Netflix’s The Watcher renewed for Season 2; Monster renewed for Seasons 2 and 3

Netflix has officially announced on Monday that it is renewing two shows created by Ryan Murphy. The Watcher, which debuted on Netflix on October 13, will return for Season 2. The first season of Monster, which was titled Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story that first premiered on September 21, will go the anthology route and return for two more seasons.

Loosely based on a true story, The Watcher follows a married couple (Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale), as they shift to their new mansion in New Jersey where they receive threatening letters from an anonymous stalker. The Watcher also stars Mia Farrow, Jennifer Coolidge, Noma Dumezweni, Margo Martindale and Joe Mantello. It is still unclear if the new season will follow the same story or introduce another real life incident.

The first season of Monster was controversial upon release, with Evan Peters’ portrayal of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer raising questions about the increasing fascination with sensitive and traumatic real events. Dahmer also starred Richard Jenkins, Molly Ringwald, Michael Learned and Niecy Nash. Despite the divisive reactions, Dahmer proved to be a massive success for the streaming giant, becoming Netflix’s second most-watched English language series till date, garnering worldwide viewership of around 934 million hours. The Watcher, on the other hand, has obtained over 340 million hours of viewership in just three weeks since its release.

Netflix’s head of global TV, Bela Bajaria has commented, “Audiences can’t take their eyes of ‘Monster’ and ‘The Watcher’.” He further added, “The back-to-back force of these two series is due to Ryan’s distinct original voice which created cultural sensations and we are trilled to continue telling stories in the Monster and Watcher universes.

Ryan Murphy is the creator of several hit shows for FX network, most notably American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and most recently created Ratched for Netflix.