“Wednesday” super fans have something extra to be thankful for this morning — even if Wednesday herself is none-too-pleased.
Netflix is putting Wednesday Addams (and Thing, and Pugsly) in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which actually streams live on Peacock, not on Netflix. (NBC pays the retail store tens of millions of dollars annually for the rights to broadcast and stream the annual march toward Herald Square — and, ultimately, Christmas — as well as the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks show.)
The new “Wednesday” float will be “accompanied by an army of lookalike Wednesdays” and “a special performance” of “Paint It Black” by indie-pop star Bishop Briggs (real name Sarah McLaughlin, but that’s kind of confusing because we already have a Sarah McLachlan — anyway, McLaughlin’s stage name is a version of her parents’ hometown, Bishopbriggs, Scotland). We guess the Rolling Stones, who wrote and recorded “Paint It Black” in 1966 were unavailable… for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Wednesday, played by Jenna Ortega in Netflix’s smash-hit series, famously hates the Thanksgiving holiday — especially since she started working at the fictitious Pilgrim World tourist attraction.
“Netflix has tapped into Wednesday’s apathy and bold nature to create a float and a moment within the historic parade to delight fans as they await Season 2,” per the press release.
Anyway, Float Wednesday is serving her brother’s — Float Pugsley’s — head on a silver platter. As always, Thing is right by her side. (Well, really, on her shoulder.)
Prior Netflix Macy’s parade participation was in support of “The Christmas Chronicles” (in 2018 and 2020), “Green Eggs and Ham” (2019), “Ada Twist, Scientist” (2021-2022), “Slumberland” (2022), and last year’s “Leo” balloon.
The 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins at 8:30 a.m. ET; Santa Claus comes to town in time for noon. Literal rain in the forecast will join the dour Wednesday in raining on Macy’s parade festivities.
“Wednesday” is described by Netflix as a “sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the murder mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”
The first season of Tim Burton’s “Wednesday” is Netflix’s most-watched English-language TV series in its recorded history. It drew more than 252 million views over its first 91 days of availability, which is more than 2x better than any other English-language show not named “Stranger Things 4.” Of course, the Korean-language series “Squid Game” remains Netflix’s biggest-ever show, with the first season attracting a bit more than 265 million views.
Season 2 of “Squid Game” premieres on December 26, 2024; “Wednesday” Season 2, now costarring Lady Gaga, debuts at some point in 2025. Netflix users are eager to gobble gobble both of those up, but for now, Happy Thanksgiving!