Prepared with commentary by OZOO
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The second season of Stranger Things tops the list in the week of its release onto Netflix. Events in Catalonia take second, with the impending release of Thor: Ragnarok taking third. Ragnarok is one of six films in this week's list, with an even 3-3 split between American and Indian films.
The allegations against Harvey Weinstein and James Toback are getting attention, while there are two contributions this week from Reddit, another WWE PPV event, and the Houston Astros getting attention for their World Series performance. In all honesty, it's a bit of a quiet week, with the lowest #25 view count of the year. So far.
For the week of October 22 to 28, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stranger Things | 
|
1,212,932 |  |
The second season of Netflix's critically acclaimed sci-fi horror series, starring a critically acclaimed cast including Winona Ryder, David Harbour and Finn Wolfhard, was released on October 27, to general critical acclaim. |
| 2 | Catalonia | 
|
785,099 |  |
In a vote of the Parliament of Catalonia on October 27, the Declaration of Independence of Catalonia was passed, with the majority of anti-independence politicians boycotting what they saw as an illegal vote. A few hours later, Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy dismissed Catalan President Puigdemont (pictured) and his cabinet, and called a Catalan election for 21 December 2017. |
| 3 | Thor: Ragnarok |
|
762,716 |  |
The 17th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is due out in the United States on November 3, but is already out in some international markets. Directed by New Zealander Taika Waititi and adding the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Cate Blanchett and Tessa Thompson to previous Thor mainstays like Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba, as well as roping in other MCU heroes like Mark Ruffalo's Hulk and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange; the film has been regarded as the best of the three Thor films and made over $100 million from its international markets. |
| 4 | Mindhunter (TV series) | 
|
751,567 |  |
Another triumph for Netflix, with the first season of this true crime drama having been released on the web streaming service on October 13. The 1977-set series concerns FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who interview serial killers in order to understand how criminals think and use that knowledge to solve crimes. It is not a series about a man literally hunting wild minds in their natural environment, which means there is an open opportunity for me to write that series. |
| 5 | Deaths in 2017 | 
|
740,719 |  |
The only certainties in life are death and taxes, and we don't have an article on Taxes in 2017. |
| 6 | Fats Domino |
|
644,513 |  |
American musician and rock and roll pioneer Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino died on October 24 at the age of 89. |
| 7 | Houston Astros |
|
596,671 |  |
In the week of this list, American League baseball champions the Astros competed in the 2017 World Series. On Saturday October 28, they were 2-2 with their opponents, the LA Dodgers. In the interests of not giving away how late in the week this report was written in, I won't tell you that they went on to win the Series. |
| 8 | Edmund Kemper | 
|
575,562 |  |
Serial killer Kemper, who killed 10 people between 1964 and 1973 and is currently incarcerated in the California Medical Facility, is portrayed by Cameron BrittoninMindhunter (#4) |
| 9 | TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2017) |
|
570,106 |  |
Off go the wrestlers, to Target Center, Minneapolis, for a night of fun with furniture. In the primary event, the WWE Raw general manager Kurt Angle temporarily replaced Roman ReignsinThe Shield for a 3-on-5 handicap Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. Angle's three fighter team overcame their numerical disadvantage to win in a surprisingly quick thirty-five-minute long match. |
| 10 | Halloween |
|
551,425 |  |
Standard placing building up to the year's most spook-tacular holiday! (Reminder to self: check if anyone has used "spook-tacular" as a pun before.) The pre-event article was on 728,419 views last year, but that was building up to a Monday Hallowe'en, rather than a Tuesday event as this year. |
| 11 | Jigsaw (2017 film) |
|
506,435 |  |
