Picture: Netflix
That ’90s Show just recently debuted its second batch of season 2, but as of right now, we’re still waiting on official word on whether we’ll be getting a full season 3 (or part 4 to stick to Netflix’s naming convention). The cast seems to be up for it, but its viewership and interest have greatly declined.
As a recap, Netflix ordered a super-sized season 2 of That 90s Show following the success of season 1, dropping in January 2023. Those 16 episodes were chopped up into two parts, with the first dropping on June 27th and part 3 eventually moved up to August 22nd, having initially been set for release on October 24th.
Speaking to CinemaBlend in early July, Kurtwood Smith expressed interest in continuing the show for a third season, telling the outlet what he’d hope to see. He said, “I don’t think we have really tapped into the relationship with our granddaughter in a way that we were with Eric and Topher Grace. Hopefully, that will come more in Season 3.” While WGA does list season 3 as being in development, Netflix has yet to officially announce the show’s future.
Laura Prepon, who directed part 3, said the ending is left “open-ended” on the show while talking to The Wrap, adding, “I don’t know if the show is going to go longer — I really hope it does, because the cast is wonderful … and crew is just phenomenal. I’d love to direct more … and be a part of it, but I just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
That 90s Show Suffered A Big Drop in Viewership
The drop between seasons 1 and 2 here cannot be understated. It’s huge, and it’s been largely unreported. That 90s Show season 1 opened big—in fact, it scored 10.4M views (41.08M hours) in its first four days, making it a bigger debut than The Diplomat and just shy of 3 Body Problem and FUBAR. It eventually spent three weeks in the top 10s.
Fast forward to part 2, and that season only featured in the Netflix global top 10s for a week with 1.8M views (5.60M hours watched). Yes, that’s a decrease of 83%. Part 3 failed to enter the top 10s altogether, suggesting it got fewer than 1.9M views, which is what the lowest TV English title had that week.
We can also map out the show’s decline through Netflix’s Engagement Reports, which looks at viewership for titles in six-month intervals, although it doesn’t yet provide an excellent picture for Part 2, given that it dropped just a week before the cut-off. Part 1 picked up 24.2M views in the first half of 2023, 1.4M in the second half of ’23, and a slight bump to 1.6M in the first half of 2024. It all but suggests that the majority did not stick around beyond its initial launch.
That’s the drop from Netflix’s official viewing hours, but two more charts demonstrate the drop in viewership and interest/awareness, perhaps even more.
The two charts below are as follows: On top is the Google interest chart for That 90s Show worldwide, with the first peak where it hit the most interest for season 1. No surprise there. From there, we can see the second two peaks, and they’re fractions of the interest, with the first peak at only 16, suggesting a huge drop-off. That level was mostly sustained for the drop of part 3.
Pictures: Google Trends / FlixPatrol
Of course, another factor that could harm the halo effect for this iteration is that That ’70s Show was never relicensed as part of the deal of bringing back many of the characters. We’re sure that had the original show been available, it’d have naturally bled fans of one into the other. Of course, the rights for that show were instead sold to Peacock where it currently streams exclusively.
We’ve also seen many people online complain/remark about the marketing for the show, saying they didn’t even know two additional parts had been released.
Now, all that said, we have seen Netflix hold comedies to lower expectations regarding renewals. Mo and The Vince Staples Show come to mind here, as both scored renewals despite not being hugely watched. Netflix also remains in business with The Carsey-Werner Company with another reboot planned in the form of A Different World. Never say never, but the drop may be too big for this one to return.
What do you think? Will That 90s Show be coming back for another entry? Let us know in the comments.
Netflix Synopsis: "Kitty and Red Forman welcome a new generation of teenagers into their basement when their granddaughter Leia decides to spend her summer in Wisconsin."
