Better Things is an American comedy-drama television series created by Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K. for FX, starring Adlon as a divorced actress who raises her three daughters on her own.[3] FX gave a 10-episode order on August 7, 2015.[4] The series premiered on September 8, 2016.[5] The series was renewed for a fifth and final season which premiered on February 28, 2022.[6][7][8] The series concluded on April 25, 2022.
On September 20, 2016, FX renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 14, 2017.[17][18] In October 2017, FX renewed the series for a third season,[19] which premiered on February 28, 2019, and consisted of 12 episodes, all directed by Adlon.[13] In November 2017, after Louis C.K. confirmed the sexual misconduct allegations against him were true, FX canceled their overall deal with C.K. and his production company, Pig Newton. It was announced that C.K. would have no involvement in future seasons of the series.[20][21] That month, Adlon fired 3 Arts manager Dave Becky as her manager. Pig Newton and 3 Arts no longer co-produced the series after the Season 2 finale.[22] For the third season, Adlon hired four new writers for the series, Sarah Gubbins, Joe Hortua, Robin Ruzan, and Ira Parker.[23]
[Western Series] Stranger Things Season 1-3
In March 2019, the series was renewed for a 10-episode fourth season that premiered on March 5, 2020.[24][25] In May 2020, the series was renewed for a fifth season,[6] which was announced to be its last in October 2021.[7]
The fourth season has a Metacritic score of 90 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[90] On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 based on 21 reviews with the critical consensus, "Sharp and singular, Better Things just keeps getting better."[91] Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called the series "still one of the very best things on TV".[92] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave it an "A" grade and summarized that season 4 is "an experience like nothing else on television."[93]
The early critical response to Stranger Things Season 4 suggests the Duffers have indeed ratcheted up the show's horror elements, with many critics branding it the Netflix series' most terrifying season yet. Despite this, several pre-release reactions to the fourth season also praised it for its focus on character development as well as scares.
However, in season 4 the team behind the hit Netflix sci-fi series have truly outdone themselves, introducing a horrifying and intriguing new villain Vecna, who is truly unlike anything we've seen in the show before.
Stranger Things, the hit Netflix series which launched the careers of actors Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and more, has gone from strength to strength. With the storyline becoming even more complex over the years, check out our handy recap guide to Stranger Things seasons one to four, and find out more about season 5.
Here we take a look at the four complete seasons which have aired so far, and are still available to watch on Netflix. We round up each of the main characters on their journey right from the beginning, as Eleven escapes from Hawkins Laboratory, shares her first kiss with Mike and beyond - and, as fans of the show will know, things get a little bit crazy.
Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is one of the lead characters throughout all of the Stranger Things seasons. She first appears in season one where as a pre-teen, the young girl escapes from Hawkins Laboratory, later attempting to steal food from a local restaurant.The restaurant owner Benny takes pity on Eleven, calling social services, but what he doesn't realise is that they are in fact Hawkins Laboratory agents. Kind-hearted Benny is killed as Eleven escapes out the back of the restaurant running for her life.As she's running away she bumps into Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair who are out looking for their friend Will Byers who has gone missing. The boys take El (as she is nicknamed by Mike) back to Mike's basement, where she lives in a blanket fort, hidden from the rest of the family.El, who has psychokinetic and telepathic abilities manages to locate their friend, but it turns out he's in trapped in the Upside Down - an alternate dimension which exists in parallel to our world. Eleven enters the Upside Down and confirms that Will is alive, but a monster (Demogorgon) from the Upside Down crosses over into their dimension.The series ends not knowing if El survives after she appears to sacrifice herself to protect her friends from the Upside Down monster.
Eleven and Mike have now been dating for seven months and have been spending a lot of time around each other, but to Hopper's dismay. Hopper and Joyce discuss the situation, with Joyce suggesting Hopper speaks to the young couple calmly, however things don't go to plan when Hopper decides to confront and threaten Mike! Hopper tells Mike he must stay away from El, otherwise he will end their relationship.Mike finds himself lying to El about why he can't see her so much, so she decides to speak to Max for advice. Max suggests Mike wants to spend time playing games with his friends, so the girls go off shopping at the nearby mall. While at the mall the girls bump into Mike and the boys trying to buy El a present, but Mike lies saying they're getting something for his gran.El ends their relationship and El and Max get a bus back to Hopper's where they have a sleep over and use El's telepathic powers to 'spy' on Mike and the boys.While using her powers, El sees Billy, and it looks like he's kidnapped someone. It's later revealed that Billy has been taken over by a Mind Flayer, along with the person he has 'kidnapped', a lifeguard called Heather.The Mind Flayer attacks Hopper's cabin, leaving El with a wound in her leg with part of the monster. When she removes the piece left behind by the Mind Flayer she loses her powers, but the group manage to fight it.The series ends with Hopper presumed dead by the explosion that closed the gate to the Upside Down, so El is taken in by Joyce and Will. As the family are preparing to leave Hawkins, Joyce gives El a letter written by Hopper which he had hoped to give her when they talked about her relationship with Mike.