With MCU XVII not out in the United States until next week, the way is thus clear for a challenge from the return of the Saw franchise; the first film in the horror series since 2010's Saw 3D, and the eighth film overall. It opened to $16.2m in the US, the lowest opening weekend box office for the series. |
| 12 | Golmaal Again |
|
463,801 | And here's another sequel, and according to the article, another horror, although in this case a comedy. The fourth film in the Golmaal series; Golmaal Again is directed by Rohit Shetty (pictured) and stars Ajay Devgn, Parineeti Chopra and Tabu amongst others. Released in India on October 20, the film grossed ₹135 crore on its first week of release. | |
| 13 | Tom Lehrer |
|
447,405 |  |
Reddit learning today that Lehrer, well-known mathematician and musical humorist (you probably know his song "The Elements"), responded to a request from rapper 2 Chainz to sample his song "The Old Dope Peddler" with the erudite phrase "As sole copyright owner of 'The Old Dope Peddler', I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this. Please give my regards to Mr. Chainz, or may I call him 2?" |
| 14 | "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" |
|
438,930 |  |
The Simpsons; Season 14; Episode 11. Or in the Friends style: "The One Where Maude Dies". Reddit again, learning about the pay dispute that led to Maude's voice actress Maggie Roswell (pictured) leaving the series. |
| 15 | Harvey Weinstein |
|
438,762 |  |
The serious sexual abuse allegations made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein continue to be in the news. On October 23, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opened an investigation into the The Weinstein Company, and the police departments of New York City, Los Angeles and London are reviewing allegations against Weinstein. Weinstein has denied "any non-consensual sex". |
| 16 | James Toback |
|
419,923 |  |
In the wake of the allegations made about Harvey Weinstein (#15), allegations have been made against a number of other Hollywood individuals. Toback, the director of the The Pick-up Artist and the Oscar-nominated writer of Bugsy, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses including Rachel McAdams, Terri Conn and Julianne Moore; with Los Angeles Times reporter Glenn Whipp stating on Twitter that 310 women had reported incidents to him. Toback denies all the allegations. |
| 17 | Mersal (film) |
|
416,892 |  |
Another Indian film released to coincide with Diwali. Directed by Atlee, and starring Vijay has three different characters, the Tamil language action thriller film collected ₹170 crore worldwide in week one. |
| 18 | Robert Guillaume |
|
407,402 |  |
Guillaume, the American actor known for roles such as Benson in Soap and spin-off Benson. Isaac JaffeinSports Night and RafikiinThe Lion King, died on October 24 at the age of 89. |
| 19 | Blade Runner 2049 |
|
396,473 |  |
Denis Villeneuve's (pictured) Blade Runner sequel has, it's fair to say, done a lot better with the critics and Wikipedia readers than the movie-going public. It is yet to cross the $100m mark in the US, although it has done well in some international territories. |
| 20 | Donald Trump |
|
378,800 |  |
Trump, a gentleman who you may or may not have heard of, declared on October 26 the United States's opioid epidemic to be a "public health emergency". That appears to be the reason for this week's boost in views. |
| 21 | Secret Superstar |
|
375,436 |  |
Zaira Wasim (pictured) stars in this Indian musical drama film, written and directed by Advait Chandan. Released on 19 October, the file grossed grossed ₹41 crore on its first week in India, on a budget of ₹15 crore. |
| 22 | Creatonotos gangis |
|
331,640 |  |
A video of this insect - with scary-looking "tentacles" - went viral this week. |
| 23 | George Michael |
|
322,683 |  |
The late singer George Michael was the subject and narrator of the documentary Freedom, broadcast posthumously on October 21 on Showtime and Channel 4, leading to the 2017 re-release of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 to re-peak at number one on the UK Albums Chart. |
| 24 | List of Bollywood films of 2017 |
|
319,008 |  |
An article often to be found on the fringes of this list, it sneaks in here on a slightly slow week. Old TOP25 favorite Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, directed by S. S. Rajamouli (pictured), is the top-grosser so far. |
| 25 | Justin Verlander |
|
314,342 |  |
Verlander, pitcher for the Houston Astros (#7), started Game 2 of the World Series, but was replaced after giving up two hits - both home runs - in six innings for the Astros to be 3-1 down. They went on to win 7-6 in extra innings. |
