What's summer without a vacation, even if it's a vacation you go on vicariously? As it turns out, we were all ready to head off on an especially cathartic and delicious getaway with Jennifer Garner and her closest girlfriends. For a weekend filled with great food, better friends, and a whole lot of healing, The Five-Star Weekend has quickly and quietly proven itself a massive summer smash.
The limited series based on the book of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand debuted with its full eight-episode season on July 9 following the month's biggest holiday. But that didn't slow down the new show's pull at all as The Five-Star Weekend made history for Peacock before the month has even ended. One week after its premiere, the series became the streamer's biggest debut ever.
The Five-Star Weekend is Peacock's biggest scripted series debut of all time
According to Deadline's report, Peacock revealed that The Five-Star Weekend launched with over 1 billion viewing minutes within the show's first week of availability on the platform. Those numbers were enough to make the series Peacock's biggest scripted series debut of all time. That's quite the achievement for the beach-read drama series in such a short amount of time!
The Five-Star Weekend has already bested the likes of Peacock's hit original series like Poker Face, All Her Fault, The Day of the Jackal, and so many more that have become both fan-favorites and award nominees. It's the prime example of releasing the right show at the right time and gathering the perfect star-studded cast for a timeless and relatable story of friendship, loss, and grief.
As Deadline notes, the official Nielsen ratings numbers for the week of The Five-Star Weekend's debut won't be announced for at least another month, but Peacock's private data appears to be a preview of what we will see what those viewership figures do eventually come to light. Regardless, the series is an undeniable hit and deservingly so, no matter what the numbers might say.
What Peacock can learn from The Five-Star Weekend's success
There are quite a few lessons to be learned by the immediate success of The Five-Star Weekend, and hopefully both Hollywood and Peacock walk away with the right ones. We don't need the show to be renewed for a second season, as much as we would love to see these characters back for another weekend getaway of some sort as teased in the last episode of the season.
The lesson of a limited series' success isn't always for more of the same series to be made. Instead, the lesson should be for streamers to make more limited series with similar stories. Namely, in this case, stories about women. Once again, a series with a women-led cast, played by actresses audiences adore, has become a show that shot straight up the charts. We need more of this, please.
Given the sizable debut of The Five-Star Weekend and its 90% certified fresh approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Peacock should realize the gem it has on its hands. Rather than wasting time trying to get a second season off the ground, the streamer should make sure no one forgets about the series come Emmy season next year. Garner delivered career-best work that needs recognition.
Catch up with our recaps for every episode of The Five-Star Weekend.
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