Hulu
Over the past few years, the dating show genre has expanded with a plethora of hilarious, sexy, and frankly bizarre offerings from streaming platforms all seemingly trying to emulate the success of the Bachelor franchise. Few have been more utterly stupid, though, than a new show on Hulu that tests couples’ compatibility while they choke and vomit from eating spicy pickles.
Hotties (a Bright Spot Content program airing on Hulu, not to be confused with a Hulu original) is maybe one of the most fun, mindless viewings I’ve had in a while—and I say this as someone whose television diet throughout the pandemic has mostly consisted of frivolous reality shows.
Still, consuming a dating show can often be a taxing activity. Programs like Love Island, Are You The One?, and Love Is Blind can force you to confront and psychoanalyze the worst parts of humanity and maybe yourself, filling you with a sense of dread about the state of modern dating. Likewise, for every dating competition reminding you how shallow, toxic, and dishonest human beings (mostly straight men) can be, you need a show like Hotties to make you laugh the entire time and wonder if you’ve ingested some sort of hallucinatory drug.