Only Murders in the Building is currently one of the top shows on Hulu, according to the streamer’s public ranking, as Season 5 of the murder-mystery comedy debuted Sept. 9. The series reunites Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin as Mabel, Oliver and Charles, three neighbors and true-crime obsessives who become embroiled in a new murder case in their Upper West Side apartment building.
Season 5 centers on the death of the building’s doorman, Lester, played by Teddy Coluca, and adds an expanded ensemble including Meryl Streep, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Renée Zellweger, Keegan-Michael Key, Beanie Feldstein, Dianne Wiest, Jermaine Fowler, Christoph Waltz and Logan Lerman. New episodes premiere on Hulu every Tuesday.
Across platforms, Netflix’s top-ranked show after a recent release is the Tyler Perry drama Beauty in Black, which rose to No. 1 following the Season 2 premiere. The series follows Kimmie (Taylor Polidore Williams), an exotic dancer whose life collides with a powerful family behind a cosmetics empire and an accompanying trafficking scheme. Part 1 of Season 2 finds Kimmie in a more empowered position but facing new adversaries. The season’s cast includes Crystle Stewart, Debbi Morgan, Richard Lawson, Charles Malik Whitfield, Terrell Carter, Julian Horton, Steven G. Norfleet and Ricco Ross.
Also drawing attention on Netflix is the three-part docuseries Beauty and the Bester, which premiered Sept. 12. The series examines the relationship between Dr. Nandipha Magudumana and Thabo Bester, a convicted criminal widely reported as the “Facebook rapist,” and probes Bester’s dramatic prison escape, which authorities say involved faking his death. Legal attempts by Bester to block the series were unsuccessful, a development reported by CBS News.
On Prime Video, The Girlfriend is among the top-trending titles. Based on the novel by Michelle Frances, the six-episode psychological thriller follows a mother whose seemingly perfect life begins to fracture when her son brings home a girlfriend she believes has sinister motives. The series stars Robin Wright, Olivia Cooke, Laurie Davidson, Waleed Zuaiter, Tanya Moodie and Shalom Brune-Franklin; all episodes are available to stream.
The recent movements on streaming charts reflect a combination of established franchises releasing new seasons and serialized newcomers or event docuseries capturing viewer interest. Only Murders in the Building has maintained a high profile since its debut, blending comedy and mystery with celebrity guest casting that has broadened its appeal. Netflix’s programming this month highlights both scripted drama and documentary storytelling that engage audiences with serialized narratives and real-world controversies.
Streaming services often publish public rankings or “most-watched” lists that can change weekly as new episodes arrive and marketing campaigns roll out. Tuesday release windows, such as Hulu’s schedule for Only Murders, can concentrate viewership around a series and affect its standing in those rankings. Full-season drops, like Prime Video’s release of The Girlfriend or Netflix’s delivery of a multipart docuseries, generate immediate spikes in attention as viewers binge or discuss the titles online.
Industry observers note that castings of high-profile actors and ties to real-life events can amplify a title’s visibility. Season 5 of Only Murders continues that trend by pairing core cast members with well-known guest stars, while Beauty and the Bester’s subject matter intersecting with legal proceedings has made it a topic of broader public debate. As streaming audiences seek both escapist fiction and documentary accounts of real events, platform rankings remain a visible, though fluctuating, measure of what viewers are watching.
New episodes of Only Murders in the Building are available weekly on Hulu. Beauty in Black’s Season 2 and Beauty and the Bester are streaming on Netflix, and all episodes of The Girlfriend are available on Prime Video.