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A priest, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar. The young bartender sets down her phone, looks at the priest and asks, “What can I get ya?” The priest says, “Good afternoon, my child. We were just discussing the story of Moses, which may be of interest to you. It’s about service, patience, and–” “Let me stop you right there, Father,” the bartender says. “Before you launch into your story, maybe the rabbi would like to order?” The rabbi turns to the bartender and says, “Ah, thank you, young lady. But my thirst is like the Hebrews’ wandering the desert: meaningless compared to the holy mission of our greatest prophet.” The bartender sips her hard seltzer and looks at the imam. “I’m guessing you agree?” “Absolutely,” the imam replies “The story of Moses carries great wisdom. It deserves to be heard.”

“Well,” the bartender says, “I guess that settles it.

Netflix’s Griselda spent a second week as the top streaming title in the United States, according to Nielsen. It was one of three shows to snag more than a billion minutes of watch time for the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith also had a solid start for Amazon’s Prime Video, coming in just below the billion-minute mark. HBO’s True Detective also joined the rankings as it reached the midpoint of its fourth season.

Griselda, starring Sofia Vergara as the notorious drug lord, grabbed 1.73 billion minutes of viewing for the week, up about 9 percent from the previous seven days. The other two billion-minute shows were Young Sheldon (1.31 billion minutes on Netflix and Max) and Bluey (1.15 billion on Disney+).

Mr. and Mrs. Smith, starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, rang up 964 million minutes of watch time over three days after its Feb. 2 premiere (the full season...

Alexander the Great was an objectively terrible person. The 4th century Bce Macedonian king and military leader came to power when his father was assassinated, and immediately had any rivals for the throne killed. When Alexander executed a man who had conspired against him, he had the man’s father killed as well, just to make sure he could not try to avenge his son. This might be explained away as a powerful ruler doing what was necessary to protect himself, but that does not excuse his murder of Cleitus – a man who had earlier saved his life – in a drunken rage. Alexander’s stated aim was to conquer the whole world, something that should surely make him a villain in any version of his story. Emperors who kill and take over other people’s land are usually the bad guys.

And yet, we are obsessed with him, and have been for over 2,000 years.

A recent docuseries released on Netflix, Alexander: The Making of a God, has ignited controversy among conservatives due to its depiction of Alexander the Great as a gay man.

The inclusion of a passionate kiss between Alexander, portrayed by Buck Braithwaite, and his close companion Hephaestion in the opening episode has drawn the ire of the prominent right-wing “End Wokeness” X account, well-known for its opposition to progressive ideologies. The account took offense to Netflix’s portrayal with the statement, “Netflix’s new documentary about Alexander the Great turned him gay within the first 8 minutes.”

Despite the conservative indignation and the subsequent backlash from its followers, historians have long acknowledged Alexander’s sexuality as more complex than a heterosexual orientation. The belief that Alexander was bisexual has been widely accepted among scholars and transcends ideological boundaries.

The portrayal of Alexander’s bisexuality is not a novel concept in popular media.

“One Day,” Netflix’s new romantic drama series based on the David Nicholls novel, debuted in the third position on the streamer’s weekly rankings. During the Feb. 5-11 viewing window, its first four days of availability, the series hit 5.3 million views.

It followed “Griselda,” the No. 1 title for the third week in a row with 10.3 million views, and Season 1 of “The Tourist” with 6.8 million views. The BBC comedy series first appeared on the Top 10 last week, when it was added to Netflix after previously being dropped by Max. Netflix will debut a second season on Feb. 24.

The No. 4 title was “Alexander: The Making of a God,” which hit 3.5 million views in its first full week of availability. Next was “Fool Me Once,” which last week landed in ninth place on Netflix’s list of the Top 10 most popular English-language TV series of all time. The series reached 3.3 million views during the Feb.

Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows (Jan 29-Feb 4): Check Out The Full List Here! ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

Sofia Vergara led Griselda: Limited Series, one of her career-best performances, and the show is getting love from the viewers by staying on top for the second consecutive week. There are a few new entries in Netflix’s Top 10 TV shows in English for January 29-February 4, 2024.

Sofia’s series is inspired by the events of the drug mafia Griselda Blanco; while people praise the Modern Family star, the real-life son of Blanco felt she was too ugly to play his mother. The views and hours people invest in the series prove Blanco’s son daily.

From Sofia Vergara’s Griselda to Michelle Yeoh’s The Brothers Sun, check out the global top 10 TV shows on Netflix. The streaming giant is often credited for starting the concept of binge-watching, and it is now...

Griselda spent another week lording over Netflix, but Fool Me Once had its own reason to celebrate.

It was easily the most-watched title of the week with 20.6M views, marking its second week atop the English-language TV Top 10. According to Netflix, the series was in the Top 10 in 90 countries. That was nearly three times the viewership of second place, which was the docuseries Alexander: The Making of a God with 7.1M views in its debut week.

While Fool Me Once was pushed to No. 4 this week, the additional 5.1M views put it on the Most Popular List at No. 9. The series has managed 84.9M views in its first 35 days on Netflix. Expect this series to continue to climb the list, since it has plenty of time to build a larger 91-day viewership. It’s next hurdle will be Season 2 of Bridgerton, which would require nearly 10M additional views.

Speaking of,...

“Fool Me Once” has joined Netflix’s chart of its Top 10 most popular English-language TV shows in the ninth position.

Netflix compiles this chart by calculating views across each title’s first 91 days of availability on the platform. With 84.9 million total views in just 35 days, “Fool Me Once” slots in between “Bridgerton” Season 2 (No. 8 with 93.8 million views) and “The Witcher” (No. 10 with 83 million views). The previous tenth-most-popular title on the list was the May 2023 limited series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which reached 81.3 million views in its first 91 days and has now fallen off of the list.

The achievement came during the Jan. 29-Feb. 4 viewing window, during which 5.1 million views made “Fool Me Once” the No. 4 most-watched Netflix series of the week.

“Griselda” was the No. 1 title for the second week in a row, this time reaching 20.6 million views in its first full week of availability. The Sofia Vergara series...

Dino Kelly is one of the rising stars that make up the cast of Netflix's new Alexander: The Making of a God docuseries, and there are a few things that fans should know about the actor.

Kelly portrays Ptolemy in the Alexander the Great series on Netflix. His character is one of Alexander's most loyal and trusted military officers.

Many have praised Kelly for his performance in the series, which also stars Buck Braithwaite in the titular role and Will Stevens as Hephaestion.

Read full article on The Direct.

From psychology classes to calling, "Cut!" on set, here are some fun facts to get to know Alexander: The Making of a God's Will Stevens. 

Stevens joins the cast of Netflix's Alexander the Great docuseries, playing Hephaestion in the show's dramatic reenactments of key moments from the Macedonian king's life. 

Stevens' character has been the subject of much speculation throughout history, being one of the key figures in the argument Alexander the Great may have been gay, something the series is not afraid to tackle head-on. 

Read full article on The Direct.

You’ve likely heard of Alexander the Great — the warrior prince who became a legendary Hellenic ruler of most of the known Western world. However, Alexander: The Making of a God, recounts the historical icon’s conquests in a new way, using contemporary accounts and fact-based archaeology, much of which is based on ongoing excavations being undertaken by Greek archeologist Calliope Limneos-Papakosta in Alexandria, Egypt, the city that Alexander the Great founded.

What’s Alexander: The Making of a God about?

The six-part docuseries explores the extraordinary path of the young, exiled man determined to find his place in the world following his father’s assassination, quickly uniting his country in a campaign for dominance. Alexander pursued an unrelenting obsession with defeating the Persian King Darius, and his ambition led to his claim of largest Western empire in history, from Greece to part of India, in just under six years.

