Wednesday: Netflix exec comments on the show’s success & the possibility of a season 2

The Addams Family series Wednesday has turned out to be a massive hit for the Netflix streaming service – in fact, in less than a month of release, it has already become Netflix’s second-most popular English-language series of all time. So there seems to be almost no question that we’re going to be getting Wednesday season 2… Netflix just hasn’t officially ordered it yet. And while speaking to Variety about the show’s success, Netflix executive Peter Friedlander (the service’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series) still couldn’t confirm if or when that new season order is going to be made.

Friedlander told Variety, “I have nothing to confirm at this time. I am optimistic about Wednesday. We’ll leave it at that. Weirdly, because it feels different, but we’re just two weeks into the launch of Wednesday. So we’re still really at the beginning of this cultural phenomenon. And there’s a lot to absorb and learn about it. It’s striking how quick something like this can explode on Netflix, and there is a lot you want to hear back from fans and audiences. It’s not just (the dance scene), it’s people dressing up and buying makeup and wanting to look like Wednesday Addams. The resurgence, for me, it’s something that’s been in the culture for a long time — but never this pronounced. It’s something that we want to study and understand why this is such a phenomenon. And I think so much of it is Jenna Ortega’s extraordinary performance at the center. But that supporting cast, across the board, are legends: Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, and Christina Ricci! The marketing approach to Wednesday was sizzling. Whether it was the billboards that say, ‘Honk if you’re dead inside,’ or you’re at the airport and you saw those TSA messages inside the bucket, it was everywhere and they really contributed to making it such a hit.“

Friedlander added that the Wednesday dance scene proving to be so popular on social media is one of his favorite examples of audience engagement with Netflix content.

Half of Wednesday‘s eight episode season was directed by Tim Burton, with Gandja Monteiro and James Marshall splitting directing duties on the other four episodes. Created by showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar, Wednesday is described as

a comedic, supernaturally-infused coming-of-age series that follows the teenage girl’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the town, and solve a mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new relationships at Nevermore. Snap snap.

Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday, with Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley and Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez and Morticia. They are joined on the show by Riki Lindhome as Wednesday’s therapist Dr. Valerine Kinbot; Joy Sunday as Siren Nevermore student Bianca Barclay; Emma Myers as Wednesday’s sunny roommate Enid Sinclair; Hunter Doohan as townie Tyler Galpin; Moosa Mostafa as quirky Nevermore student Eugene Otinger; Georgie Farmer as awkward and shy Nevermore student Ajax Petropolus; Naomi J. Ogawa as vampire Nevermore student Yoko Tanaka; Percy Hynes White as supernaturally artistic Nevermore student Xavier Thorpe; Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Tyler’s father, who has a vendetta against Gomez; Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems, “the principal of Nevermore Academy who still has an axe to grind with her former classmate Morticia Addams”; Victor Dorobantu as Thing, the non-verbal disembodied hand; George Burcea as Lurch; Tommie Earl Jenkins as Mayor Walker; Iman Marson as Lucas Walker; William Houston as Joseph Crackstone; Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Deputy Santiago; Oliver Watson as Kent; Calum Ross as Rowan; and Johnna Dias Watson as Divina.

Thora Birch had signed on to play a character named Tamara Novak, “Wednesday’s dorm mother and the only ‘normie’ on staff at Nevermore Academy, with a focus on all things botanical.” Sadly, due to a family illness, Birch had to leave the production in Romania and return to the United States before filming was complete. Christina Ricci, who previously played Wednesday herself in the live-action feature films The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values, replaced Birch, taking on the role of Marilyn Thornhill.

Have you watched Wednesday? Let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below. And while we continue to wait for a season 2 order, here’s a list of some fun episodes from the 1960s sitcom version of The Addams Family.