the old stereotype of being boring. It found absurdist comedy within it.

The Cheer

Cheer
It was one big surprise hit of 2020. The series followed the cheer team from Navarro College as they trained to compete in nationals. It gained a lot of popularity over social media. The cast member appeared on the Oscars red carpet. The Guardian alleged that it became a megahit from a fun show.

The Undoing

The Undoing
It is a psychological thriller in which the psychologist and his husband get involved when a fellow parent of one of their child’s classmates is killed. This was a hit for HBO and grew its viewership over each passing episode. It created quite a stir on Twitter. HBO claimed it as the most social primetime premium cable series.

The flight attendant

The Flight Attendant
The first season of this show is about Kaley Cuoco who is a flight attendant. After a one night stand, she wakes up in her hotel room to find the man she hooked up with to be dead. To an utter surprise, the series outperformed the expectations.

Love is blind

Love Is Blind

The first season was aired in February 2020. It followed a group of men and women dating without physically seeing one another. It was a huge perk to Netflix because it had stirred quite a cultural conversation for a while. It was mindless fun and was a semi-binge release schedule on Netflix.

Dave

Dave
This show received a to more following than expected.  This show stars a rapper named “Lil Dicky.” The show gained more and more viewers. The viewership grew by 1.2 million per episode. Dave is FX’s most watch comedy by overtaking Atlanta. We knew that Lil Dicky is funny but we never thought he could write a show such as Dave.

Selling sunset

Selling Sunset
The show follows the life of a group of real estate agents. They represent some most expensive properties in Los Angeles. It went from an under-radar reality show to the biggest hit of summers. A large part was a real-life tabloid. The drama involved the divorce between The Selling Sunset stars and her This is Us actor husband. It had only eight episodes per season.

Coco melon

 CoComelon
It was originally a popular YouTube channel that turned into a children’s show. This became the most popular show on Netflix in 2020. It was on Netflix’s top 10 most-watched shows list for 114 days. A couple had created this show. One of them has been in the entertainment industry, and the other one was a children’s book illustrator. It became one of the top streaming series. It was also the most subscribed channel on YouTube in the US.

Sources- Ranker, Thrillist

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