The List of Bridgerton's Missed Opportunities is Frankly Overwhelming
Do the show's creators even want us to watch Bridgerton?
Since its premiere in 2020, Bridgerton has become a global phenomenon, taking the internet and viewers worldwide by storm, and Shondaland's series has made a significant contribution to the audience's growing interest in romantic period dramas. After all, every major streaming platform is now producing its own version of Bridgerton.
However, Netflix doesn't seem to value what it has. Instead of engaging the vast Bridgerton fandom with enticing updates, expanding its flagship show's audience, and reaping even greater benefits from it, the platform is keeping all details about Season 3 under wraps.
Missed Opportunities
At this point, nearly 19 months after the Season 2 premiere, all fans have received is an official synopsis, four initial stills, and a few leaks (not attributed to Netflix, of course). That's about it.
Even the show's social media have been entirely dominated by the spinoff, Queen Charlotte, with only a few photos of Luke Newton's Colin Bridgerton and Nicola Coughlan's Penelope Featherington, who are set to lead Season 3, appearing together. Then there's the interminable wait for at least some information about the new season's premiere.
Julia Quinn's book about Colin and Penelope is filled with intimate details (like the image of a mirror) and significant dates (birthdays, firsts, etc.). The show also has its own history, which includes major anniversaries (the premiere of the first season, the beginning and end of filming).
Moreover, Bridgerton has a large and enthusiastic fan base eager to seize and celebrate every new piece of information and generate buzz on social media.
However, instead of capitalizing on this, Netflix has been busy wasting promotional opportunities left, right, and center and further alienating fans with complete radio silence on the new season.
Hollywood Strikes
Of course, external forces partially explain why Bridgerton Season 3 isn't receiving as much attention as, for instance, Queen Charlotte. Netflix and Shondaland's hands are tied due to the Hollywood strikes.
The actors cannot participate in promotional efforts without crossing the picket line. Therefore, it's likely that an active promotional campaign will begin as soon as the agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios is reached and the actors end their strike.
When that happens, the marketing for Penelope and Colin's story had better be sensational, inundating us with heartwarming new teasers, promotional videos, interviews, photos, and more. Otherwise, we might begin to suspect that Netflix has lost all interest in Bridgerton.