Soon, Netflix will be judging you for watching a series of original romantic dramas

By Sam Barsanti | September 27, 2018 | 11:43pm

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Last year, Netflix released a cheesy, holiday-themed romance movie called A Christmas Prince that was so popular that the service itself felt the need to post a snarky tweet about the “53 people who watched [it] every day for the past 18 days.” That movie, which was the cinematic equivalent of the music they play at a dentist’s office, must’ve driven some big subscriber gains, because Netflix is now moving forward with an initiative to develop more low-stakes, easy-listening-style content. This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says the streaming service has ordered two “Hallmark-style” dramas based on “soapy romance” novels.

The two shows are Virgin River, which is based on a 20-book series by Robyn Carr, and Sweet Magnolias, which is based on an 11-book series by Sherryl Woods, and both have received 10-episode orders from Netflix. The former is about a woman who takes a job as a nurse at a town called Virgin River and realizes that “small-town living isn’t as simple as she expected,” while the latter is about three women in South Carolina who are best friends. If these sound appealing to you, just know that Netflix is going to make fun of you on Twitter while rolling around in a pile of your subscription fees.