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Netflix has nearly half of IMDb’s Top 50 Shows

November 14, 2018

Over the last few years, Netflix has shifted its focus from movies to TV. Not only has the movie library shrunk and the library of TV series grown, but Netflix is quickly earning a reputation for quality TV shows and sub-par movies.

But is Netflix’s TV show library really that good? Or is it mostly full of duds with a few bright spots? To answer the question, StreamingObserver cross-referenced the current Netflix TV show library with IMDb’s top 250 TV show list and found that Netflix has 23 of the 50 highest rated shows from IMDb’s list.

Other highlights from the data include:

  • Netflix’s current library has 28 per cent of IMDb’s top 250 shows
  • Over 25 per cent of Netflix shows from the IMDb top 250 are Netflix originals(18 of the 69)
  • Planet Earth II and Planet Earth are the top two rated shows on Netflix in respect to IMDb’s top 250 list
  • Netflix has double the amount of IMDb top 250 TV shows as it does IMDb top 250 movies

The top 50 shows (Netflix originals in italics):

  1. Planet Earth II (2016)
  2. Planet Earth (2006)
  3. Breaking Bad (2008)
  4. Life (2009)
  5. Sherlock (2010)
  6. The Twilight Zone (1959)
  7. The Vietnam War (2017)
  8. The Civil War (1990)
  9. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009)
  10. Death Note (2006)
  11. The Blue Planet (2001)
  12. Frozen Planet (2011)
  13. One Punch Man (2015)
  14. Black Mirror (2011)
  15. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969)
  16. Africa (2013)
  17. Stranger Things (2016)
  18. Friends (1994)
  19. Arrested Development (2003)
  20. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
  21. House of Cards (2013)
  22. Twin Peaks (1990)
  23. Narcos (2015)
  24. Sacred Games (2018)
  25. Fawlty Towers (1975)

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