‘Wednesday’ Renewed for Season 2 on Netflix (Nope, Not Amazon)
Reports of the death of “Wednesday” at Netflix have been greatly exaggerated. Just days after the spread of rumors that the “Addams Family” teen series might leave the streamer for its rival, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix finally gave a second season renewal to the series January 6, confirming that it would air “Only on Netflix.”
“It’s been incredible to create a show that has connected with people across the world,” showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar said in a statement to Netflix’s official fandom website Tudum. “Thrilled to continue Wednesday’s tortuous journey into season two. We can’t wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky spooky world of Nevermore. Just need to make sure Wednesday hasn’t emptied the pool first.”
Since its eight-episode first season premiered on November 23, “Wednesday” has been touted by Netflix as one of its all-time most successful series, breaking a variety of records (for English-language shows, at least. “Squid Game” still reigns supreme overall): biggest debut week of a Netflix show at 341.23 million hours viewed! Biggest week overall at 411.3 million hours viewed! Third ever billion-hour season, behind only “Squid Game” and “Stranger Things 4!”
In spite of this blazing success at the streamer, there was some speculation from outlets like The Independent that Netflix waiting over a month to renew the show was due to issues with the production company MGM, which was acquired by Amazon in a deal last spring, and that the series might potentially move to Prime Video. A source at MGM told IndieWire that the deal between MGM and Netflix to produce the series was set before the Amazon acquisition, and thus would not be affected.
Based on “The Addams Family” cartoons created by Charles Addams, “Wednesday” stars Jenna Ortega as the titular character, the daughter of the famously macabre family and a teenage girl with a deadpan disposition and love of violence. The series sees Wednesday shipped off to Nevermore Academy, where she makes new friends, develops psychic abilities, and investigates a string of murders around the town of Jericho, Vermont. Ortega is joined in the cast by Gwendoline Christie, Jamie McShane, Percy Hynes White, Hunter Doohan, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Naomi J Ogawa, Moosa Mostafa, Georgie Farmer, Riki Lindhome, and Christina Ricci, whose portrayal of Wednesday in the 1991 and 1993 “Addams Family” films helped define the character’s iconic personality and look. The show also features Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Fred Armisen, and Isaac Ordonez in recurring roles as the other Addams Family members.
Gough and Millar executive produce the series with Tim Burton, 1.21 Entertainment’s Steve Stark and Andrew Mittman, Tee and Charles Addams Foundation’s Kevin Miserocchi, Glickmania’s Jonathan Glickman and Kayla Alpert, Gail Berman, Tommy Harper, and Kevin Lafferty. Burton directed four of the first season’s eight episodes.
Since its release, “Wednesday” received mixed reviews, with many critics praising Ortega’s portrayal of the character but criticizing the writing as derivative of other teen shows. In his review, IndieWire TV critic Ben Travers wrote: “When it comes to the macabre, Wednesday (and, more so, ‘Wednesday’) is all talk and little action — a well-rounded character hammered into the rectangular icon on your Netflix homescreen, by an algorithm built to conform.”