The Netflix English Series Hits and Misses of 2026 So Far

Pictures: Netflix

Last week, we covered the biggest hits and misses of the year so far when it comes to movies, but what about scripted series? Well, you’re in luck, with Q1 now over, it’s time for an early verdict on the year as to what’s been a hit, what’s been a middling hit, and what’s missed entirely. We’re starting off with just English language titles today before moving on to the Non-English series soon.

From returning juggernauts to a few highly anticipated shows that completely failed to launch, here is the breakdown of the hits and misses for the first quarter of 2026.

The Winners of Q1 2026

When it comes to dominating the global conversation, two titles completely cleared the board.

• Bridgerton (Season 4 ): Unsurprisingly, the ton is still the talk of the town. Netflix’s strategy of splitting its biggest seasons into two parts continues to pay off. Season 4 scored staggering 73.5 million views (estimate via NetflixandChiffres) in its first 14 days, charting in 92 countries. It is the definitive series winner of the quarter.
• HIS and HERS (Limited Series): The biggest surprise of the quarter is just how massive this limited series was out of the gate. Racking up an incredible 59.23 million views and dominating the Top 10 in 91 countries, it proved to be an absolute must-watch event and even came close to entering Netflix’s all-time top 10, missing out by a narrow margin. Big stars + an interesting crime plot = winner.

The Reliable Returners

One Piece. Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in season 2 of One Piece. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

Netflix’s renewal strategy relies heavily on consistency, and several established franchises delivered exactly what was expected of them.

• ONE PIECE (Season 2): The live-action anime adaptation proved Season 1 wasn’t a fluke. Pulling in 28.7 million views and sweeping 93 countries’ Top 10 lists, the Straw Hat Pirates maintained an incredibly strong global footprint, although it is notably down >30% on season 1, so it’ll be interesting to see how this evolves for season 3.
• The Lincoln Lawyer (Season 4) & The Night Agent (Season 3): These two shows are essentially the modern blueprint for Netflix’s “dad TV” success. They pulled practically identical 14-day estimates (20.7 million and 20.5 million views, respectively) and both carried massive global reach (83 and 90 countries). The Night Agent is showing significant decay; however, whether that’s a symptom of it just coming out the gate so strongly with season 1 is another story. Both are returning for their respective fourth and fith seasons in the near future.
• Virgin River (Season 7): Now entering its seventh season, the cozy drama continues to hold its fiercely loyal audience, securing a very healthy 16.5 million views across 66 countries. It’s showing remarkably low decay, which is why it’s already been renewed for a season 8 well ahead of time.
• Gabby’s Dollhouse (Season 13): One of Netflix’s most reliable kids titles keeps on delivering. Aided no doubt by the big new movie, the series remains remarkably consistent.

The Solid Mid-Tier

Picture Credit: Netflix

These limited series and newcomers put up healthy numbers, proving that fresh IP can still cut through the noise.

• Run Away: Another massive win in the limited series category, pulling an excellent 30.9 million views across 84 countries, although notably down on some of the prior Harlan Coben entries.
• Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials: A very respectable showing for the British mystery, securing 19.89 million views and traveling well into 82 countries.
• Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen: Despite being an entirely new property in horror, a particularly hard genre for Netflix to crack, this one had strong week-over-week momentum, pushing the show to an estimated 13.32 million views and a broad 87-country footprint. Is that enough for a renewal? We’re not sure.
• Free Bert: Generating roughly 7.93 million views is not a disaster in a vacuum and ranks among the star-driven pure comedy titles that have surfaced in recent years and got a quick renewal.

The Series Misses

Not everything can be a global phenomenon. A few highly anticipated titles had incredibly muted debuts, failing to amass the viewership or global reach needed to secure a definitive 14-day estimate.

• How To Get To Heaven From Belfast: This is perhaps the most shocking miss of the quarter. Highly anticipated as the next project from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, the show completely flatlined on the global stage. It only managed to chart in 10 countries and completely missed the global Top 10 tracking metrics.
• Heartbreak High (Season 3): The Australian teen drama, which previously enjoyed some viral success but never became a huge hit, didn’t particularly impress with its final season. It only surfaced in 29 regional Top 10s and failed to generate enough hours viewed to land a solid 14-day estimate on the global charts.
• The Upshaws (Part 7) & Strip Law: Both shows completely failed to make a dent globally. The Upshaws continues to be a hyper-regional play (relying almost entirely on its US audience), while the new series Strip Law completely missed the charts.
• Sesame Street (Volume 2) – Beating up on Sesame Street just feels naturally wrong, but it really struggled against its more modern YouTube counterparts when volume 1 launched, and volume 2 performed even worse.

Because Netflix reports data in weekly Monday-to-Sunday intervals, exact 14-day totals are calculated estimates. We determine these by combining the first two reporting weeks and taking a daily average of Week 3 to calculate the remaining days. Titles marked with a [~] indicate heavier projections where only 1 or 2 weeks of official data were available.

That’s it for our breakdown of the biggest hits and misses of 2026 so far – did we get anything wrong in our assessment? Let us know in the comments down below.