With summer right around the corner, should TV shows be rushing to replicate the cultural phenomenon that was The Summer I Turned Pretty?
The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP) was an Amazon Prime television adaptation of a book series by the same name.
The young adult books, written by Jenny Han, already had quite a large fanbase.
Since the release of the first season, it has grown in a way that has far surpassed any other current teen-centric show, writes Film News Blitz’s Darshan Kaur Gill.
Rise to fame
The first season was released as a binge-able series in 2022 and gained notoriety fast, becoming the number one show on Prime in its premiere weekend, leading the book series by the same name to shoot to the top of the Amazon Bestsellers list.
With each season, the fandom grew exponentially, inspiring weekly watch parties for the episode releases of Seasons 2 and 3.
Season 3 drew over 25 million global viewers in its first week, with a 40% increase in viewership compared to the Season 2 launch, and according to Amazon, it’s the most-watched season of television among women aged 18-34.
Nostalgia-driven ritual
It wasn’t that the show’s marketing did anything extraordinary to create this frenzy, but the way that viewers bought into the show, with brands creating memes, further boosted it into the limelight.
Amazon’s choice to release episodes weekly for their newer seasons, rather than release them all in one go, meant that there was continued chatter surrounding the third season for over two months in 2025.
The concept wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, nor was the plot, but something continued to draw fans in, week after week, for each season.
Many fans have expressed their love for the show has come from their nostalgia for love triangles, a plot device that was extremely common in teenage pop-culture stories in the early 2000s and 2010s.
Examples that fans online compared the show to include the love triangles in Twilight and The Hunger Games, as well as the way love triangles were portrayed in shows on the Disney Channel.
This nostalgia seemed to drive fans to make watching the show a weekly ritual, whether it was going to watch parties or sitting on the sofa at home, the show created a combined experience for millions globally.
Can it be replicated?
The question can be asked of whether other shows should attempt to replicate the effect of TSITP.
However, the show became beloved by fans for its authentic feel, and it was this that allowed Prime Video to capitalise and greenlight a movie to continue on from the events of the end of Season 3.
This worked as fans had become invested in the characters and their storylines, something that could not have taken place without a stand-out first season.
Other shows that may try to replicate the effect would need to first stand out on their own.
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