While Netflix’s Sirens dominated the Top 10 list on the service for a while, it fell behind not only the new #1 Ginny and Georgia season 3 but also the new #2 Tires, which has held that spot since season 2 arrived.
Tires is a low-budget comedy from Shane Gillis that has been a high performer. That’s mainly been among audiences, not critics, but that’s changed this time around.
Tires season 2 has actually more than doubled its critic scores from 40% in season 1 to 83% in season 2. Its audience score has stayed high, 87% for season 1 to 91% for season 2. It appears Tires may have found its groove, and given that this is a very low-budget, high-laughs production, combined with this sort of viewership, I would expect the show to be renewed as long as it wants to be. It has not been renewed for season 3 at this point, however. Here’s the synopsis for the series:
“A man inherits his father’s auto repair chain and tries to turn it around despite torture from his cousin and now-employee, Shane.”
The show is in the vein of location-based comedies like The Office, Parks and Rec, Superstore and the like, even if it doesn’t quite have the headlines of this. However, this is the #2 show on Netflix we’re talking about. That’s millions and millions of views, no matter how you cut it.
What’s the critical difference this time around? Here’s a season 1 to season 2:
- Season 1 (Pajiba): “It’s not just hack work; it’s cowardly. It is gutless.
- Season 1 (LA Times): “I wasn’t outraged — the humor, like the characters, is too pointedly juvenile to take that seriously. Still, I didn’t laugh once.”
Contrasted with:
- Season 2 (Collider): “Arriving almost exactly one year after the surprisingly leggy success of the premiere season, the latest round of Tires has a marked increase in confidence, and the likable performances are more energetic this time around.”
- Season 2 (AV Club): “The auto-repair comedy has made a significant improvement from its rocky start, but don’t be ready to buy everything it’s selling.”
So, if you were skeptical of the show or didn’t much care for season 1, it seems that season 2 of Tires may be worth your time, and with short, breezy episodes in a quick binge, it shouldn’t take you much more than a day or two.
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