‘The Bear’ Becomes Most-Watched FX Premiere on Hulu Ever; Most-Watched Comedy in FX History
“Thank you, chef.” It has been a very good week for the folks at Hulu and The Beef, as the second season of the acclaimed TV show “The Bear” has become the most-watched premiere for an FX show in the service’s history. According to the Disney-owned streamer, the show saw a 70% increase from Season 1 to 2 in terms of total hours streamed during the first four days of release. Admittedly, “The Bear” was a surprise hit last summer and took some time to catch on, but entered its second season with as much anticipation as any summer premiere, so the disparity between the season premieres shouldn’t come as much of a shock.
The show follows an acclaimed chef named Carmy (played by Jeremy Allen White) who moves home to Chicago in order to take over his family’s Italian Beef shop following the death of his older brother. In the first season, Carmy has to get his staff in gear in order to keep The Beef from closing. Then, in Season 2, the team’s attention turns to transforming the spot into a fine dining establishment.
The first season was the most-watched of any FX comedy series in history — either on cable or Hulu — and the latest installment appears to be on track to surpass it. Since Disney took control of FX in 2019, the prestige cable channel and the company’s general entertainment streamer have had a positive, yet confusing relationship.
A number of series — including “The Bear” — have been dubbed “FX on Hulu” shows. While they are produced by FX and overseen by the channel’s CEO John Landgraf, they do not air on the cabler, instead premiering exclusively on Hulu. some of the other shows that have carried this label have been “American Horror Stories,” “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” “Class of ‘09,” “Under the Banner of Heaven,” and “Reservation Dogs,” although the latter series — the project’s most critically acclaimed other than “The Bear” — is set to premiere its third season on FX this summer.
As noted in this week’s edition of The Streamable’s “10 Best Shows on Streaming Right Now” list, “The Bear” has not only been able to defy the traditional sophomore slump that many TV series fall victim to, but also to exceed the sky-high expectations that fans and critics had for its followup.
While the show’s focus has been taken out of the high-stress environment of trying to keep a mom-and-pop sandwich shop alive, it has replaced it with the similar pressures of trying to build a new restaurant in a very tight timeline without enough money.
The series succeeds by focusing on the changes that each member of the ensemble has to go through in order to meet this challenge. Led by White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the 10-episode Season 2 allows for detours that allow Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott, Oliver Platt, Molly Gordon, and the rest of the cast to deliver thoroughly enchanting performances that only add to the heart of the show.
With numbers like this, there should be no question that viewers will be able to dine out at The Bear when Season 3 comes to Hulu (hopefully) next year.
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