TV Shows

In a move that may prove we’ve reached peak Millennial, Vice is debuting a new Snapchat dating show sponsored by Match and hosted by Action Bronson. Take a moment to let all those buzzy words and brands set in.

The weekly, 8-episode show is called Hungry Hearts and features couples going on dates that are designed by Bronson himself. Over the course of the mini-series, the chef-turned-rapper will flex his matchmaker muscles as he curates dates, provides play-by-play commentary on each outing, and predicts whether the would-be lovebirds will get to a second date.

Hungry Hearts is not Bronson’s first show for Vice. His indulgent web series for Munchies - F*ck, That's Delicious - is a bonafide hit that moved to Viceland and will be printing a cookbook based on recipes from the show. It should come as no surprise to fans that his dates for Hungry Hearts will also feature plenty of delicious eats.

As ubiquitous as the phrase “Netflix and chill” now is, it's not surprising that the streaming site could impact your love life. According to a new study released by Netflix itself, the shows and movies you watch online do affect your search for a soulmate.

The study, which examined a sample of 1,008 Americans 18-39 years old, found that around one third of respondents (27%) said show compatibility was important. Yes, in 2016, 'show compatibility' is a real thing. Netflix even coined the term 'show goggles' – the psychological phenomenon resulting in a drastic change in perceived attractiveness based on taste in TV shows.

A quarter of respondents admitted to having show goggles, with 13% saying they would ask someone out solely based on if they liked similar shows. Men seemed to be more susceptible than women – 34% said they are likely to get smitten based on shared tastes in shows and movies.

As we date, Netflix helps us get closer. Fifty-eight percent of study participants said they bond over Netflix. Instead of asking questions over coffee, discussing movie and televeision preferences helps us get to know each other better. Sixty-five percent said they engage in negotiations while choosing what to watch, while 35% said they trade show for show.

The couple that streams together, stays together. Netflix continues to play a role as things get more serious. Sharing a Netflix account is now a modern milestone along the lines of going Facebook official. “More than half of respondents said sharing a Netflix account felt like a 'serious' step forward in the relationship,” reports Forbes, “and 17% said they would wait until getting engaged or married to share an account.”

And no, it doesn't end there. Once a relationship is established, Netflix plays an integral role in maintaining the closeness of that bond. Seventy-two percent of respondents who were married or in a relationship said that staying in and watching Netflix was a favourite way to spend date night.

What the study doesn't address is what happens if things don't work out. While some couples live happily ever after with their Netflix queues, binge-watching into the sunset together, others aren't so lucky. In the event of a break-up, who gets the joint Netflix account? Add that to the list of things that have to be divvied up, along with the social circle and the cat.

If you need to come up with the perfect date and a cupid-worthy gift. If this study is right, the pressure's off. All you need is a comfy couch and a Netflix subscription.

Single celebrities have not been shy to admit that they are on Tinder. Stars like Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, former Miss USA Nana Meriwether and Mindy Kaling have all been spotted on the popular dating app. The latest celebrity to check it out is recently divorced single mom Hilary Duff.

Duff shared her fascination with Tinder on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show, admitting that she wasn’t sure what to make of the dating app at first, but she told her girlfriends after helping them swipe left and right on a few of their matches, she wanted to join. They protested, but Duff insisted it would be fun.

Turns out, it has been fun for her – she was recently spotted on a date in a bowling alley, and later in the week getting pizza with the same guy. Apparently, a man she met on Tinder.

Rumors are swirling that she signed up with Tinder to film a new dating reality show, one that follows her around on her various Tinder dates. According to The Daily Mail, film cameras were present when Hilary and her date went to dinner, but the crew left when they went to a bar.

Hilary went into some detail about her date on Seacrest’s show. “We went bowling so we didn't have to talk too much, but we did talk a lot actually,” she said. “He was cool. He brought a friend and I had some friends there. He used to be in editing for reality shows. Now, he's an actor and he just wrote a play. He's an interesting guy. To be honest, I don't really want an actor either … I think he has a few jobs.”

'I'm just a Tinder animal!' she joked. 'I had my Tinder training wheels on for my first date. Now it's smooth sailing.'

Duff’s latest project is a co-starring role in the series “Younger” alongside Broadway star Sutton Foster, where she plays friend and co-worker to Foster who is trying to pass herself off as 26 to keep her job. Duff hasn’t announced whether there is a dating reality show project in the works.

Duff assured Seacrest during her interview that whoever she dates has to be accepted by her son Luca, who she described as a “Mama’s boy.”

According to TMZ, she has swiped right on 9 guys so far since she joined a few weeks ago. Now we just have to wait for the show to launch.

Bravo’s latest reality TV project veered away from the sensational (unlike VH1’s “Naked Dating” which garnered a lot of unwarranted attention). Instead, The Singles Project – dubbed as a “real-time docuseries” on dating - followed eight singles in their search for love, while viewers informed them of what they were doing right and wrong.

Participants had to be willing to be critiqued, so I give them a lot of credit for their courage in putting their love lives and themselves out there on public display. There seemed to be a common goal among them: they wanted to find love, and were more than willing to try something different, to see what they could change to make their dating lives better.

