12 Shows That Won the Streaming Wars in 2021

As the year came to a close, we were greeted with a now-familiar sight: critics releasing their lists of the best shows of 2021. These wrap-ups usually feature a bit of everything, from goofy comedies, to gritty crime dramas, to Korean crossover hits about last-man-standing physical competitions. But if there’s one thing we normally notice missing from these conversations, it’s what regular TV viewers — those who aren’t paid to write their opinions about it — thought about the year in television. 

Sure, some 2021 series were dubbed “watercooler shows,” but how much of that was critical hype and how much was actual enthusiasm from viewers? Which shows were panned by critics in 2021, but ended up taking the general viewing public by storm? And which critical darlings ended up doing little to entice audiences?

We’re taking a look at the last 12 months of Streaming Wars and using Watchworthy data to pick 12 shows that defined those months according to real TV viewers. The result is a year-end wrap-up that depicts what real television fans cared about in 2021, not just what TV critics wrote about.

JANUARY

WandaVision (Disney+)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe expanded its domination of pop culture from the big screen to the small one in 2021, so it’s fitting that our list begins with WandaVision, which premiered January 15. WandaVision announced not just that Marvel would be moving into TV, but that it would take the move seriously — the series is an homage to the medium’s history and its close relationship with American domestic life. 

WandaVision is the only show to have secured a spot in the Watchworthy Top 20 every month of 2021, starting out at #13 the month of its premiere and moving to #2 in February. Sadly, the show has never occupied the #1 spot, unlike fellow Marvel properties Loki and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

FEBRUARY

The Equalizer (Paramount+)

The Equalizer didn’t appear on many 2021 TV wrap-ups, which we consider a major oversight. This Queen Latifah-led reboot of the 1985 TV series consistently drew engagement from Watchworthy users throughout the year, proving to be one of the most consistent winners for burgeoning streaming service Paramount+. The series has gotten more engagement from Watchworthy users than critical darlings like Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building (though it would be unfair not to point out that The Equalizer has been out more than six months longer than Murders). The Equalizer proves there is still room for traditional procedural dramas in the streaming era, a time when many producers and critics are turning their noses up at the genre. 

MARCH

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+)

This spinoff Disney+ miniseries was likely the least successful of the three MCU offerings to premiere in the first half of 2021, earning less engagement on Watchworthy than both WandaVision and Loki. But that still puts it among the top shows of the year — along with The Queen’s Gambit, Loki, and Squid Game, it’s one of just four series to top the Watchworthy Leaderboards in 2021. The show had remarkable staying power, peaking at #1 in April and never going below #6 at any point in the year.

APRIL

Mare of Easttown (HBO Max)

Mare of Easttown was a critical darling, securing huge Emmy wins and rave reviews. But this small-town crime drama was just as effective at winning over regular viewers as it was reviewers: the only realistic drama to get more engagement this year was The Queen’s Gambit, which has dominated the leaderboards since it premiered in October of 2020. Squid Game, for all the hype it got, was never able to catch up to the lead that Mare of Easttown built from April onward.

MAY

Shadow and Bone (Netflix)

There’s been plenty of talk about which show is set to take the place of Game of Thrones after it left the air in 2019, with series like The Witcher, His Dark Materials, and Wheel of Time all competing for the title. But often left out of these conversations is Shadow and Bone, an omission we consider to be a serious mistake: this fantasy series from Netflix got more Watchworthy engagement than all but three series made in 2021, all of which are MCU shows on Disney+. The show hasn’t risen above its peak at #6 in May of 2021 (it returned to that spot once more in July), but it’s consistently performed month after month while other fantasy shows disappeared a few weeks after their premieres. From our perspective, Shadow and Bone deserves far more attention from critics and commentators than it’s received so far. 

