Diving Into The Great

Photo: Hulu

Loosely based on the life and loves of the last reigning empress of Russia, Hulu’s The Great is a funny, fresh, and timely look at Catherine the Great. Starring Elle Fanning, The Great follows Catherine as she enters a disastrous marriage to Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) and learns the political games she must play to keep her throne. 

Since debuting in May 2020, The Great has been nabbing accolades left and right, including numerous nominations for Emmys, Screen Actors Guild awards, and Golden Globes. But with the approaching premiere of its second season comes a critical milestone for any original streaming show: Can The Great crown itself with a renewal and a third season? The show doesn’t yet have the kind of buzz that other, similarly femme-focused shows like The Queen’s Gambit and The Crown have managed to build, so the answer will depend on Hulu’s ability to reach and convert new viewers to this deserving historical dramedy.

Before the debut of the second season on Nov. 19, Ranker Insights is taking a deep dive into The Great’s fan base to discover what its viewers love about the show, and what else on TV they’re more likely to enjoy. Taken together, this could help the show’s producers identify and convert new audiences to The Great, exactly when the show needs them most.

Photo: Hulu

The Great on Ranker

The Great is ranked on 47 different lists, holding its own against shows competing for the title of best historical show, best comedy, best Hulu original series, and best show about royalty. 

The dramedy is currently ranked #2 on The Best Historical Dramas On Hulu, beaten only by Vikings, and ranks #10 on The Best Current Historical Drama Series Airing Now, just behind Citytv’s long-running Murdoch Mysteries. The Great comes in at #12 on The Greatest TV Shows About Kings & Queens, outranking shows and limited series like BBC One’s War & Peace and HBO’s award-winning Elizabeth I.

Elsewhere on Ranker, The Great has nabbed the #8 spot on our list of TV Shows That Came Out Of Nowhere In 2020, ranking above The Undoing, The Circle, and The Flight Attendant. And finally, The Great ranked at #15 on The Best New Shows of 2020, coming in ahead of I Know This Much Is True, AppleTV+’s Defending Jacob, and FXX’s sleeper hit comedy Dave.

Who’s Watching The Great?

What’s so great about The Great? Do people tune in for court politics and a peek behind the royal curtain? Are they drawn to dramas with a strong female lead, or irreverent comedies? Using the data found within Ranker Insights, we can get to the fundamentals of The Great fan base and find out exactly who is watching what.

PERIOD PIECE FANS

Fans who like Fanning’s portrayal as a famous historical badass have a penchant for similarly historical femme-focused shows. Fans of The Great are 9X more likely than the average TV viewer to love The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which follows a rising female comic in the 1950s. They’re also 9X more likely to love the Starz drama Outlander, a historical love story with a sci-fi twist about an English woman from the 20th century who travels back in time to 1740s Scotland. Finally, fans of The Great are also 2X more likely to like Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, the award-winning fictional series about a chess prodigy in the 1960s.

These viewers love The Great and… The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Outlander, and The Queen’s Gambit

DRAMA QUEENS

Fans of The Great who love to observe life behind the throne and political intrigue of the royal court are 9X more likely to love the Showtime series The Tudors, which centers on young King Henry VIII in the early days of his infamous rule. They’re also 8X more likely to like Starz’s The Spanish Princess, a sympathetic look at King Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, based on the books by Philippa Gregory. Finally, fans of The Great are a whopping 10X more likely than the average TV viewer to be interested in Netflix’s critically acclaimed series The Crown, which follows Queen Elizabeth II in both her personal life and as a public figure.

These viewers love The Great and… The Tudors, The Spanish Princess, and The Crown

HISTORICAL FICTION BUFFS

Fans who credit The Great for its outrageous storytelling (but not necessarily historical accuracy) are likely to enjoy other shows that similarly explore the past in unique ways. This includes Netflix’s Bridgerton, a bodice-ripper that took audiences by storm in 2020. Based on the books by Julia Quinn, the series explores the love lives of the Bridgerton family during the Regency period, and is 2X more likely to share fans with The Great.

Fans of The Great are also 8X more likely to love Starz’s The White Princess, a fictionalized take on the War of the Roses. Starring Jodie Comer as Elizabeth of York, the limited series is a sequel to The White Queen. And finally, Ranker Insights tells us that fans of The Great are 9X more likely to love the CW’s Reign, a sexy historical drama about Mary, Queen of Scots, and her time in the French court.

These viewers love The Great and… Bridgerton, The White Princess, and Reign

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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