The Singles Project is definitely not the well-choreographed stuff of hit dating shows like The Bachelor. There were no roses, no eliminations, no over-the-top romantic gestures. It was more real-life dating than most of the shows out there.

In a recent interview, the stars of the show talked about their experiences, what they learned, and how dating in front of a camera changed how they viewed themselves and also how they date. Some found love, some walked away still single, but according to Bravo, they say they “consider their efforts to be successful rather than shameful.”

“I learned that I’m a pretty particular person and that I have a tendency to drive people away at times,” said Brian when Bravo asked what he’d gained from the experience. “But on top of that I’ve learned that it’s probably caused by my desire to not settle. My desire to find The One and my desire to find The One that I deem to be my equal and the person that I want to grow old with and love forever and be happy with.”

For Tabasum, the show taught him to open up. “The thing that I learned about myself the most is that I have become so much better at communicating and telling the person that I am dating exactly how I feel—and that was kind of a struggle for me before.”

The cast members who ended up together learned a few things about themselves too. Ericka, who ended up falling for cast mate Lee, admitted: “I learned that I’m a bigger control freak that I thought I was originally.” While it’s too early in their relationship to tell, her awareness of her controlling nature might help her have a different kind of relationship than the ones she’s experiences in the past.

The big takeaway is that we all have things to learn when it comes to relationships. We can all improve our communication. The key is to never stop trying, to never give up.

It's a question I hadn't given much thought to (and I'm guessing I'm not the only one) until Slate posted it: Why don't single sitcom characters date online? Everyone and their mother (quite literally) is doing it in real life, so why haven't televisions shows jumped on the bandwagon?

Earlier this month, The Mindy Project used mobile dating as a marketing device. Tinder users swiping through profiles could come across two fictional characters from the show, which would then direct to videos promoting the sitcom if they made a match. It's was a clever marketing gimmick, and relatively unobtrusive for a generation of people who have grown accustomed to seeing ads everywhere. But it begs the question: why is Mindy on Tinder, but Tinder isn't on The Mindy Project?

"In two seasons of casual dating," writes Amanda Hess for Slate, "Mindy's been set up on a blind date; she's met suitors on the subway, in her office building, in the hospital, and on the street; and she once even unwittingly employed the services of a male escort. But she's yet to locate a date through her phone." New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, and Parks and Recreation have all featured online dating, but only as a one-off, single episode gimmick.

What gives? In real life, we'd be looking for love online or on our phones at least once an episode, not once in an entire series. Could it somehow be that we're doing away with the online dating stigma everywhere but on television? Are sitcoms just totally out of touch with modern dating?

Slate says there's another way of looking at it: "Sitcoms and dating sites are both built to organize our messy romantic lives by corralling our desires into neat narratives. Sitcoms offer an unrealistic version of modern singledom, but so do online dating services." Sitcom characters have a team of writers controlling the narrative structure of their dating lives, while those of us who live nonfictional lives require technology companies to provide a script for us.

Expect to see more online dating on your screen soon, however. Bravo plans to launch a show called "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" in spring. The series will follow a cast of men in their search for love (or whatever else they're looking for) online. The hope is that it will provide an insider's perspective on the male psyche and dating in the digital age.

Being on Bravo, it's bound to be a sensationalized, over the top, drama fest of a show, but maybe it's still a step in the right direction.

Are you ready for a new reality TV show about dating? MTV is betting you are.

The new show doesn't center around one bachelor or bachelorette. Instead, the goal of this show is for the 20 singles participating to find true love with the other contestants, which makes the playing field a little more equal. The twenty contestants are stranded together at a resort, which makes for a lot of drama and temptations.

Here comes the catch - each of the contestants has been matched in advance with another contestant on the show - thanks to a staff of dating experts. But the contestants don't know who their matches are. If they all figure out their matches by the show's end, the whole group splits one million dollars. Now, that's incentive to find love. Or is it?

It's an interesting premise, because it allows us to see on the screen how these participants think of connection and love, and what qualities they might consider for someone to be a good match. Do they look for physical chemistry, or what interests they have in common with someone else, or do they look for contestants who share similar backgrounds or careers? Often, what we think makes someone a good match for us doesn't necessarily translate to a real-life connection. Maybe we fall in love with someone who is very different from what we pictured. So maybe these participants will have to let go of some of their assumptions.

At the end of each episode, all the contestants are required to couple up, and they are told how many couples are correctly matched, but not which ones. From the beginning, you can see that some singles are motivated to follow their hearts, while others are looking at strategy and who seems the likeliest fit, whether or not they feel anything for the person. I guess a million dollars can make you rethink your own intuition and judgment.

Jon Caramanica states in his review posted on The New York Times website: "It's striking how casually and easily the participants try one another on for size, and how quickly they're willing to mistrust their own instincts in favor of what the show - via the "truth booth" -tells them about their compatibility. Shanley and Chris T. bond within minutes, but when it's revealed they're not a match a day or two later, Shanley moves on with barely a thought, leaving Chris T. slightly stunned."

I'm interested to watch the show because of this human element - what we value, and how much we trust our guts as opposed to what others tell us might be good for us. Would you be willing to be paired with someone who didn't make you weak in the knees if it meant that you got financial reward? That's reality TV, I guess.