After owning Thursday night on ABC, "Grey's Anatomy" producer Shonda Rhimes' first series under her Netflix deal should feel like an occasion. As opening bids go, however, "Bridgerton" plays a weak hand, turning Julia Quinn's novels about a 19th-century London family into a handsome but tedious snooze -- think "Masterpiece Theater," only with more sex and nudity.

The eight-episode season follows the extended travails of the titular Bridgerton family, primarily through eldest daughter Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), who has reached the age where marriage and finding a worthy suitor are of paramount concern.

With her prospects threatened by scandal, she enters into a bargain with the highly eligible and outwardly dashing Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page), a friend of Daphne's brother, who is determined to remain a bachelor but willing to participate in a charade in order to make her more desirable.

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After a run of hits in broadcast television, Rhimes joined Netflix amid a wave of rich contracts with creative talent like her, Ryan Murphy and Kenya Barris, empowering them as the streaming service seeks to secure its next generation of content. By Netflix's standards, ratings aren't an issue if such shows can inspire the kind of loyalty that wins and keeps subscribers.