The overnight buzz surrounding last week’s Critics Choice Awards was enough to catapult the March 13 show to the top of Variety’s Trending TV chart for the week of March 14-20, as viewers continued digging into all of the night’s highlights, controversies and big wins.
The live broadcast on The CW and TBS drummed up another 567,000 engagements with viewers this week, bringing the show’s engagement total to more than 2 million and marking a two-week run at No. 1.
Upcoming Disney Plus series “Ms. Marvel” was close behind this week with 526,000 engagements, landing in No. 2 on the chart ahead of its June 8 premiere. A large chunk of that engagement surrounded the March 15 trailer drop, which officially introduced Marvel’s first Muslim superhero to the world.
The future is in her hands.
Ms. Marvel, an Original series from Marvel Studios, starts streaming June 8 on @DisneyPlus. #MsMarvel pic.twitter.com/k1s7HWOtaV
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) March 15, 2022
The six-episode series stars newcomer Iman Vellani as the title superhero, whose alter ego, Kamala Khan, was first introduced by Marvel Comics in 2013 as a teen who idolized Captain Marvel. Bisha K. Ali (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) serves as executive producer and head writer.
CAN’T WAIT FOR THE MARVELS TO UNITE #MsMarvel pic.twitter.com/AlBjC07g3o
— Ren (@wandasolsen) March 15, 2022
Marvel had quite the buzzy week on social media. In addition to “Ms. Marvel,” the upcoming “Moon Knight” series starring Oscar Isaac generated a ton of Twitter chatter, coming in third place on this week’s chart with 168,000 engagements. Those were partially due to a new TV spot ahead of the March 30 debut, in which new footage alludes to a relationship between Isaac’s Marc Spector/Steven Grant and May Calamawy’s mysterious character, Layla.
In 10 Days, chaos is coming 🌙
🖤 this tweet to get reminded when Marvel Studios’ #MoonKnight starts streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/1S64LScJel
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) March 20, 2022
Comments by director and executive producer Mohamed Diab also generated buzz as Diab criticized the lack of Egyptian representation and themes in the upcoming “Black Adam” movie from DC.
“I wanted to showcase Egyptian talents as much as I could,” Diab told Filfan, contrasting “Moon Knight” with the Dwayne Johnson-led pic. “Every culture should be represented by its people so I hired actors, an editor, a costume designer, an art director and a composer who are all Egyptian.”
Dropping from third to fourth on this week’s chart was a new installment of “Outander” on Starz, which touched on a major storyline involving Fergus (César Domboy) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) from Diana Gabaldon’s novel “A Breath of Snow and Ashes.” The scene resonated with fans, who quickly shared screenshots and quotes from the emotional moment. In total, the series scored 96,000 engagements this week.
“You’ll always have a home with us” #Outlander pic.twitter.com/Dt8s0VJaph
— thífani | outlander S6 ⚔ (@mirrorbaIfe) March 20, 2022
my heart is shattered #Outlander pic.twitter.com/9TpkzhqOg7
— thífani | outlander S6 ⚔ (@mirrorbaIfe) March 20, 2022
Rounding out this week’s Top 5 was “One Piece” on Netflix and Hulu with 80,000 engagements. “The Kardashians” on Hulu was behind at No. 6, building on last week’s buzz from the new series’ first official promo. A new trailer, which dropped on March 14, propelled engagement with footage of Kim Kardashian talking about her relationship with Pete Davidson, and Kourtney Kardashian revealing she and fiancé Travis Barker are attempting to have a baby. “The Kardashians” debuts on April 14.
it’s about to get real. #TheKardashians are coming to hulu april 14.
hit 🤍 to stay in the loop with @kardashianshulu every week throughout the series! pic.twitter.com/wFGhJGOoBz
— The Kardashians (@kardashianshulu) March 14, 2022
The upcoming March 25 debut of Apple TV Plus’ “Pachinko” also got fans talking online thanks to new interviews with the creators and stars, landing the series in this week’s eighth slot with nearly 58,000 engagements. Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” which also launches its second season on March 25, was right behind at No. 8 with 52,000 engagements.
Take an inside look at #Pachinko, an epic story of one woman’s soul, determination, and power to forge a new and better life for generations to come.
Stream Pachinko March 25 on @appletvplus https://t.co/YIImGpNcex pic.twitter.com/YcQIpuyPya
— Apple TV+ (@AppleTVPlus) March 18, 2022
“Peacemaker,” meanwhile, which wrapped its first season in mid-February, returned to this week’s chart thanks to an album announcement and viral videos by fans that included recreations of the iconic opening dance number. During its initial run, the series was a constant Trending TV chart presence, while its strong ratings led to an early second-season renewal on HBO Max.
I can’t believe @JamesGunn was this close to having #Peacemaker in Spider-Man No Way Home pic.twitter.com/pVmGwGG8ge
— Stream the Vote 💙💛 (@StreamtheVote) March 14, 2022
Mr. @JamesGunn and Mr. @JohnCena. My crew and I made this for you….@HBOMaxLA @hbomax @DCpeacemaker pic.twitter.com/7FTBfzlrj1
— Hector Portillo 💋 (@Cajadepeliculas) March 18, 2022
don’t lie: you know you’d own this album and hang it up on your wall so that all your friends see how cool you are pic.twitter.com/BDja0fI70O
— Peacemaker on HBO Max (@DCpeacemaker) March 17, 2022
Rounding out this week’s Top 10 was new entry “The Bachelor.” The 26th season of the show wrapped this week with 28-year-old lead Clayton Echard revealing he and Susie Evans, who left the show the week before the finale, are exploring their own happily ever after.
The controversial finale on ABC left Bachelor Nation reeling, as Evans defended his choices in front of all the scorched women he left behind.
What a man in love REALLY looks like being rejected #thebachelor pic.twitter.com/fO8G7k7cBR
— kayce (@kayceroo) March 16, 2022
I’ve never been able to be so articulate during a breakup or explain to someone how they’ve hurt me. Gabby should teach a course. #thebachelor #bachelor pic.twitter.com/RRDJUMbCk8
— Alexis (@_loxsmith_) March 16, 2022