William Gallagher
Apple TV+ does not release viewing figures, but its comedy "Shrinking" is in the current top ten of shows as recorded by one streaming portal.
"Shrinking," a comedy about a therapist facing a life crisis, began streaming on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on January 27. Now according to portal ReelGood, it has entered the top ten of streamed shows, coming in at number 5 for the week February 2, 2023, to February 8, 2023.
It's not clear why ReelGood releases charts covering Thursday to Wednesday, but it may give Apple an advantage as it routinely drops new episodes of shows on Friday. The third episode of "Shrinking" was released in this period, dropping on February 3, 2023.
ReelGood also does not break down its figures by episode, so it's likely that "Shrinking" has gained this number 5 spot for views of all of its episodes so far.
More significantly, ReelGood's chart can at best be indicative only of general popularity, it can't be an equivalent to the US's Nielsen or the UK's BARB ratings calculations. That's because ReelGood is a front-end portal that users can use to see shows from many other streamers.
Consequently the service can count how many viewers watch a show through its own servers, but that completely ignores anyone watching, say, Apple TV+ directly.
Nonetheless, it is an indication of how a show is doing when placed in a catalog directly alongside series from Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Paramount+ and more.
Previously "Ted Lasso" has been in ReelGood's charts, but at present "Shrinking" is the only Apple TV+ show. For this February 2 to February 8 period, ReelGood's top ten is:
- The Last of Us (HBO Max)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney+)
- Poker Face (Peacock)
- You People (Netflix)
- Shrinking (Apple TV+)
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (Showtime)
- Yellowstone (Peacock)
- Tar (Peacock)
- Cunk on Earth (Netflix/BBC)
- The Banshees of Inisherin (HBO Max)
ReelGood's charts also do not discriminate between films and series.
"Shrinking" is written and executive produced by Bill Lawrence, and actor, write, producer Brett Goldstein. Both are now best known for co-creating "Ted Lasso" alongside Jason Sudeikis.
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
Oliver Haslam
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
9 Comments
My household is enjoying the series so far.
I'm enjoying this series, too.
This show is much better than we expected it to be.
I went in with mild expectations but it was soon dashed. Feels a bit too much like they are riding the Ted Lasso formula — just a new cast of characters whose story arcs seem quite obvious to me. But that’s just me - if others are enjoying it, carry on.
I am enjoying it quite a lot in part because they're riding the Ted Lasso formula. We don't have Lasso Season 3 yet.
However, I wonder:
1) How quickly would a psychologist be sued into non-existence for behaving that way?
2) Did they really need to have a high school student make such crudely sexual remarks, particularly in reference to someone who would presumably go to jail if they heard them and responded? (the V&A thing, episode 3?)