Over a decade ago, “Breaking Bad,” the crime drama starring Bryan Cranston, catapulted from a basic cable show with so-so ratings to a big hit after Netflix started streaming it.
And now the so-called Netflix effect is providing a boost, most unexpectedly, to “Your Honor,” another show starring Mr. Cranston — turning it into this year’s surprise summer TV hit.
The show, a below-the-radar Showtime series that premiered in 2020 and was canceled last year, has racked up some of the biggest viewership figures of any television series in the United States since it began streaming on Netflix in late May, according to Nielsen.
The series garnered more than a billion minutes of viewing time for three consecutive weeks, Nielsen said. (The “billion minute” mark is an unofficial Nielsen benchmark for a big hit.) According to preliminary Nielsen data, “Your Honor” will hit that milestone for a fourth consecutive week, and possibly a fifth too. And it has done all that with only 20 episodes — about 20 hours — available to watch.
Only three new series have reached the four-consecutive week threshold this year. Two Netflix hits, “Bridgerton” and “Love Is Blind,” made the cut. So did “Fallout” from Amazon. And among licensed series, heavyweights “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Bluey” and “Young Sheldon” have qualified.
That means the show isn’t just a sleeper hit this summer. It is, improbably, becoming one of the hits of the year.
“It’s the true definition of found money,” said Robert King, an executive producer of “Your Honor.” “There were no expectations.”
Or as Mr. Cranston, the show’s star, put it in an interview: “The fact that it opened up and found a crack that exposed it to a lot more people, I’m just eternally grateful. That’s the effect that Netflix had on ‘Breaking Bad’ — and it’s nice to have another one.”
“Your Honor” centers on a New Orleans judge, played by Mr. Cranston, who confronts an ethical dilemma after his son gets in trouble with the law (a hit-and-run), and then with organized crime (with a mob boss seeking vengeance).
When “Your Honor” debuted in 2020, it performed nicely for Showtime but was part of a crowded television lineup that included the premieres of nearly 500 scripted shows in the United States that year.
By the time the second season debuted, in 2023, “Your Honor” may as well have been invisible. The series was largely ignored by viewers, as well as television critics.
Last year, Paramount executives decided to end the show.
But now, given the show’s performance over the past few weeks, it may have some life after all. Executives at CBS Studios, which produced the show, are in active discussions with Netflix about reviving the series for a third season, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. No final decision has been made. Representatives for Netflix and CBS Studios declined to comment.
David Nevins, Showtime’s former chief executive who greenlit “Your Honor,” said that he had always thought the show was fundamentally “super commercial.”
“It’s got a lot of classic TV franchises wrapped up into one show,” he said. “You have a law show, a judge show, a police show, an organized crime show and a mystery. There’s still a real hunger for quality adult stuff.”
Indeed, during its Netflix run, “Your Honor” has been particularly popular among adults over the age of 35, according to Nielsen. It is also scoring with diverse audiences, with Black and Hispanic households making up 38 percent of its total viewership, Nielsen said. (The show also streams on Paramount+.)
It’s no secret that the Netflix algorithm has long been able to pluck TV shows out of obscurity and turn them into hits. In addition to “Breaking Bad,” the Netflix effect boosted little-watched cable series like “Schitt’s Creek” and “You.” Reruns of “Suits,” a 2010s basic cable show, became the surprise streaming hit last summer on Netflix.
This is a trend that shows no signs of letting up, either. Over the past year, media companies like Paramount, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have resorted to licensing back libraries to Netflix in an effort to drum up much-needed cash.
“Evil,” a recently canceled CBS series, showed up on Netflix in April, and it has also become a fixture of Nielsen’s most-watched streaming lists ever since. Robert and Michelle King, the husband-and-wife producing team behind both “Evil” and “Your Honor,” are hopeful that both series could be resurrected now that they are connecting with new audiences.
“It felt like maybe ‘Evil’ ended before its time,” Mr. King said. “Same with ‘Your Honor.’”
Mr. Cranston said he would be thrilled if “Your Honor” returned for a third season. “I would love to be able to have the opportunity to tell another season of this story,” he said.
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