Television Shows of the Year: Silly Dating Shows--2022 in Review

 Silly Dating Shows

You know what we had a lot of this year, and I appreciate that we did? Trashy dating shows. I am always open about adoring stuff such as, "Love Island," "The Bachelor," franchise, "Too Hot to Handle," "Love in the Jungle," "Back in the Groove," "Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer," and I'll give an honorable mention to, "Big Brother," as a showmance usually forms in most seasons. I'm so happy to be in a loving relationship with my wife because the drama these people face on dating shows makes it clear being single ain't easy. These programs are a good way to kick-back, relax, and just enjoy people acting a fool in the name of finding love, or at least some action.

Television Tuesday: "Back in the Groove," Is Fun but Unsure if it Wants to be Cringey or Heartwarming

I watched the first two episodes of, "Back in the Groove," yesterday. Two more will have dropped today. Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, two more will be released for a total of eight episodes. The show features three women in their 40s dating men who range from their early 20s to just barely 30. Taye Diggs of, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," hosts, resulting in an obvious number of jokes regarding the show's name and his breakout role. Having seen the two debut episodes of, "Back in the Groove," I like it, but feel it is tonally unsure exactly what it wants to be.

Is this a show that wants to be cringey and trashy as a bunch of young men act a fool over these women--with the twist that one man is actually a son of a lady there being an especially WTF moment? Is this a show about empowering females of any age to find love with some of the guys who seem genuinely nice and level-headed? The program is unsure. There will be a nice trashy moment of a guy who clearly thinks too much of himself talking smack about another one and causing trouble...then there will be serious conversations about love, loss, and growth. I will say I like Lee--he is just loveable and adorably weird.

The tone is a bit wonky, clearly, but the overall format works (it is a well-honed format). This show is not officially affiliated with, the, "Bachelor/Bachelorette," franchise as a spin-off, but showrunner Elan Gale worked on that series and there is some DNA of that show in this. Dates occur during the day and come nighttime we don't have a cocktail party, but we do have mixers. There aren't rose ceremonies, but men do, "Check-out," of the hotel should things fizzle between them and the women. There is even a wacky concierge named Pedro who reminds me of Wells from, "Bachelor in Paradise," or Martin from the recent, "Joe Millionaire," season. The format is tried-and-true, clearly.

"Back in the Groove," is entertaining even if the tone is often all over the place. I had a good time with the first two episodes and plan to watch the rest as they roll out during the week. Hopefully, we get some more Taye Diggs too as he literally was in the first 10 minutes of the premiere and then disappeared completely.

4 out of 5 stars for the first two episodes.