Which TV Shows Reigned Supreme in NZ During Lockdown 1.0 and 2.0?

One of the frustrating little issues about Lockdown 2.0 was the fact that I’d already exhausted all my good options on Netflix, Neon, TVNZ, Disney and Prime Video. And I’d already re-watched most of my favourite movies – was it too soon to re-watch them AGAIN?

See, when things take a dark turn in my life, I have a strange tendency to turn to disaster movies for some sort of warped comfort. So when Covid-19 happened and I lost my job I wrapped myself up in a weighted blanket and watched Jurassic Park for the umpteenth time. Hurrah! Life wasn’t so bad – at least I wasn’t being chased by velociraptors!

Then I moved on to the latest series of Ozark (Yay, at least I wasn’t at the mercy of a cartel!), before trying to up the mood with some comedy – to no avail. Schitts Creek, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place… I just couldn’t sit through a full episode, which seemed completely at odds to what some of my other friends were watching – all they wanted was some light-hearted entertainment while the chips were down.

And, it appears I was in the minority after all. Steve Newall, the editor at Flicks, has conducted a fascinating survey to find out exactly how both lockdowns affected what we watched in NZ.

Steve’s team surveyed 2,000 people and found that overall, the most watched genre during lockdown was comedy, followed by action/adventure and drama.

The majority of us used lockdown to catch up on those TV shows and movies that we’d been meaning to watch. Only a quarter of us (27%) were watching new releases, while 17% re-watched old favourites (really? There weren’t more of us watching Dante’s Peak and Armageddon??).

Not surprisingly, the show that came out trumps that first-time round, was the wonderfully disturbing distraction that was Tiger King, which was followed up by Ozark, and lighter shows, Normal People, Community and Friends.

The second time round, things were a little more split in Auckland, yet we still had a few more episodes of Friends left to binge. Almost 60% of us were watching the same number of movies as last time, but 19% said they were watching more, while 20% said they were watching fewer. Our favourite movie in Auckland in Lockdown 2.0 was Netflix’s The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron, while our favourite show was apparently also on Netflix – superhero show The Umbrella Academy. I haven’t seen either of these, which may help for choosing what to watch on TV when I find myself in an infinite loop scrolling through options.

Here’s what we watched:

NZ’s favourite movies during level 3 & 4 (March / May)

1. Extraction
2. Onward
3. Train To Busan
4. Parasite
5. Contagion
6. Frozen 2
7. Avengers Endgame
8. Knives Out
9. Booksmart
10. Moana

NZ’s favourite series during level 3 & 4  (March / May)

1. Tiger King
2. Ozark
3. Normal People
4. Community
5. Friends
6. The Umbrella Academy
7. Money Heist
8. Lucifer
9. The Witcher
10. Succession

 
Auckland’s favourite movies during Covid-19 level 3 in August 

1. The Old Guard
2. Project Power
3. Hamilton
4. Work It
5. Hustlers
6. Joker
7. Baby Driver
8. Bombshell
9. Knives Out
10. Parasite

 
Auckland’s favourite series during Covid-19 level 3 in August 

1. The Umbrella Academy
2. Lucifer
3. I May Destroy You
4. Hannibal
5. Dark
6. Friends
7. Dirty John
8. Gangs of London
9. Schitt’s Creek
10. Lovecraft Country