The promotional train for Dahmer may have started late, but the lack of publicity for the series has seemingly resulted in more interest.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story beat Netflix records in its first week on the streaming service.
After just five days available, it secured 196.2 million hours of viewership, allowing it to hit the #1 spot in several countries.
The numbers make Dahmer the highest first week of viewership for a series debut on Netflix.
Granted, the numbers were probably helped by the fact that the series dropped on a Wednesday instead of a Friday.
We’ll have more concrete numbers when the show has been available for longer.
The series narrowly beat Inventing Anna, which netted 195.97 million hours viewed.
Squid Game, which became the streamer’s most-watched show ever, kicked off with just over 63 million hours viewed.
The series is headlined by Evan Peters (American Horror Story), in a role that reunites the star with Ryan Murphy.
“Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer gruesomely took the lives of seventeen innocent victims. DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is a series that exposes these unconscionable crimes, centered around the underserved victims and their communities impacted by the systemic racism and institutional failures of the police that allowed one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade,” the logline reads.
In addition to Peters, the cast includes Richard Jenkins (Lionel Dahmer), Molly Ringwald (Shari Dahmer), Michael Learned (Catherine Dahmer), and Niecy Nash (Glenda Cleveland).
The expansive list of guest stars includes Penelope Ann Miller (Joyce Dahmer), Michael Beach (Detective Murphy), Colby French (Detective Kennedy), Shaun J. Brown (Tracy Edwards), Mac Brandt (Officer Rauth), Grant Harvey (Officer Mueller), Matthew Alan (Officer Gabrish), and Scott Michael Morgan (Officer Balcerzak).
Josh Braaten (Young Lionel Dahmer), Savannah Brown (Young Joyce Dahmer), Nick A. Fisher (Young Jeffrey Dahmer), Cameron Cowperthwaite (Steven Hicks), Vince Hill-Bedford (Steven Tuomi), Blake Cooper Griffin (Charles), Matt Cordova (Detective Rauss), and Rodney Burford (Tony Hughes) also star.
While the acting has had rave reviews, the series has had its fair share of criticism since its launch.
Many have questioned whether another retelling of this harrowing tale was necessary.
What are your thoughts on the numbers?
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.