The Handmaid’s Tale has had an impressive run at Hulu, and the anticipation for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 was off the charts for the streamer.
According to Deadline, the premiere ranks as Hulu’s most-watched original — for either a film or TV series debut — over the course of a week.
As a result, The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 1 is also the most-watched telecast of the series, proving that more people than ever are catching the show nowadays.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 wrapped in August 2019, and with the series sitting all of 2020 out due to production issues brought on by the pandemic, there were concerns that people had forgotten about it.
If we look at the broadcast and cable networks, lengthy hiatuses are hurting shows more than ever, but it’s likely many people only caught on to the series during stay-at-home orders.
TV consumption soared during the pandemic, and these metrics are especially good to hear when you consider that Hulu has had great success with movies of late.
The series has thrashed the likes of Palm Springs, Run, and Happiest Season, solidifying itself as a force to be reckoned with.
It’s unclear where the series will fall when the Nielsen streaming charts for premiere week are revealed, but it should put in a decent showing.
Hulu confirmed in December that The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 had been ordered.
“We’re very grateful to Hulu and MGM that the show will be returning for a fifth season, and especially to our loyal fans for their support,” said Bruce Miller.
“We are thrilled to be able to continue to tell these stories with our incredible cast and crew, and can’t wait to be back on the air with season four next year.”
Hulu is also working on a spinoff of the series based on Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, but there’s no telling whether that show could come to fruition when the parent series inevitably ends its run.
The cast includes Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O. T. Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley, Amanda Brugel, Bradley Whitford, and Sam Jaeger.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.