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How TV Dating Shows Made Me Better at Relationships
I’ll admit that I’m a bit late to trashy reality TV.
For years, I’ve criticized those obsessed with shows such as the Real Housewives for having frittered away time they could have spent watching any number of informative documentaries on PBS. I came from a very clear POV that that kind of television was terrible for humanity and our future, and I yearned for highbrow comedies and tense dramas that truly — or so I thought — shed light on the human condition. (n.b.This of course excludes The Comeback which was mocking reality TV before TV was consumed by reality). Anything that trafficked in prurient fame-seeking was off the table.
And then came Netflix’s dating and romance “channel”. I don’t know if the algorithm knew I had just gone through a big breakup, but perhaps asking my Alexa “will a man ever love me again?” gave them some inkling. But either way, what began as a momentary fling with Back with the Ex, soon spiraled deeply out of control to include the incendiary Love is Blind, salacious Too Hot to Handle, fascinating Dating Around and deeply moving Married at First Sight (originally aired on Lifetime). The latter has irrevocably changed my love life.
If you aren’t familiar with the genre (or this groundbreaking show in particular), here’s a recap of the format. Thousands of singles (straights only…
