We’re now in a post-The Crown world. All the relationships it could’ve ruined have been ruined. All the pieces comparing real events to how they’re portrayed in the show have been written. Aside from it potentially (let’s be real – likely) being nominated at the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards, The Crown’s reign has effectively ended. That leaves us with one question: can another period piece replace The Crown?
An Irrefutable Cultural Impact
By entertainment standards, this series has become almost as big an institution as the actual crown. It’s positively impacted the U.K.’s economy. It’s made a killing for Netflix. It’s one of the winningest Emmy series of all time. It even garnered the attention of the actual people that it depicted. What other series are the Windsors watching? (No, seriously, what other series are they watching? We would love to know.)
Other period pieces have been successful, too. Boardwalk Empire and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, respectively, have just under and just over the number of Emmys The Crown has (as it currently stands). Little House on the Prairie has had audiences in a chokehold since the ‘70s. Downton Abbey was successful on multiple continents and spawned a film. Bridgerton took the world by storm during the pandemic, and The Gilded Age was recently picked up for a third season.
There’s always been and always will be a period piece to watch, but have any of them been able to, and will any in the future, touch The Crown?
Still of ‘The Crown’
The Perfect Formula that is ‘The Crown’
The answer, likely, is no. Boardwalk Empire and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won awards, but neither had such a media frenzy. The real homesteads depicted on Little House on the Prairie still draw in visitors, but people aren’t flying to Minnesota and South Dakota in droves the way fans of The Crown have visited England. Other period dramas are interesting, but their plots, even when based on real events, don’t have the same mass appeal.
The Crown had everything it needed to be a worldwide cultural phenomenon, and it struck at the exact right moment. Several more period pieces will certainly be created, but it’s unlikely that any of them will ever have the perfect timing, subjects, and fodder that this series did. Perhaps in the future, the show will be rebooted for a season or two covering the modern royal weddings, Megxit, and Queen Elizabeth’s death, but until then, this unique moment in the zeitgeist is over.
The Crown is streaming now on Netflix.