Which show was this global phenomenon?

Squid Game became Netflix's biggest series launch by combining a simple, universally understandable premise (deadly childhood games with life-or-death stakes) with striking visual design and sharp social commentary about debt and inequality. Its success mattered globally because it proved a non-English, Korean-language show could top charts in dozens of countries at once, something streaming's borderless distribution made possible in a way traditional broadcast television never could.

Stranger Things is an American supernatural drama with no connection to this Korean production, and Money Heist is a Spanish series, both entirely different shows from different countries and creative teams.

Squid Game's success helped accelerate the global 'Korean wave,' a broader surge of interest in Korean film, music, and television that had already been building through acts like BTS and films like Parasite.