Google Reveals Top Trending TV Shows of 2020

2020 has easily been one of the strangest years on record, and the results of Google's year-end [...]

By Charlie Ridgely

2020 has easily been one of the strangest years on record, and the results of Google's year-end polls certainly reflect that. In what other year would a TV show about feuding big cat owners be the top trending search result in all of television? No other year can compete with the insanity we've experienced in 2020, and it's Google's recently-released polls about the year as a whole really reflect that.

Believe it or not, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness actually did come out this year. It feels like it has been an eternity since Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin were the talk of the town, but it was only about nine months ago. When you think about the craze that surrounded the initial release of Tiger King, and the way that it dominated each and every conversation online for a period of weeks, it makes sense that the series ranks as the top trending TV search on Google throughout all of 2020.

What may be less surprising is the fact that Netfilx absolutely dominated Google's trending TV searches list. Seven of the shows in the Top 10 were Netflix originals, while two of the remaining three have a large streaming presence on Netflix. The only show to make the list without any connection to Netflix whatsoever is Hulu's Little Fire Everywhere, which stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

After being acquired by YouTube over the summer, Cobra Kai moved to Netflix as an original series and took the streaming landscape by storm. The Karate Kid sequel series remains one of the most popular titles of the year, and it sits as the second-biggest trending TV series in all of 2020, just behind Tiger King. Ozark comes in at number three, with The Umbrella Academy and The Queen's Gambit rounding out the top five.

Here's the full Top 10:

  1. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness
  2. Cobra Kai
  3. Ozark
  4. The Umbrella Academy
  5. The Queen's Gambit
  6. Little Fires Everywhere
  7. Outer Banks
  8. Ratched
  9. All American
  10. The Last Dance

All American is a TV series on The CW that has become quite the hit on Netflix, where it is available to stream after a full season airs on TV. The Last Dance dominated the sports world when it aired on TV, and got a significant second wave of attention when it was added to Netflix over the summer.

What surprised you about this year's trending TV searches? Let us know in the comments!

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