JUNE

Loki (Disney+)

WandaVision might have beaten Loki in total engagement for 2021, but Loki came tantalizingly close, despite being on the air six months after WandaVision. Loki is the only show to premiere this year that topped the Watchworthy charts more than once throughout the last 12 months, and it did so five times — the only series to win more months was The Queen’s Gambit, helped by a renewed flurry of interest after the 2021 Emmys. It’s hard to argue that this series, which combined the multiverse sci-fi worldbuilding of Rick and Morty with the iconic characters of the MCU, wasn’t the year’s biggest show. 

JULY

The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Miniseries were huge in 2021, which made it the perfect time for HBO’s The White Lotus. Converging different stories that pit haves against have-nots, the show was more than just a conversation piece — it got serious engagement, landing among the Top 10 of the year. That said, The White Lotus never went higher than #17 on the Watchworthy leaderboards, suggesting there really is a divide between what the critics and commentators talk about and what’s actually engaging everyday TV viewers. 

AUGUST

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

Premiering late in August, this satire of true crime shows and culture took the greater TV viewing public by surprise, and not just by putting Steve Martin and Selena Gomez together. This quirky comedy/mystery managed to crack the Top 5 in September, beating the out-of-nowhere sensation Squid Game during that show’s first month on the Watchworthy leaderboards. Since then, the show has yet to fall out of the Top 20, demonstrating a surprising amount of staying power for a series that dared to think outside the box. Here we see some alignment between what critics are clamoring for and what viewers are watching at home.

SEPTEMBER

Squid Game (Netflix)

There’s little we could write that hasn’t already been written about this violent Korean drama that stole the show after premiering on Netflix in September. All we’ll say is that Squid Game was one of just four shows to sit at #1 on the Watchworthy leaderboards in 2021, dethroning Loki the month after it premiered. It’s stayed in the Top 5 since premiering, putting up such high numbers that it ranks at #6 overall in 2021, an impressive feat given that it had only the final third of the year to achieve it. 

OCTOBER

Midnight Mass (Netflix)

This series from horror auteur Mike Flanagan got off to a strong start on the Watchworthy leaderboards in October after premiering the previous month, debuting at #9. Critics have praised the series as Flanagan’s best, yet the show didn’t perform as well as his past offerings did in previous years. Midnight Mass fell out of the Top 20 in November and only managed to crawl up to #19 in the final month of the year. The moral of the story seems to be that, though this show is still beloved by Watchworthy users and deserves to be mentioned as one of the best of the year, its favorable reviews don’t necessarily correspond to the reception it’s gotten among TV viewers.

NOVEMBER

Chucky (Peacock)

Another series missing from a lot of end-of-year conversations is Chucky, NBC’s reboot of the classic horror franchise starring the original voice of the haunted doll, Brad Dourif. The 2021 Chucky is a by-the-book horror series in the tradition of the Child’s Play movies, mixing absurd humor with slasher horror. And it might surprise you to learn that it’s been a strong contender on the Watchworthy leaderboards for two consecutive months — it debuted at #4 in November, beating out 2021 top performers like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Mare of Easttown. There’s good reason to believe this show could continue to float around the leaderboards for months to come in 2022. 

DECEMBER

Hawkeye (Disney+)

Though Hawkeye, which debuted late in November, has had little time to compete with its MCU forebears, its December performance indicates it could eventually supplant Loki as the #1 show on the Watchworthy leaderboards. In just its second month, Hawkeye ranks at #3, with voter sentiment indicating the show enjoys an astonishing 96% approval rating among Watchworthy users. If there was any doubt Marvel has successfully made the jump to the small screen, the fact that Hawkeye and WandaVision bookend the year should be all we need to dispel it.

This wrap-up might not resemble the ones you see from TV critics, but it does track pretty closely with Google Trends results for this year (though you’ll notice some odd differences; for some reason, Trends seems to think there was little to no interest in Squid Game the entire year). Knowing what the general public found watchworthy throughout 2021 doesn’t just tell us about the tastes of TV audiences everywhere; it also offers a sense of what the TV of 2022 will be modeled on.

These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.

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