2 of the top shows on Netflix right now are literally just fireplaces

• Two of the most popular shows on Netflix right now are literally just fireplace footage specials.
• The fireplaces are killing "Young Sheldon" and "The Crown" in the Netflix charts.

It's the last week of 2023, and the Netflix top TV shows list is relatively quiet. Ricky Gervais' new comedy special "Armageddon," which dropped in time to watch over the holidays with family, sits at No. 1, while the Spanish-language series "The Manny" landed at No. 3 and the Wattpad adaptation "My Life With the Walter Boys" is currently at No. 5.

No huge surprises, but — by God, it's "Fireplace for Your Home: Classic Edition," and "Fireplace for Your Home: Birchwood Edition" entering the ring with a steel chair!

That's right: Two of the top five television series on Netflix right now are literally fireplace footage. Beautiful, curated, clearly well-thought-out-and-presented-in-4K-UHD fireplace footage, but fireplace footage nonetheless. And they're destroying the new Trevor Noah special, "Young Sheldon," and "The Crown" in the charts, coming in at number two ("Birchwood Edition") and number four ("Classic Edition") on the streamer's own top 10 list.

To be fair, the "Fireplace for Your Home" series is seasonably appropriate, fulfilling a cozy need in the homes of people who don't have a fireplace, but do have a TV capable of rendering footage of one in high-definition glory. When you tune into one of the two programs, you don't just get some logs on fire — you get the snaps and pops of a real fireplace as the wood is slowly engulfed in flame.

If you're hankering for more, there's another three-part "Fireplace for Your Home" series on Netflix that features a "Crackling Yule Log Fireplace," a regular "Crackling Fireplace," and a "Crackling Fireplace with Music."

Netflix has previously poked fun at the "Fireplace for Your Home" series before, cutting together a dramatic trailer in 2013 with pull quotes like "I cried when the fire spread to the other log" and "Fireplace For Your Home is about a fireplace in your home."

George Ford, the director of the fireplace specials, told the CBC in 2019 that he attributes the popularity of fireplace footage to a "primal" human desire.

"For millions of years we've cooked on the fire. We used it for safety. We've used it for light at night. It's all about the fireplace," Ford said.