Now, Google has revealed their top 10 trending TV shows of 2024, which includes surprising results like House of the Dragon not making the Top 5. The fantasy series wound up at Number 9, just above Showtime’s legal drama Your Honor, which ended in 2023 but found new life when added to Netflix earlier this year. The streaming service wound up dominating trending shows this year, including Nobody Wants This at Number 8, Fool Me Once at Number 7, The Perfect Couple at Number 5, and Baby Reindeer at Number 3.
Filling the gaps are FX’s Shōgun at Number 6 and Prime Video’s Fallout at Number 4, reflecting their popularity when they first came out. At Number 2 is Investigation Discovery’s documentay miniseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, exposing the negative work culture and allegations lauded at Nickelodeon creator Dan Schneider. The most popular TV series on their list is Griselda, Netflix’s biographical miniseries about crime boss Griselda Blanco, starring Sofía Vergara as the titular character. Check out the full list below:
Google’s Top Trending TV Shows Of 2024
- Griselda
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
Fallout
The Perfect Couple
Shōgun
Fool Me Once
Nobody Wants This
House of the Dragon
Your Honor
What Google’s Top Trending Shows Say About TV In 2024
Some Unexpected Shows Made The Top Spots
It seems unsurprising that five Netflix originals managed to make it onto Google’s top trending list, with Your Honor ending not stopping it from trending, also thanks to the streaming service. The top spots also show a general favoritism toward realistic stories, with the first three shows on the list depicting actual events, whether through dramatization or documentation. While Fallout offers the first series not to be set in a grounded reality, the video game adaptation and House of the Dragon are the only ones embracing sci-fi and fantasy elements that made it into the Top 10.
It’s also unsurprising the highest-trending shows are older, with the top contender having been released on January 25 this year. Out of all 10 shows, only The Perfect Couple and Nobody Wants This aired prior to June, with House of the Dragon sliding into the second half of the year as new episodes were released. The majority of the list had more time to trend, which no doubt helped Griselda‘s true story reach the top spot. It appears staying power is another major trending attribute, with dark, realistic stories engaging a wider audience.
Google’s Top Trending TV Show
Network
Release Date(s)
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score
Griselda
Netflix
Jan. 25, 2024
86%
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
Investigation Discovery
Mar. 17 to Apr. 7, 2024
100%
Baby Reindeer
Netflix
Apr. 11, 2024
99%
Fallout
Prime Video
Apr. 10, 2024
94%
The Perfect Couple
Netflix
Sept. 5, 2024
65%
Shōgun
FX/Hulu
Feb. 27 to Apr. 23, 2024
99%
Fool Me Once
Netflix
Jan. 1, 2024
71%
Nobody Wants This
Netflix
Spet. 26, 2024
94%
House of the Dragon
HBO
Aug. 21, 2022 to present
86%
Your Honor
Showtime
Dec. 6 2020 to Mar. 19 2023
49%
Our Take On Google’s Top Trending TV Shows Of 2024
Some Surprising Results With Important Similarities
While some popular series like House of the Dragon didn’t crack the Top 5, the higher-placed shows on the list emphasize a focus on realistic stories with familiar grounding. This could signal to streaming services and networks alike that audiences mostly want dark, realistic stories focused on crime or tragedy, with Fallout being an outlier among the highest-trending shows. Google‘s list is highly informative about what the current trends in popularity are, indicative of how networks can get even more engagement with their shows in the future.
Google’s top trending TV shows of 2023 included The Last of Us at Number 1, which, coupled with Fallout this year, indicates post-apocalyptic shows based on video games could be another popular niche.
