In the age of Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services, each of which seems to hold a bottomless pit’s worth of content that not even the most unoccupied person could finish, it is rare for any particular show to truly capture the attention of the national psyche. However, Netflix’s 2020 docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, has done just that. Reaching 34.3 million unique viewers in the US, according to Nielson estimates, it has already become one of Netflix’s biggest original shows ever. Outside of its subject matter, which chronicles the lives of three American zoo owners—Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, Carole Baskin, and Doc Antle—one of the things that truly sets Tiger King apart from other docuseries is the sheer amount of story that was actually captured on camera. Typically, similar series only have a small amount of real life footage to work with and instead rely in bulk on interviews and recreation footage. While Tiger King incorporates both of these elements, it benefits a great deal in focusing on subjects who absolutely feed on publicity and attention. This is particularly the case with Joe Exotic, the show’s main subject and the former owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park (a.k.a. G.W. Zoo) in Oklahoma. Joe, a truly unforgettable, gun-toting polygamist with a blonde mullet, made a point to have much of his time, and the time of his employees at the G.W. Zoo, captured on camera. This practice led to some of the show’s more insane moments, which include the immediate aftermath of an employee having their arm mauled by a tiger, a scene where Joe’s foot is bitten by a lion causing him to fall to the ground then be dragged across the enclosure as he hits the big cat in the head with his crutch, and, in the most upsetting moment of the show, one employee’s live reaction to a fatal firearms accident. While that might sound like a lot to handle, it is only a small fraction of the insanity captured within the show’s seven episodes.
With the show’s immense popularity, a great deal of Tiger King-related content is underway. Netflix has announced an aftershow special entitled The Tiger King and I, which premiered on April 12th. The show will be hosted by actor/comedian Joel McHale and will feature new interviews with several people who appear in the series. Additionally, a miniseries that will dramatize the events of the docuseries has been announced, with Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon playing Carole Baskin.
Lastly, in case you wanted my opinion, yes, I think she did do it.
