Netflix’s New R-Rated Comedy Sets Major Rotten Tomatoes Record — Gaming

Netflix's latest R-rated project has broken an unfortunate record on Rotten Tomatoes.

While Netflix has produced many family-friendly movies and shows over the years, including all-time hits such as KPop Demon Hunters, Swapped, and Stranger Things, the fact that streaming isn't beholden to the standards and practices of network television has given them the freedom to produce more mature, adult-oriented content. This includes projects like the steamy romantic drama Bridgerton, the NC-17 Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, the violent true crime drama anthology series Monster (which has so far devoted seasons to Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez Brothers, and Ed Gein), and a new series that is causing a stir with critics.

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Squid Game shattered records on launch in 2021, becoming Netflix’s biggest-ever series debut. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s South Korean thriller centres on a desperate gambler named Seong Gi-hun. What is his player number?

✓ Correct! Gi-hun is Player 456 — the last number drawn. Kang Sae-byeok (the North Korean defector) is 067, Cho Sang-woo (the Stanford-educated finance crook) is 218, and the mysterious elderly Oh Il-nam is 001. Squid Game became Netflix’s first show to hit #1 in every country it launched in, amassing over 1.6 billion hours watched in its first month alone.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is 456. Gi-hun’s number is the very last of the 456 players. 067 is Sae-byeok the defector, 218 is Sang-woo the Stanford grad, and 001 is the mysterious old man Oh Il-nam whose identity becomes the series’ biggest reveal. Squid Game became Netflix’s most-watched launch ever, hitting #1 in 94 countries.

The Tim Burton-directed Addams Family spin-off set at Nevermore Academy became Netflix’s second-biggest English-language debut in 2022 and launched a TikTok dance craze. Which young actress plays the deadpan title character?

✓ Correct! Jenna Ortega — a Disney Channel graduate and indie-horror favourite (X, Scream VI) — took the role Christina Ricci made iconic in the 1990s films and made it entirely her own. Her now-famous cello-accompanied dance scene became an overnight TikTok phenomenon, and her performance earned Wednesday two Emmy nominations despite airing mid-season.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Jenna Ortega. Millie Bobby Brown is Eleven on Stranger Things, Sadie Sink plays Max Mayfield (also Stranger Things), and Maya Hawke plays Robin. Ortega’s deadpan Wednesday Addams — and her viral cello-dance scene — turned the show into a global phenomenon in late 2022.

In 2013, Netflix released a dark political thriller starring Kevin Spacey as a ruthless congressman breaking the fourth wall. It became the first major streaming original to land a Primetime Emmy nomination and effectively invented prestige streaming TV. Which show was it?

✓ Correct! House of Cards — adapted by Beau Willimon from the 1990 BBC series — became Netflix’s first prestige original and proved a streaming service could go toe-to-toe with HBO. Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood and his asides to camera defined early streaming TV. Orange Is the New Black followed months later in July 2013 and became Netflix’s longest-running original at the time.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is House of Cards (February 2013). Orange Is the New Black launched five months later (July 2013), Arrested Development’s Netflix revival came in May 2013, and Hemlock Grove was a horror effort the same spring. House of Cards was the flagship — the first streaming original to earn a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.

Peter Morgan’s The Crown famously recast its entire ensemble every two seasons to age the royal family. After Claire Foy played Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1-2, which Oscar-winning actress took the crown for seasons 3-4?

✓ Correct! Olivia Colman — fresh off her Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite — played the Queen across seasons 3 and 4, covering the late 1960s through the early Thatcher years. Imelda Staunton took over for seasons 5-6, Helena Bonham Carter played Princess Margaret in seasons 3-4, and Gillian Anderson stole the show as Margaret Thatcher in season 4.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Olivia Colman. Imelda Staunton took over for the final two seasons (5-6). Helena Bonham Carter played the chain-smoking Princess Margaret during seasons 3-4 alongside Colman. Gillian Anderson delivered an Emmy-winning Margaret Thatcher in season 4. Colman anchored the show’s middle era fresh off her 2019 Oscar win.

The Duffer Brothers’ 1980s nostalgia juggernaut sees Eleven and the gang battle inter-dimensional horrors from a portal beneath the town’s Hawkins National Laboratory. In which fictional US town and state is the series set?

✓ Correct! Hawkins, Indiana — a fictional Midwestern small town that became one of TV’s most iconic settings. The Duffer Brothers chose Indiana for its unassuming, ordinary-America vibe, making the supernatural chaos feel more jarring. Derry is Stephen King’s It setting, Hill Valley is from Back to the Future, and Twin Peaks is David Lynch’s famous town.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Hawkins, Indiana. Derry, Maine is the fictional town from Stephen King’s It. Hill Valley is Marty McFly’s home in Back to the Future. Twin Peaks, Washington is David Lynch’s famous fictional town. Hawkins is The Duffer Brothers’ deliberately ordinary Midwestern setting — the flat, unassuming backdrop that makes Vecna’s horrors hit harder.

Netflix’s Regency romance juggernaut — based on Julia Quinn’s novels and famous for its colour-blind casting, string-quartet pop covers, and narrated gossip column — is produced by which prolific showrunner’s production banner?

