Netflix's New 'Bridgerton' Spinoff Focuses On Young Queen Charlotte

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Bridgerton is Netflix's most successful series in the streaming service's history, topping its internal ratings measurements by orders of magnitude in the middle of what was already a banner year. The show was so successful that Netflix broke the standard season-by-season renewal in place since mid-2017, renewing Bridgerton for first a second season and then two more to boot with a new showrunner, Jess Brownell (Scandal), making it one of only two current series with guaranteed multiple seasons to come. (The other is The Crown, which still has Seasons 5 and 6 to film.)

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Netflix paid executive producer and creator Shonda Rhimes handsomely when it bought her out of ABC in 2018, and while a Bridgerton-sized hit was what they hoped for, what it also need is quantity. (Streaming is a gaping maw of constant content churn, especially when you release all your episodes at once!) To that end, Shondaland is spawning more Bridgerton-focused shows, with a spinoff "limited series" focusing on the generation previous and Queen Charlotte and King George's unexpected love match.