Neil Gaiman Takes a Shot at Boycotters After Lucifer Becomes Most Streamed Show in 2021

Neil Gaiman gave a cheeky thanks to One Million Moms, the conservative activist group who threatened a boycott of Lucifer, following the news that the series was 2021's most-streamed TV show. Noting that The Sandman was the subject of a boycott by the same group when it first launched as a comic, Gaiman joked that he knew the Lucifer TV spinoff was going to be good when he heard the group had targeted it. The acclaimed series ran for three seasons on Fox before being cancelled, then moved to Netflix for three more seasons and has consistently been one of the most-streamed TV shows in the world since it made the switch.

According to a breakdown by Nielsen, Lucifer's 93 episodes netted more than 18.3 billion minutes of streaming during the year, according to Nielsen's year-end report. That's significantly more than Squid Game's 16.4 billion, but obviously Squid Game also has literally ten percent of the episodes, with only nine episodes on Netflix in 2021, suggesting that there are more overall viewers for Squid Game, assuming anyone at all is binging Lucifer.

You can see Gaiman's quip below.

I would just like to formally thank the @1millmoms for their attempts to ban Lucifer before it came out. Their boycott was the thing that signalled that Sandman had arrived as a comic, and I knew it boded well for our TV spin-off.https://t.co/Af80pBALsN

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 22, 2022

The year-end streaming numbers have something of an asterisk next to them: Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Netflix are the only services being regularly monitored, so there's real count of other popular titles, including Friends on HBO Max or Yellowstone on Peacock. In terms of movies, Paramount+'s Paw Patrol: The Movie isn't considered either.

Lucifer is just one success story for Netflix when it comes to resurrected shows. The streamer brought back Arrested Development for a couple of additional seasons a few years ago. You, starring Penn Badgley, is a commercial and critical darling for Netflix, despite airing its first season on Lifetime. Netflix's biggest rescue story may still be to come, as it brought Manifest back for a final season after the show was cancelled by NBC. Before Netflix had announced the pickup, Manifest became a massive hit on the streaming service, consistently topping the streaming charts.

For Lucifer, these numbers represent a swan song, as the show finally got to the ending it had always hoped of achieving. Not only did the final run deliver great viewership, but it also offered fans an emotional and satisfying finale to the series. When it was axed by Fox after just three seasons, many of the Lucifer faithful feared they'd never get to see the completed story.

You can stream all episodes of Lucifer on Netflix.