She might have only been a series regular in one season of Stranger Things, but Barbara Holland, better known as Barb, became iconic. She was Nancy Wheeler's best friend and became one of the first victims of the demogorgon when she disappeared into the Upside Down.Barb did not appear after season one, with just her voice included in the second season.
Top 10 Week of June 27: 'Stranger Things 4' Returns with Epic Rockstar Finale, 'The Man From Toronto' Tops the Films ListStranger Things 4 returned with new episodes as viewers rocked out to the "most metal concert in the history of the world" - thanks to Eddie Munson and Metallica. The record-breaking series pulled in 301.28M hours viewed, making it the most viewed title this week and appearing in the Top 10 in 93 countries. The series holds the #1 spot on the Most Popular English TV List with 1.15Bn hours viewed. Additionally, Seasons 1-3 held their standing on the English TV List - Season 1 with 34.47M hours viewed, Season 2 with 30.26 hours viewed and Season 3 with 30.28M hours viewed this week. The third season of The Umbrella Academy came in second with 87.98M hours viewed. The time-traveling drama was in the Top 10 in 90 countries. Fans revisited Seasons 1 and 2 of the series which had 32.84M hours viewed and 20.3M hours viewed, respectively. Meanwhile, Rowan Atkinson comedy Man Vs. Bee had 25.4M hours viewed. The Shelby family continued to keep fans enthralled with their crime spree as the final season of Peaky Blinders pulled in an additional 18.44M hours viewed. The "kidults" were put to the ultimate test as Snowflake Mountain entered the list with 15.02M hours viewed. The dynamic duo of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson held the #1 spot on the English Films List as The Man From Toronto had 62.64M hours viewed. The comedy was within the Top 10 in 93 countries. Love & Gelato continued to hold a sweet spot in viewers' hearts. The film had 18.9M hours viewed and was in the Top 10 in 90 countries. Adam Sandler's Hustle continued to rack up points and had an additional 14.64M hours viewed this week. Nollywood drama Glamour Girls debuted at #5 with 12.39M hours viewed. Returning favorites included mind-bending film Spiderhead with 9.52M hours viewed and the family animated film Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness with 5.98M hours viewed. On the non-English TV List, Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area came in first for the second week in a row with 49M hours viewed. Following the launch of the series, La Casa de Papel/Money Heist, Part 1 entered the list in the ninth spot with 8.57M hours viewed. Spanish drama Intimacy maintained its standing on the list with 10.8M hours viewed. New entrants on the list included Korean drama Alchemy of Souls with 9.92M hours viewed, Japanese anime series Bastard!! - Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy with 8.96M hours viewed and Polish drama Queen with 7.4M hours viewed. Two childhood friends reunite in Norwegian sci-fi film Blasted. The comedy buzzed to the top of the non-English Films List with 8.41M hours viewed. Returning to the list is Turkish drama Doom of Love and Polish comedy Heart Parade with 3.53M hours viewed each, Indian action-adventure RRR with 3.5M hours viewed, Argentinian thriller Wrath of God with 2.62M hours viewed and Turkish thriller Grudge with 1.88M hours viewed.To download Top 10 assets, visit Top10.netflix.com.
Stephen King's book IT, that was adapted into a miniseries in 1990, features a group of pre-teens trying to defeat an evil clown entity that is killing young children, which is already narratively echoed by Stranger Things. Furthermore, in this episode Bob mentions moving to Maine with Joyce and the boys. Most Stephen King stories take place in Maine, taking Bob's comment in 2x01 into account regarding the clown he saw in his town as a child, he seems to be referring to Derry in Maine, where the killer clown Pennywise lives. Moreover, Finn Wolfhard who plays Mike had a leading role in the new IT (2017) movie that aired a month before season 2 of Stranger Things, so there is a further subtle intertextuality. 2ff7e9595c
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