Tune in, love’s in the air
IT was Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, and I certainly hope all of you fortunate enough to have found and nurtured love did something special for your significant other, and received something special in return.
If that was not the case, and February 14 came and went without a whisper of romance, fret not!
Because the commercial television stations of Australia have got you covered.
Well, one might say they already have you covered, thanks in no small part to the ongoing success of Married at First Sight on Nine.
This reality series is rating pretty strongly, and no wonder: in just a few short weeks, we’ve exited the honeymoon period of the program and entered the much more entertaining regrets and recriminations phase of the show.
This is when it begins to dawn on some of the participants that, sure they’ve gotten themselves hitched to someone they don’t know but, wait a minute, they’ve gotten themselves hitched to someone they don’t like. At all. It’s no fun for them. It’s a lot of fun for us. But to quote that great modern poet Bryan Ferry, “love is the drug”.
And those viewers who live for reality TV romance may soon find themselves craving another hit of the hazy, heady days of infatuation and intoxication.
As I said, commercial TV has you covered because in 2018 love is the new food. Just as a few years ago, food was the new home renovation.
Nine seems to want to capitalise on the success of Married at First Sight with its new show, Date Night, which premiered last Tuesday.
Frankly, this mimics the format of another such show, First Dates, where the audience tags along on a couple’s first encounter so we can all revel in the awkwardness and strained banter.
But it also throws in the modern wrinkle of having its potential partners meet via online dating apps.
That’s certainly a thing that happens in today’s dating arena, but watching people determining whether to swipe left or right (that’s Tinder talk, folks) doesn’t make for compelling viewing, if you ask me.
No, far more compelling was this week’s true Valentine, a shot through the heart from Cupid himself – the trailer for Ten’s upcoming Bachelor in Paradise, set to premiere in mid-March.
Again, this isn’t too original a concept. For years now, savvy producers have been stranding good-looking people in tropical locations in the hope of igniting a few sparks. Honestly, though? Based on a two-minute preview of this new program, it looks like the existence of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette has been justified.
Because without those shows, and the emotional collateral damage they inflicted, we wouldn’t have the likes of Keira, Laurina, Jarrod and Apollo — all of whom were heartbreakingly denied a rose at one stage or another — reuniting in the lush surroundings of Mango Bay, Fiji, for sun, fun and flirtation. And tears. So many tears. I’m telling you, if you have e a spare 120 seconds in your day today, get online and track down the Bachelor in Paradise trailer.
Over a syrupy soundtrack that sings “Maybe we do/ Maybe we don’t/Maybe we will/Maybe we won’t” (which covers pretty much every option, I think), we get to see these attractive, scantily clad and shameless people cavort, canoodle and confront one another with furious passion.
“I just want someone to love me for me,” Keira tearfully declares.
Speaking for the TV audience of Australia, Keira, I say that we’ll love you for you. Well, until the end of the ratings period, that is.