After the success of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Set It Up, and for the case of this argument, the hybrid-genre Dumplin’, Netflix realized that people love high-quality, wholesome rom-coms. Naturally, the next stop on their ceaseless quest for entertainment domination is the dating show. Enter Dating Around, Netflix’s first foray into the world of staged dating programming, and its six-episode debut season set to drop on Valentine’s Day, February 14. How apropos.
According to Deadline, the show is Netflix’s “first original dating series” that “takes an honest and compelling look at the real world of dating… In each episode, one single goes on five first dates filled with flirty banter and awkward exchanges.” That description sounds nearly identical to the short-lived and mostly terrible 2017 NBC show First Dates, narrated by Drew Barrymore and executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres, based on a U.K. version of the show of the same name. It followed a series of blind first dates held at the since-shuttered MK Restaurant in North Chicago—I liked it fine, but apparently no one else did, and it wasn’t picked up for a second season.
Unlike that show, the Dating Around trailer makes it clear the new series will feature at least a handful of horrible people (not, like, Bravo-bad, but VH1-questionable) and for that reason, I plan on watching the hell out of it. I’m giving into Netflix’s imminent world takeover only because I really love love.