Netflix recently released a brand-new docuseries about Alexander the Great titled Alexander: The Making of a God, leaving many fans interested in learning more about the show's star, Buck Braithwaite

Alexander: The Making of a God debuted on the streaming service on January 31, featuring Braithwaite as Alexander the Great.

Even though it has been met with poor audience reviews (it currently has a 4.7/10 rating on IMDb as of writing), many have praised Braithwaite for his performance as Alexander the Great.

Read full article on The Direct.

Netflix's new Alexander the Great docuseries has fans questioning if the great military leader was, in fact, gay. 

While being best known for conquering Persia and Greece as the king of ancient Macedon, Alexander: The Making of a God (streaming now on Netflix) suggests the historical figure harbored a secret about his sexuality. 

The new series gets into the inner workings of Alexander the Great, following him on the rise to reign as King of Macedon and through that reign, along with the people around him. 

Read full article on The Direct.

Netflix's 2024 Alexander the Great series features a killer cast reenacting the life of one of history's most notorious military leaders. 

The long-form documentary is the latest historical epic of this format for Netflix, telling the story by way of both 'face-to-camera' interviews as well as dramatizations of the stories being told by the featured experts.

Officially titled Alexander: The Making of a God, the series came to Netflix worldwide on Wednesday, January 31. 

Read full article on The Direct.

There is no dearth of historical documentaries on Netflix. The numbers are staggering, and it is interesting how the platform is bringing forward never-before-heard or seen stories of kings and queens from around the world. They also cover stories of other figures from the ancient world, which helps the audience receive a different perspective on the lives they led. It allows us to understand the politics of the world and the contribution of a respective figure in world history. It could be a cultural or political impact that survived all this time for historians to speak about and educate people about. History cannot be restricted to school textbooks anymore. It is interesting that this subject is being presented through Ott platforms in a way that is very different from classroom lessons.

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Lucy van Beek, the award-winning factual TV and film specialist, has launched her own production outfit, Tailfeather Productions.

The company, whose focus will be premium specialist factual documentaries and series for streaming platforms, broadcasters and theatrical release, launches with two major commissions, “Alexander: The Making of a God” for Netflix and “Born to Be Wild” for Apple TV+.

Van Beek, who trained with the BBC Natural History Unit, has been behind shows including “Britain From Above” for the BBC and National Geographic’s “China’s Megatomb Revealed.” Across her career she’s won seven Emmy Awards, a BAFTA, the New York Film Festival Creative Award, and numerous science and natural history awards.

“My mission with Tailfeather is to use the latest research and technology combined with journalistic rigour and compelling storytelling, to craft specialist factual experiences that will resonate with audiences,” said van Beek. “We want to unlock the past...

British natural history vet Lucy van Beek has unveiled Tailfeather Productions, with commissions for Netflix’s Alexander: The Making of a God and Apple TV+’s Born to Be Wild launching imminently.

Van Beek trained at BBC Studios Natural History Unit and has won seven Emmys and a BAFTA.

She has most recently been working on the Netflix and Apple commissions, both of which were first revealed by Deadline last year. Alexander, which is being made in association with her former employer Lion Television and Nick Catliff, will drop in five days time and uses contemporary accounts and fact-based archaeology to tell the story of one of the greatest rulers of our time. Born to Be Wild is co-produced with Offspring Films and follows six rare young animals for several years, as they are brought up in our world, but destined to return to theirs.

Van Beek said her “mission...

“Alexander: The Making of a God” is a new six part docudrama series “…that reveals the extraordinary life of ‘Alexander the Great’ through his radical transformation from warrior prince to living god”, streaming January 31, 2024 on Netflix:

‘..the series explores his rise as an exiled young man into his obsession and bloodlust with defeating the mighty ‘Persian Emperor Darius’ that led him to conquer the known world in just under six years.

‘’His fascinating story is told through stunning drama intertwined with expert academic insight, ground-breaking archaeology and ongoing excavations at the archaeological site in Alexandria, Egypt led by Calliope Limneos-Papakosta…”

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