Tag: Gina Carano

‘WandaVision’ Edged Out by ‘Mandalorian’ on Parrot’s Digital Originals Chart

The Disney+ live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” remained No. 1 on Parrot Analytics’ digital originals U.S. chart the week ended Feb. 20 by the thinnest of margins over fellow Disney+ series “WandaVision.”

“The Mandalorian” also remained No. 5 on Parrot’s ranking of all TV shows with 63.6 times the demand of an average show (the same as a week before) while seeing a and a 0.01% rise in demand expressions, the proprietary metric Parrot uses to gauge a show’s popularity.

Backlash over Disney-owned Lucasfilm’s controversial decision to cut ties with “Mandalorian” cast member Gina Carano continues to keep eyes on the show. Carano during the week rose to the No. 1 most popular performer on IMDb’s rankings. The Carano story could continue to impact the demand ratings this week, as she gave a highly publicized interview on Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel Sunday, Feb. 21, which by the end of the day had drawn about 1.4 million views, about 30 times the average viewership of the pundit’s weekly discussion series.

“WandaVision,” the first Disney+ series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, climbed to No. 2 with expressions up 3.8% as the twist-filled narrative approaches its March 5 finale, giving the series 63.5 times the demand of the average show. It rose to the No. 6 most-demanded TV series overall in the United States.

Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” dropped to No. 3 on the digital originals chart and No. 8 on the overall TV chart. Demand expressions dropped 15.4% to give the show 52.9 times average demand.

Netflix’s perennially popular “Stranger Things” dropped to No. 4 with 50.6 times average demand and expressions up 6.1%. It was No. 9 on the overall TV show list.

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A “digital original” is Parrot’s term for a multi-episode series in which the most recent season was first made available on a streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu or Disney+.

The No. 1 overall TV series in terms of online demand for the fifth week in a row was “Attack on Titan,” with 95 times average demand. The anime series is currently releasing episodes in its final season.

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Media Play News has teamed with Parrot Analytics to provide readers with a weekly top 10 of the most popular digital original TV series in the United States, based on the firm’s proprietary metric called Demand Expressions, which measures demand for TV content in a given market through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites. Results are expressed as a comparison with the average demand for a TV show of any kind in the market.

‘Mandalorian’ Returns to No. 1 on Parrot Digital Originals Chart After Gina Carano Controversy

The Disney+ live-action “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” returned to the No. 1 spot on Parrot Analytics’ digital originals U.S. chart the week ended Feb. 13 following some tumultuous behind-the-scenes news for the show, which presented its most-recent episode in December.

“The Mandalorian” also rose a spot to No. 5 on Parrot’s ranking of all TV shows with 63.6 times the demand of an average show and a 0.7% rise in demand expressions, the proprietary metric Parrot uses to gauge a show’s popularity.

In particular, “Mandalorian” production arm Lucasfilm, a division of Walt Disney Studios, publicly cut ties with actress Gina Carano, caving to pressure from a vocal Internet mob who resented that her social media posts weren’t explicitly aligned with their political preferences, as she warned against tribalism while playfully satirizing many of their pet causes. Carano, a former MMA fighter who played the heroic Cara Dune on the series, quickly landed on her feet, declaring she was fighting back against “cancel culture” by announcing a deal to produce and star in a new film under conservative pundit Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire banner. Carano’s ouster also triggered a counter-movement calling for people to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions, though time will tell how effective that will be in terms of demands for the streamer’s content.

The same week, it was announced that Pedro Pascal, who plays the “Mandalorian” title character, had been cast in HBO’s “The Last of Us” series, an adaptation of the popular video game franchise, raising more questions about the future production of the third season, which isn’t slated for several months if not more than a year. Disney+ recently announced several “Star Wars” series to fill the void.

Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” dropped to No. 2 on the digital originals chart after five weeks in the top spot. It also slipped a spot to No. 6 on the overall TV chart. Demand expressions dropped 4.3% to give the show 62.6 times average demand.

“WandaVision,” the first Disney+ series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, remained stuck at No. 3 with expressions up just 2% to give the series 61.2 times the demand of the average show. It was again the No. 7 overall most-demanded TV series in the U.S., though Parrot reported that it was the most-demanded show worldwide.

Netflix’s perennially popular “Stranger Things” maintained the No. 4 spot, with 47.7 times average demand and expressions down 1.7%. It was No. 10 on the overall TV show list.

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A “digital original” is Parrot’s term for a multi-episode series in which the most recent season was first made available on a streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu or Disney+.

The No. 1 overall TV series in terms of online demand for the fourth week in a row was “Attack on Titan,” with 99.8 times average demand. The anime series is currently releasing episodes in its final season.

Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!

Media Play News has teamed with Parrot Analytics to provide readers with a weekly top 10 of the most popular digital original TV series in the United States, based on the firm’s proprietary metric called Demand Expressions, which measures demand for TV content in a given market through a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, social media activity, photo sharing, blogging, commenting on fan and critic rating platforms, and downloading and streaming via peer-to-peer protocols and file sharing sites. Results are expressed as a comparison with the average demand for a TV show of any kind in the market.

The Mandalorian: Season 2

STREAMING REVIEW:

Disney+;
Sci-Fi;
Not rated.
Stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Katee Sackhoff, Mercedes Varnado, Rosario Dawson, Timothy Olyphant, Bill Burr, Carl Weathers, Horatio Sanz, Giancarlo Esposito.

The eight episodes of the second season of “The Mandalorian” offer the kind of “Star Wars” moments the franchise’s fans have been clamoring to see for decades.

Series creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni are drawing from nearly all aspects of “Star Wars” lore for inspiration — not just the original trilogy, but also the prequels and animated spinoffs as well.

Instead of trying to reinvent the universe the way the sequel trilogy seemed to be trying to do, “The Mandalorian” unmistakably wants to play in George Lucas’ sandbox. The episodes have all the fun and joy of what it’s like to play with “Star Wars” toys as a kid, and imagine all the adventures possible in that galaxy far, far away.

It’s not fan service. It’s fantastic.

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Picking up from last season, bounty hunter Din Djarin, the Mandalorian of the title, embarks on his quest to return to the Jedi the child everyone refers to as “Baby Yoda” (whose name is finally revealed to be Grogu). But doing so will require a great deal of compromise and sacrifice. Along the way he encounters Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), a Mandalorian from the “Clone Wars” and “Rebels” animated shows who desires to reclaim her home planet from the chaos of the Empire’s wrath. She leads Mando to another animated character brought into live-action, the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), who needs his help to free a village from a warlord in one of the season’s standout episodes.

Another great episode sees the return of Bill Burr, who has to help Mando on a mission to locate the menacing Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). Their infiltration of an Imperial base leads to some of the tensest moments on the show, culminating in the “Star Wars” version of the great basement shootout from Inglourious Basterds.

And if that weren’t enough, we get the return of Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), last seen being swallowed by the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi. Not only did he survive, but he’s finally living up to the potential for badassery only hinted at in his limited screen time in the movies but which has nonetheless made him a fan favorite since his introduction.

The season also has a few more surprises in store, leading to one of the most emotional and satisfying finales a fan could hope for.

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There have been some grumblings about the wide variance in running times of the episodes — ranging from barely more than a half-hour to more than 50 minutes. But this just demonstrates the creative advantages of posting content to an ad-free streaming service as opposed to needing to fill a set run time to account for a time slot and advertising. The show’s creators are telling the stories they want to tell, and they are using the time they need to tell them. No more, no less. And the results speak for themselves.