No one anticipated that a supernatural/horror series set in the 80s would dominate the entertainment industry and garner massive amounts of praise from fans and critics, but Stranger Things lived up to its title and told a tale so engrossing that it is currently at the top of IMDb’s most popular TV shows, and is the newest show to crack into the top 20 of IMDb’s top rated TV shows. The question on everyone’s mind is “will we see a season 2?” The Guardian has reported that although Netflix has not officially confirmed a second season, co- creator and CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings feels it would be “dumb not to” bring Stranger Things back for more.
It’s not just the ratings, nostalgia, the stunning child actors, the government conspiracies, or the psychotic performance by Winona Ryder that is so alluring to Hastings, its about the fans love for the show. “If you look on IMDb the most popular TV show right now is Stranger Things, so that’s a reasonable proxy” said Hastings, but he also points out that traditional methods for choosing which shows make the cut for more seasons do not apply to Netflix because they are “under a whole different model”. Due to the lack of advertising on Netflix, and the fact that they do not disclose viewing figures for its programming, there is no need to “compare all the shows and rank other shows, because it kind of doesn’t matter what everybody loves the most, it matters what you or I love most.” According to Hastings, Netflix’s goal is to buy shows with a “different angle” that not only score well, but tell a interesting story or present a fresh take on a story that appeals to audiences. Hastings states “You see Winona Ryder going crazy looking for her kid, it’s something, especially with the 80s side of it, that hasn’t been seen before.”
Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of the show, have also expressed their deep interest for continuing the series, but with a bit of a different feel to it in order to keep it fresh. “We want it to feel a little bit different, maybe a little bit darker, but still have the sense of fun” said Matt. The Duffer brothers want to maintain the format of the series, eight episodes ranging from 45-55 minutes, but polish up some of the pacing and have the action build up more slowly, so that way “Joyce [Ryder] isn’t at an 11 from the beginning.”