Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s third major television series from A24 Television landed on the service in July 2023 and was given a thumbs up for season 2 back in February 2024. What do we know about the second season? Quite a lot, thanks to a new interview with Michelle Buteau, who reveals lots of new faces for the new season. Here’s what we know.
Created and starring Michelle Buteau, Survival of the Thickest is about the exploits of Mavis Beaumont, a newly single woman who must rebuild her life. All eight episodes dropped on July 13th, and the show was notably not labeled a limited series, with it ending with a potential for more down the road.
It’s one of several projects Netflix has now teamed up with industry darling A24 on with others, including Beef, The Deepest Breath, White Noise, and Mo.
The series was released to mostly positive review scores, carrying a 7.5/10 on IMDb and an 85% critic’s score on RottenTomatoes.
Has Netflix Renewed Survival of the Thickest for season 2?
Official Renewal Status: Renewed in February 2024
In early 2024, Netflix finally confirmed that Survival of the Thickest would return for a second season. The news came during an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, where she also announced a new stand-up special for the streamer.
Netflix also Tweeted and posted the news on Instagram, with Michelle Buteau celebrating the news, saying, “Guys, guess where I’m at. It’s my most favorite N-word. I’ve got some big news – real big. How big? Real big. Plus-sized big. I’m getting a season 2 of the Survival of the Thickest. We did it, bitches!”
Pictures courtesy of Netflix
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in July 2024 (one that we’ll refer to a lot below), Buteau promises “a very sexy season.” They also go into detail about Netflix’s “clerical mistake” when it came to submitting the series for an Emmy.
As we’ve covered before, Netflix uses many metrics to decide whether to renew a show. We’ll cover those stats below, which might have suggested that the show was getting a renewal soon.
Mo, the first major TV project from A24 Television, received a second and final season order from Netflix despite not performing well for the streamer. It failed to hit the global top 10s, but it did manage to pick up a few nods at various award organizations. Beef, Netflix’s multi-Emmy-nominated series, has also received a second season renewal.
How well did Survival of the Thickest perform on Netflix?
We can look at how well Survival of the Thickest performs on Netflix using various sources. Naturally, this section will expand in the weeks and months to come, so we’ll keep updating as new data comes in.
We’re still waiting for TelevisionStats.com to include the show in its database, but it’s worth noting that the trailer (which can indicate success on the platform) only managed 356k views.
Netflix Global Top 10s
Let’s begin with Netflix’s global top 10 stats. Every Tuesday afternoon/evening, they publish a weekly top 40 list detailing hours watched globally plus their respective completed views.
Survival of the Thickest featured in the first week of its availability being the number 4 ranked show with 13.30 million hours, equating to around 3.7 million completed views.
How well does its CVE (completed viewing equivalent) compare to other new series launches in 2023 so far? Around the lower end of the middle, tracking below the likes of Beef and Florida Man but just above Unstable and Glamorous.
Survival of the Thickest vs other Netflix Original releases in 2023
The show spent three weeks in the global top 10s, picking up a 3% uplift in week two before dropping 42% in viewing hours in week three.
| Week Period | Hours Viewed | Views / CVE | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 9th, 2023 to July 16th, 2023 | 13,300,000 | 3,700,000 | 4 | 1 |
| July 16th, 2023 to July 23rd, 2023 | 13,700,000 (+3%) | 3,800,000 | 5 | 2 |
| July 23rd, 2023 to July 30th, 2023 | 8,000,000 (-42%) | 2,200,000 | 5 | 3 |
FlixPatrol Data for Survival of the Thickest
That’s the global data, but what about the top 10s more granularly? FlixPatrol (which tracks 89 countries) can help us see where the show performs best.
On July 17th, the show peaked at being the sixth most popular show on Netflix globally, picking up 385 points. The best-performing countries include Eastern Europe, Australia, Ireland, and Spain.
Their data often indicates that you need around 30 days in most countries they track to warrant a season 2 renewal.
Picture: FlixPatrol
PlumResearch and Nielsen Viewing Stats for Survival of the Thickest
In December 2023, we got our hands on fresh data from PlumResearch to see how the show stacked up in numerous ways vs other Netflix comedies in 2023.
Per their data, the show had a high completion rate, with over 50% of starters having finished within seven days of release.
- 7-Day Completion Rate: 50.19%
- 28-Day Completion Rate: 56.61%
- 90-Day Completion Rate: 59.22%
The show also scored well with their Binge Watching metric, suggesting the show was more likely to be binged in quick succession.
Picture: Plumresearch
Where is Season 2 of Survival of the Thickest in Production?
Pre-Production
Filming Scheduled
Filming Ongoing
Post-Production
Production on season 2 kicked off on June 24th, 2024, in New York City.
According to production listings, production will continue for two months and wrap up on August 27th, 2024. The series’ budget continues to be between $2 and $3 million an episode.
Who is directing this season? THR report confirms the following directors for season 2:
- Kim Nguyen (Prom Dates, Never Have I Ever)
- Tasha Smith Thembi Banks (Insecure)
- Amy Aniobi (Insecure, 2 Dope Queens)
Netflix hasn’t provided a release window for the new season of Survival of the Thickest yet although we’re fully expecting a 2025 release.
Who is returning and new in the Survival of the Thickest Season 2 Cast?
Michelle Buteau, Tasha Smith, Tone Bell, Liza Treyger, Peppermint, and Marouane Zotti are all set to return for the second season, with Smith being upped to a series regular for season 2. Allan K. Washington and Anthony Michael Lopez are also set to return.
Let’s dig into the new guest cast list, which includes 11 new names with musicians, singers, actors, and more set to appear.
- Anderson .Paak (Trolls World Tour)
- Jonathan Chad Higginbotham (High Fidelity, The Blacklist)
- Deon Cole (Black-ish, Grown-ish)
- Alecsys Proctor-Turner (This Is Us, Room 104)
- Jerrie Johnson (Mother’s Milk, Good Trouble)
- Celisse
- Rolonda Watts (Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful)
- MichaelRonReaco Lee (Sister, Sister, Survivor’s Remorse) Rishawn (The Upshaws, All American)
- RonReaco Lee (Sister, Sister, Survivor’s Remorse)
- Tika Sumpter (Sonic the Hedgehog, The Haves and the Have Nots)
- Monét X Change (RuPaul’s Drag Rac)
Are you looking forward to Survival of the Thickest returning for a season 2 on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.