The Netflix docu-series Tiger King has officially earned the crown as the most-watched title on the streaming service – holding the top spot for the last 15 days.
Officially titled Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, the seven-part documentary, which has been wildly popular since its debut on Netflix on 20th March, follow the bizarre life of former tiger zoo owner Joe Exotic and several other big cat owners, breeders, and conservationists in the US.
The true-crime series delves into this eccentric world of drug kingpins, conmen, and cult leaders who love and own wild tigers, focusing particularly on the feud between Joe Exotic and his rival Carole Baskin.
The central character Joe Exotic is a flamboyantly dressed, trigger-happy, gay, polygamous private zookeeper ( TV-presenting and singing aside). His “nemesis” is an animal rights activist and keeper of an exotic animal sanctuary, Carole Baskin; Exotic accuses Baskin of murdering her husband, who disappeared 21 years ago.
With a supporting cast of characters who are as rich and as shady as the leads, including Johnny Cash-type TV director Rick Kirkham to Joshua Dial, a Walmart employee-turned-political campaign director, the show is dramatic, incredulous and binge-worthy.
The plot unfurls, revealing Joe’s hunger for fame and his political ambition, and ends with Exotic winding up in jail serving a 22-year sentence for animal abuse and a plot to hire an assassin to kill Baskin. But, fans of the series have created petitions calling for the zoo owner’s release.
Netflix shared its Top 10 list – covering TV, movies, and an overall mixed category- for April, and Tiger King continues its reign as the most-watched title in the US for 15 days straight.
The second-longest streak of six days is held by The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, followed by Love Is Blind and Spenser Confidentialboth of which took the top spot for five days each.
With its popularity, the potential for a sequel Investigating The Strange World Of Joe Exotic, is highly likely, courtesy of popular crime and justice network Investigation Discovery (ID), which will investigate the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s husband.
All seven episodes of Tiger King are currently out on Netflix, with a new wrap-up episode to be dropped next week.
Are you a fan of true-crime documentaries? Have you binged Tiger King yet? Comment below!
I’m Malvika, award-winning freelance journalist passionate about music, TV, films, food – and basically everything else I can write about. With bylines in outlets such as Clash, gal-dem, Euphoria, Gigwise among others, I write because makes me happy and I hope reading my work has the same effect on you!
