What was old, was extremely new on Netflix in January and even into this month.
Specifically, the Peter Farrelly created dramedy series about addiction, Loudermilk, which was barely found by an audience on its original, now unplugged AT&T Audience Network, became a must-see show on the streamer six-plus years after its original airing.
In Nielsen’s Top 10 for Streaming Originals (Jan. 8-14), Loudermilk ranked No. 8 with 846 million viewing minutes.
But even before that list was published, Loudermilk was showing big signs of life across the streamer’s own Top 10 charts. Loudermilk season one was in the Netflix Top 10 most viewed shows in the U.S. for four weeks (week ending Jan. 14, 21 and 28, and Feb. 4) with a peak rank of No. 4 during the week of Jan. 15-21. Season 2 of Loudermilk ranked in the Netflix top 10 stateside during the week of July 28.
But that’s not all Loudermilk hit the top 10 throughout the month of January in Australia, Austria, Germany, UK, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In Canada, Loudermilk‘s second season has been in the Netflix Top 10 for six weeks from Jan. 1 through Feb. 11.
Analyzed Deadline’s ratings guru Katie Campione, “This is just another example of the power of Netflix when it comes to boosting the profile of shows. This one is a bit of a different ballgame than some of HBO series we’ve seen light up on Netflix, since the AT&T Audience Network had a much smaller footprint. However, it’s really becoming clear that Netflix can do for a series what basically no other streamer can.”
The Netflix halo isn’t the first safety net Loudermilk has received. However, it’s arguably the biggest reception ever for the Ron Livingston, Will Sasso, Anja Savcic, Brian Regan starring series. Loudermilk first aired on Oct. 17, 2017 on Audience Network for ten episodes. A second season of ten episodes followed in the fall of 2018. While the show received a season 3 order in August 2018 (which was shot), AT&T Audience network shut down before it aired in January 2020. By May 2020, the rights to Loudermilk were handed back to its producers. In April 2021, season 3 of Loudermilk found a home on Amazon Prime, which also aired the show’s first two seasons. Farrelly’s new comedy movie, Ricky Stanicky starring Zac Efron and John Cena hits Prime on March 7.
Farrelly isn’t shocked by Loudermilk‘s newfound success even though it centers around a curmudgeon rehab counselor/former music critic, who is also a recovering alcoholic, Sam Loudermilk (played by Livingston). The Green Book filmmaker believes the series’ heartfelt approach toward those battling addiction, and those who have recovering addicts in their family, is what resonates with audiences.
Talking about the origins of the series, Farrelly explains that the show’s co-creator Bobby Mort and himself sat down and “wanted to do a show about addiction, and we wanted it to be not like most shows about addiction.”
“Most shows about addiction are depressing, and it’s just hard to watch, and the truth of the matter is there’s a lot of love and camaraderie in those rooms, and I hadn’t ever seen that. We wanted to tell that story and make it real.”
“It’s about friendship and helping each other, and so, in any case, we shopped it around wherever. Nobody wanted it, and then the Audience Network, an exec there, Shane Elrod, said, ‘Hey, look, you come here, we don’t have any money, but you could do whatever you want to do.’”
Farrelly always had a plan for a season 4, and tells Deadline he can easily pull the entire cast back together. Given the limited location shoot in Vancouver, Canada (sitting in for Seattle), a key plus with Loudermilk per Farrelly is that an entire ten-episode season can be shot in eight weeks.
He teases about season 4, “Loudermilk sells his book, finally, and now we cut back three-four years later, his book has come out. That takes a year. It’s a huge hit, and now Loudermilk’s on top of again. Loudermilk is back to being Loudermilk, and yet, he has to deal with these same guys, his group.”
“So, he’s got one foot in this celebrity world again, and he’s having lunch with Neil Young, and by the end, he has to rush back to see these guys, and it’s like how do you make that work? And it’s also the slippery slope of stardom, and it becomes Loudermilk meets Larry Sanders because you got real celebrities in there and real rock stars, and it really gets fun,” Farrelly explains.
The CAA-repped Farrelly has plans to shop the series again for a fourth and future seasons, but “my dream is to, again, have Netflix pick it up,” he says.
“It’s got a home there.”
Farrelly gives props for Loudermilk‘s longevity to Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra, a longtime supporter of the show (the studio distributed Loudermilk), as well as former AT&T Audience Network Head of Programming, Development and Production, Bart Peters, who is also an EP on Loudermilk. It was Peters who informed Farrelly that the series was getting licensed to Netflix.
About the Loudermilk phenomenon, Farrelly says, “Over the years, I’d say, ‘Don’t worry, people are going to find this someday.’ I always knew that. I didn’t know it was going to happen last month.”
