The data doesn't lie: We watched a ton of Netflix over quarantine. The streaming site released its end-of-year stats on Thursday, Dec. 10, and revealed a lot about what we've been binge-watching this year to combat our loneliness, stress and everything in between.
Let's get into it.
Overall, we spent twice as much time watching documentaries as reality shows. No surprise here: Tiger King was one of the most viewed docu-series on Netflix, and we agree the big cat exposé was definitely worth a binge (and even led to a Dancing With the Stars run for Carole Baskin).
On the reality TV side, two of the most popular series were Too Hot To Handle and Love is Blind, which stayed in the U.S. Top 10 for a jaw-dropping 47 days, the longest of any non-children's show. It certainly sounds like fans of romance had their way when the dating apps simply weren't cutting it.
In fact, viewers feasted their eyes on twice as much romance in 2020 as in 2019. Probably because we all needed a good cry? Three sequels—The Kissing Booth 2, Princess Switch: Switched Again and To All The Boys P.S I Still Love You—were the resounding favorites in that category.
And as we sat isolated in our homes, many of us searched for content from around the world to satisfy our wanderlust. Foreign language titles were up 50 percent, with French being one of the most common choices.
Netflix notes that Emily in Paris doesn't exactly count there, but the controversial Lily Collins series was actually one of its most popular comedies of the entire year. Good thing the fashion-obsessed ringard will be back for season two!
The platform shared more insights on how the U.S. lockdown in March may have changed our viewing habits as well. For one, stand-up comedy shows spiked in March and April as we yearned for distraction. Also in April, searches for "sad movies" soared 30 percent from the month before, which, like, same.
In addition, home baking shows jumped nearly 50 percent in March, when we all learned how to bake banana bread—and later, how to decorate our homes with a little help from Khloe Kardashian's go-to organizers on The Home Edit.
But perhaps one of the biggest and most meaningful spikes of the year occurred in the three weeks after the death of George Floyd in May, which kicked off a summer of nationwide civil unrest.
Viewing of shows and films that Netflix described as helping to "better understand the Black experience" in America skyrocketed. Director Ava DuVernay's Oscar-nominated 2016 documentary, 13th, increased by a whopping 5,000 percent (yes, you read that right).
The documentary about the 1992 Los Angeles riots, LA 92, was up by more than 1,300 percent, Dear White People went up by 700 percent, Time: The Kalief Browder Story was up 500 percent and American Son increased by 270 percent.
Take a look at Netflix's most popular titles of 2020 below.
Love Is Blind
Floor Is Lava
Too Hot Too Handle
Emily in Paris
Space Force
Hubie Halloween
The Wrong Missy
Holidate
Kevin Hart, Zero F**ks Given
Nailed It!
Get Organized with The Home Edit
Million Dollar Beach House
The American Barbecue Showdown
Crazy Delicious
Tiger King
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez
The Social Dilemma
American Murder: The Family
The Kissing Booth 2
Princess Switch: Switched Again
To All The Boys: P.S I Still Love You
The Crown Season 4
The Queen's Gambit
Enola Holmes
Ratched
Ozark Season 3
The Umbrella Academy Season 2
Hillbilly Elegy
Extraction
Spenser Confidential
The Old Guard
Project Power
Cobra Kai
Da 5 Bloods
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two
The Willoughbys
The Angry Birds Movie 2
Over the Moon
American Son
Dear White People
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
Dave Chappelle's 8:46
My Octopus Teacher
Crip Camp