Stranger Things returned to Netflix in the 2025 TV schedule for the first time since 2022, and the streamer went all-in on making the holiday season about the Upside Down. Fans are currently in the midst of the break between Volume 1, which released on November 26, and the arrival of Volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 5 on Christmas Day. With all the hype and anticipation, I expected the series from the Duffer Brothers to remain on top of Netflix’s Top 10 all month, but within a week of the premiere, another series has dethroned it from #1. Already!
Yes, Stranger Things sits at #2 on Netflix’s Top 10 at the time of writing, coming in second behind the four-part Sean Combs: The Reckoning docuseries, which arrived on the streamer on December 2. The trailer for 50 Cent’s docuseries about Diddy dropped just a week before the debut, and enough controversy has stirred in the days since the release that Netflix had to clap back at claims being made about it. 50 Cent, an executive producer on the project, also addressed rumors that he made the docuseries due to his longstanding beef with Diddy.
Obviously Sean Combs: The Reckoning had enough going for it that it was all but guaranteed a spot on Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the U.S., but I didn’t expect that anything could knock Stranger Things down to #2 just days after the long-awaited premiere. In fact, Stranger Things is one of only three scripted offerings currently on the Top 10 TV Shows. Here’s the full list at the time of writing:
- Sean Combs: The Reckoning
- Stranger Things
- Matt Rife: Unwrapped
- WWE RAW
- The Beast in Me
- Missing: Dead Or Alive
- Victoria
- Kevin Hart: Acting My Age
- Is It Cake? Holiday
- My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman
One of Claire Danes’ two shows that were crushing last week has dropped out of the Top 10, but The Beast in Me is still going strong. It’s one of the three scripted shows along with Victoria and of course Stranger Things. In hindsight of seeing the list with Sean Combs: The Reckoning on top, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised after Netflix’s early viewership numbers for Season 5.
In the first five days after the release on November 26, the first volume achieved 59.6 million – yes, million – views, giving the Stranger Things team the bragging rights to the best premiere-week viewership in the history of Netflix’s English-language series. That suggests to me that a whole lot of people binge-watched those first four episodes in the first five days, so viewers with a Netflix subscription may have just moved on to the next big thing after hurrying through Volume 1.
I also have no doubt that Stranger Things will be back at #1 in the final days before the 2026 TV schedule kicks off, with Volume 2 releasing on Christmas Day and the series finale on New Year’s Eve. In the meantime, check out Sean Combs: The Reckoning if you haven’t already to see what has so many subscribers tuning in already.