✓ Correct! Shonda Rhimes — the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal — produces Bridgerton through her Shondaland banner as the first major fruit of her massive 2017 Netflix deal. Chris Van Dusen created the show, but Shondaland’s signature ensemble-romance DNA is all over it. Julian Fellowes did Downton Abbey, Ryan Murphy did Monster/Dahmer, and Jenji Kohan did Orange Is the New Black.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Shonda Rhimes (Shondaland). Ryan Murphy produces true-crime anthologies like Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Julian Fellowes is the Downton Abbey/Gilded Age creator — a different period drama entirely. Jenji Kohan is behind Orange Is the New Black and Weeds. Bridgerton was the first big payoff of Rhimes’ nine-figure Netflix deal.

La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) became a global phenomenon on Netflix after a modest Spanish TV debut — partly thanks to its gang’s instantly recognisable red jumpsuits paired with a mask of which famous figure?

✓ Correct! The Salvador Dalí mask — with its upturned moustache — became the show’s defining visual alongside the red jumpsuits, a nod to Spanish artistic rebellion and surrealist individuality. It inspired protest iconography worldwide, from Lebanon to France. The original Antena 3 version underperformed; Netflix acquired it in 2017, re-edited it, and turned it into a global sensation.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Salvador Dalí. Guy Fawkes is the V for Vendetta mask that Anonymous adopted. Che Guevara is a common revolutionary image but not the heist crew’s mask. Picasso is a frequent wrong answer given he’s the more globally-known Spanish artist — but the Dalí mask, with its iconic moustache, is the one fused forever with Money Heist’s red jumpsuits.

Netflix’s 2020 limited series about a Cold War-era chess prodigy named Beth Harmon caused a global surge in chess-set sales and was one of the streamer’s most-watched shows that year. Who played Beth?

✓ Correct! Anya Taylor-Joy — already a cult favourite from The Witch and Emma — broke out globally as Beth Harmon, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Queen’s Gambit pulled 62 million households in its first 28 days and caused such a chess-boom that Chess.com and retailers ran out of sets. It also made Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel a surprise bestseller almost 40 years later.

✗ Eliminated! The answer is Anya Taylor-Joy. Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Oppenheimer), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing) are all frequent competitors in similar roles. Taylor-Joy’s Beth Harmon earned her a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and turned Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel into a sudden bestseller.

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That new series is Alley Cats, an adult animated series that was created by Ricky Gervais, who also stars as the Tabby cat Gus, who is part of a group of feral British felines who are roaming the streets. The series, which debuted on Netflix on August 7 with its six-episode first season, boasts a voice cast that also includes Tom Basden (The Ballad of Wallis Island), Kerry Godliman (After Life), David Earl (Derek), Andrew Brooke (PhoneShop), Jo Hartley (Netflix's Adolescence), and Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth).

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated enough critics' reviews to give Alley Cats an official score on the Tomatometer. Although the score could fluctuate if more reviews are added, at the time of writing, it has a thoroughly Rotten 20%, aggregated from five different reviews. While the sole positive review of the season - which comes from Carol Midgley at The Times (UK) - gives it a just-barely Fresh score of 6 out of 10, the other scored reviews give it 2 out of 5 or lower.

This includes the writeup from ScreenRant's own Dani Kessel Odom, whose 2 out of 10 Alley Cats review said that "the most offensive thing in Alley Cats isn’t the actual jokes... it’s the complete lack of originality."

This 20% score marks Alley Cats as the worst-reviewed Ricky Gervais series of all time, by a wide margin. Although his Warwick Davis mockumentary Life's Too Short earned a Rotten score of 53%, every other show that he has ever written, starred in, or executive produced has earned a Fresh score of 60% or more. Below, see a breakdown of the Rotten Tomatoes scores of every Ricky Gervais series:

Title	RT Score
The Office (2002-2003)	97%
Extras (2005-2007)	88%
The Paper (2025-)	85%
The Office (U.S.) (2005-2013)	81%
An Idiot Abroad (2010-2012)	77%
After Life (2019-2022)	72%
Derek (2013-2014)	60%
Life's Too Short (2011-2013)	53%
Alley Cats (2026-)	20%

This record even extends to narrative series and talk shows on which Gervais has appeared as a guest star. While more of those series have Rotten scores than series that Gervais had a direct hand in, including The Jay Leno Show (31%), The Marriage Ref (33%), and Maya & Marty (38%), none of them have ever earned a score lower than 30%, let alone 20%.

The only Ricky Gervais project in any medium with a lower score is the 2016 comedy feature Special Correspondents, a remake of the French movie Envoyés très spéciaux that Gervais directed, wrote, and co-starred in, opposite Eric Bana. That movie earned a Tomatometer score of 16% from 37 different critics' reviews.

It remains to be seen if Alley Cats can make up for its poor reviews by becoming a hit on Netflix. It has officially debuted on the platform's daily chart of their most-watched television series globally at No. 9, which shows solid momentum, but it could ultimately be undone by the fact that the roughly 50 viewers that have already rated in on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a poor score of 42% on the Popcornmeter.