Our favorite group of friends just made history as The Best Man: The Final Chapters becomes Peacock’s first original project to make it onto Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings.
According to data exclusively obtained by Variety, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” is ranked No.5 in an early version of Nielsen’s Top 10 Steaming Original chart for the December 19-25 viewing period, during which it was available for four days.
The landmark debut is Peacock’s biggest since their dramatic reimagining of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” The Best Man was also ranked as the No. 1 streaming series for Black audiences over the last two weeks.
Peacock has previously appeared on Nielsen’s overall streaming ranking, but only with acquired episodes of the Universal Picture’s movie “Halloween Ends” and Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone.” Jordan Peele’s “Nope” also put Peacock on Nielsen’s streaming movies chart when it debuted on the platform weeks after running in theaters.
Per the official description, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” reunited the beloved cast of the eponymous Universal film franchise as relationships evolve and past grievances resurface in the unpredictable stages of midlife crisis meets midlife renaissance.
The OG stars Melissa De Sousa, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Terrence Howards, Nia Long, and Harold Perrineau returned for the series.
The show was written by Malcolm D. Lee of Blackmaled Productions and Dayna Lynne North of Loud Sis Productions, who also acted as executive producers alongside Hivemind’s Sean Daniel and Blackmaled’s Dominique Telson.
“I felt like it was a story that was universal, that everyone would be able to relate to, had cultural specificity, and it was going to feed an audience that was really hungry for it,” Malcolm D. Lee informed VIBE.
“But just so happens that it was the right story to tell with The Best Man Holiday, and I really wanted to give the characters something more adult to deal with.”
He continued:
“With The Final Chapters, it’s even more adulting that is going on—everything that happens when you are in the sandwich years with taking care of your parents, taking care of your kids,” he added. “You are reevaluating your life and who you are, who you’re going to spend the rest of your time with. It’s a lot that goes on at this stage of our life, and I wanted to just display that.”
If you haven’t binged on the eight-episode limited series, grab your butter popcorn and head over to Peacock for about eight hours of pure bliss.
For now, check out the “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” trailer for a lil taste of what you can expect.
