POWer OF LOVe
There’s no better time than Valentine’s Day to consider why romance works so well on our screens. By Siobhan Duck
FOR every moment of kismet and passion unfurled in a drama, Osher Günsberg and Greg Evans can recall comparable scenes from The Bachelor Australia and Perfect Match.
“When the show was on [in the 1980s], we had 11 marriages,” Perfect Match presenter Evans says. “But there are probably a lot more that took place after we finished. There were so many pheromones in the air on the set that one couple ended up getting married after simply sitting next to each other in the studio audience.”
Evans says that hope for a happily ever after coupled with good old-fashioned voyeurism are the elements that make reality romance one of TV’s most popular genres.
“It’s seeing what you always wanted to have happen to you, or never wanted to have happen to you,” he explains. “Asking ‘goodness, how does she put up with him?’ or ‘how does he put up with her?’ is a bit like peeping over the back fence.”
Günsberg says he’ll always prefer watching true-to-life people working things out to sugarcoated love stories. “I want to see not perfect,” he says. “I want to see toilet seats left up, dishes unwashed, someone upset at the other for being into their group chat more than their wife, who’s sitting next to them. Finding love and intimacy with all that going on is what life is, right?”
Whether they unfold via a classic rom-com or a juggernaut reality franchise, Evans says love stories will always have a place in entertainment. “Love and romance – it’s as perennial as Adam and Eve, isn’t it?” he asks. “It’s been around forever.”
Away from the cameras,
Evans sees real-life romances play out every day as a celebrant. With love, Evans reckons: “If you’ve got it, you’re blessed. But if you haven’t got it, you can watch it on TV.”
LOVE ICONIC COUPLES? TRY…
Friends (Binge) Ross and Rachel’s “will they/won’t they” romance kept viewers hooked for 10 seasons, and when David Schwimmer recently revealed that at one stage he and Jennifer Aniston had crushes on each other in real life while fi lming the show, hearts were set aflutter.
TheBoldAndTheBeautiful
(10) In between all of Brooke’s marriages to Ridge’s brothers, father, brother-in-law and sonin-law, the businesswoman keeps finding her way back to Ridge.
ModernFamily (Binge) Not only are couple Mitch and Cam utterly hilarious, the characters have helped improve the representation and perception of LGBTQI+ relationships on TV.
LOVE A ROM- COM? TRY…
MyBestFriend’sWedding (Foxtel) If it were anyone else playing her but Julia Roberts, you’d almost certainly hate Julianne Potter, a woman hellbent on ruining her friend’s big day.
NottingHill (Binge) This time, Roberts is a huge movie star who meets and falls in love with a bookshop owner (Hugh Grant).
CrazyStupidLove (Stan)
Ryan Gosling plays a notorious womaniser who befriends a newly single Steve Carell and trains him to become a suave Lothario.
LOVE REALITY ROMANCE? TRY…
TheBachelorAustralia (10) OTT romantic dates aside, this series has brought us classic moments such as Laurina Fleure’s “dirty street pie” tirade.
MarriedAtFirstSight (Nine) When so-called experts match couples for dubious wedded bliss, it can turn ugly. Very ugly.
LoveOnTheSpectrum (Netflix) Tender and full of joy, this docuseries follows a group of young people with autism on their quest to fi nd that special someone.
LOVE RELATIONSHIP DRAMAS? TRY…
LoveMe (Binge) Set in Melbourne, this poignant, funny series deals with love and loss for three members of one family. Stars Hugo Weaving, Bojana Novakovic and William Lodder.
Offspring (Netflix) The eccentric and endearing Proudman clan’s romances left us laughing and crying in equal measure.
SexAndTheCity (Binge)
This groundbreaking series – and the recent long-awaited sequel And Just Like That… – follows a group of fashion-savvy friends as they navigate the
New York dating scene.
Stars Sarah Jessica Parker.