‘Queer Eye,’ others need straight vacay time
Are we ready for more of the Fab Five, already? Netflix’s “Queer Eye” reboot graced our screens in March, bringing more declarations of “YAS” from Jonathan, more floral button-downs from Tan and more questionable guacamole choices from Antoni than we could handle in its first eight episodes. Although the return of the former Bravo series was low-key, it quickly attracted buzz, with GIFs spreading across social media and think pieces and interviews popping up online.
A second season seemed all but inevitable, and sure enough, the streaming service unveils eight new episodes Friday, just three months after the first batch.
“Queer Eye” is a good show, and I’m happy to spend more time with Antoni Porowski (the food expert), Tan France (fashion), Karamo Brown (culture), Bobby Berk (design) and Jonathan Van Ness (grooming). But I also haven’t had quite enough time to miss them yet.
For many reality shows, multiple seasons in a year is just part of the game plan. How do you think we’ve gotten to 26 editions of “Dancing With the Stars” since 2005? It’s why “The Voice” has cycled
There seems to be no real purpose to Season 2’s speedy return, other than to keep the fans churning out memes on Twitter. Sometimes the shtick falls flat.
through so many coaches, and why there are so many failed “Bachelor (ette)” relationships.
Typically, reality shows produce fewer episodes than scripted network series, meaning you need two “Bachelor” seasons to match one of “Grey’s Anatomy.” The shows are also cheaper, reliable programming that fills hours on a network’s schedule, requiring fewer bets on untested properties.
But in the age of streaming, when people watch whenever they like, and there’s no nightly schedule to fill, what’s the point of bringing back “Queer Eye” so quickly?
There seems to be no real purpose to Season 2’s speedy return, other than to keep the fans churning out memes on Twitter. At times, new episodes elicit the same emotions as the first season, but sometimes the shtick falls flat.
An episode in which the guys help a trans man recovering from “top surgery” (to remove breasts) is the strong- est outing of the entire series. But a “makeover” of a religious woman mostly ignores the woman at its heart, giving her a new haircut and renovating her church’s community center, but saving the biggest moments for the Five and the woman’s gay son, which would not have been a problem if he had been the episode’s subject.
The new episodes of “Queer Eye” aren’t really a second season, anyway. Bobby revealed in an interview with Variety that they were shot along with Season 1, essentially preventing the series from adapting between seasons, which many shows need. It also makes the break seem even more ill-advised. Why not take the path of “The Walking Dead” or “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and call it what it is: a single split season?
Calling it Season 2 suggests a new beginning, or at least the passage of time. And yet there hasn’t been change, really. The show is still set in Georgia. The format remains the same. Other than including a trans man as a client, Season 2 couldn’t respond to valid criticisms of Season 1 by diversifying the clients and moving beyond surface-level political and social issues. But, just like in Season 1, the producers and the Fab Five pick heartwarming, symbolic moments over deep self-reflection. There was no time away from the “Queer Eye” bubble for the Fab Five to bring more interesting style and perspective to the show. It just all feels a little contrived.
Saturation is a big problem for reality television. With each new “Survivor” champion, that final Tribal Council becomes less eventful. Two of the most successful reality shows, “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent,” understood this. Fox resisted the temptation to do two seasons of “Idol” a year, so when “Idol” was on, it was all you talked about. “Talent“smartly plants itself in the slow days of summer when, without much competition, ventriloquists and magicians can captivate an audience.
Sure, Netflix’s model means that some viewers will continue to discover “Queer Eye,” so the timing of new episodes doesn’t matter. But it’s one of the few Netflix series that seems topical: It’s a series for a Trump America, trying to bridge the gap between its liberal, metropolitan gay stars and small-town, often conservative subjects. We’ve already seen what the series looks like in 2018. I want to know what changes in 2019.
In a cultural age when we get a new “Star Wars” movie after six months, and reboots and revivals dominate TV schedules, it’s too easy to overdo your favorite entertainment. “Queer Eye” is a unique, emotional experience right now. Let’s keep it special.