Running Point

Netflix

Running Point, the Kate Hudson sports comedy, has been sitting at #1 on Netflix’s top 10 list for a while now after returning for its second season. But now it’s been dethroned by a new series. Two, in fact, knocking it down to #3, Should I Marry a Murderer? and Man on Fire.

Running Point has yet to be renewed for season 3, and there may be some intense discussions going on about that right now, given that viewership has apparently dropped by 43% from season 1 to season 2, which is a significant falloff. That’s significant, especially because there was not some enormous gap between seasons, only about 14 months from season 1’s February 27, 2025, debut. So there is no “well, this took three years to come back” excuse here.

Recently, we also learned that Beef lost a lot of viewership in between seasons 1 and 2, but that’s way more logical, given that the original season and this one represent an anthology with two entirely different casts. And in that case, there were three years between seasons. So as you can see, a nearly 50% drop for Running Point with none of those factors at play is not great. In terms of its quality, there are barely any reviews in, nine from critics and less than 50 on Rotten Tomatoes from viewers, which sort of says something in and of itself. Week 2 viewership of Running Point actually increased by a significant margin in season 1, so we’ll have to see if that happens here.

Comedies usually tend to live on even with not-amazing ratings as they’re cheaper, faster and easier to produce than big-budget dramas. I do wonder if a factor here is A-list star Kate Hudson and her potential salary compared to other series with lesser-known actors, but we don’t have any data on that.

So, what’s moved ahead of Running Point now? The new top show is the wildly-named Should I Marry a Murderer?, the latest in Netflix’s long line of true crime documentaries. This one is a three-parter about a woman who exposed the crimes of her fiancé, which is quite the story, I’m sure. At about two and a half hours, most people would probably get through this relatively quickly. It has no reviews in yet.

The second show is more interesting, Man on Fire, currently sitting at #2. Yes, it’s that Man on Fire, which we know from the famous Denzel Washington/Tony Scott film in 2004. It was adapted in 1987 before that, but now it’s a seven-episode series starring Wonder Man’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. All of these are based on a 1980 book by AJ Quinnell. Scores are okay, a 60% from critics and a 76% from audiences so far. But it’s not exactly lighting things on…well, you know.

So, we will wait to hear about Running Point. I still think it has an okay shot at a season 3, but that drop is definitely worrisome.

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