‘The Office’ Crushes ‘Friends’ as Most Watched Licensed TV Show on Netflix

The most-watched shows on Netflix are the ones the streaming giant did not make themselves. That includes classic NBC sitcoms The Office, Friends and Parks and Recreation, all of which will soon be leaving to other streaming services. The only Netflix originals in the Top 10 most-watched shows according to recent studies are Orange is the New Black and Ozark.

On Tuesday, media strategist Scott Lazerson revealed the list of the most-watched shows on Netflix at the Wall Street Journal‘s tech conference, credited to ACTIVATE founder and CEO Michael Wolf, reports PEOPLE. The list matches one based on Nielsen statistics published in AdWeek back in May.

Although Lazerson’s graphic did not include statistics, the Nielsen stats published by AdWeek showed Netflix users spent 52.08 billion minutes watching The Office. Friends came in second with a distant 32.6 billion minutes.

Netflix does not typically release streaming data unless a show or movie has reached a crazy number of viewers. Last week, Netflix claimed Stranger Things was the most-watched Netflix show, with 64 million views. Within the first four days of Stranger Things Season 3’s release, 40.7 million member accounts watched it.

Scroll on for a look at the most-watched licensed TV shows on Netflix.

Photo credit: NBC/Getty Images

The Office

The Office‘s popularity on Netflix has helped cement the show as a constantly quotable, meme-able show that shows no sign of disappearing from the popualar conversation. The show originally ran on NBC from 2005 to 2013 and will soon be leaving Netflix. The show will leave in 2021, after the current deal with Netflix expires. It will move over to NBCUniversal’s own streaming service, Peacock.

Friends

Netflix’s exclusive deal to stream Friends was supposed to end at the start of this year, but Netflix extended the deal just before 2018 ended. Netflix reportedly spent an astonishing $100 million just to keep the show on the service for only one more year. After the deal expires, it will only be available on WarnerMedia’s HBO Max.

Grey’s Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy has also been a popular favorite on Netflix for years. Now in its 17th season, the show is one of the longest-running primetime dramas in history. It has been on so long that multiple generations can now have their favorite different Grey’s Anatomy characters, although Ellen Pompeo has been the glue holding it together since day one. Since the show airs on ABC, it’s not clear if it will move to Disney+ in the future.

NCIS

NCIS‘ popularity on television is mirrored by its success on Netflix. The CBS drama is regularly the most-watched scripted show on network television and is now in its 17th season. The first 15 seasons are avialable on Netflix, but you need CBS All Access to stream the most recent episodes.

Criminal Minds

The first 12 seasons of Criminal Minds are still available to stream on Netflix. The show follows a special FBI unit as they examine disturbing crimes and the criminals behind them. Criminal Minds‘ 15th and final season will air early next year on CBS, and will run just 10 episodes.

Shameless

While all seasons of Shameless are available at any time for Showtime subscribers, the series is still incredibly popular on Netflix. Every season of the show is available on the streaming platform, so fans can revisit Fiona’s (Emmy Rossum) efforts to keep the Gallagher family together before she left ahead of Season 10. The 10th season debuted on Showtime in November.

Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black is the highest-ranking Netflix show on the list AdWeek publishedin May. Unlike most Netflix originals, OITNB is actually produced by an outside company – Lionsgate Television, in this case. The series ran seven seasons, with the last being released in July. Although the show only runs 91 episodes, Nielsen reported Netflix users spent 18.75 billion minutes watching the show.

Supernatural

The CW’s Supernatrual has been on so long that it outdates the network it airs on! The show, now in its 15th and final season, began in 2005, before the merger of The WB and UPN created the CW. Although the show is ending, Jared Padelecki fans will get to see the actor on The CW’s upcoming Walker, Texas Ranger revival.

Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation will likely meet the same fate as The Office on Netflix, once Peacock launches. The beloved sitcom ran seven seasons and stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope. Bizarrely, the show’s final season, which was set in the “future” is now set in the past! Season 7 was set in 2017, but the writers did get some predictions right. 

Ozark

The appearance of the Jason Bteman-starring Ozark on this list is a real shocker since the show has only run two, 10-episode seasons so far. The show stars Bateman as Marty Bryde, a self-employed financial advisor who moves his family from Chicago to the Ozarks. He finds himself in more trouble after a money laundering scheme involving a Mexican drug cartel. Bateman surprisingly won an Emmy for directing the episode “Reparations.”