Ah, reality dating shows, the guilty pleasure of all reality television. Whether it beThe BachelororLove Island, there’s no denying that we get a sort of thrill from watching people navigate their love lives. There’s always so much drama that comes with the shows, whether it be from a place of jealousy or just someone looking to play the villain for the season. There’s never a shortage of entertainment though, andToo Hot To Handleis one of the hottest contributors to the reality dating scene. The show sends a group of singles to paradise under the guise of being a part of a hot new reality show, usually having to do with partying or something along the lines.These singles are chosen because they’re notoriously uninterested in relationships, and would rather have one-night-only flings. Unbeknownst to them, however, they’re not actually on a party show, they’re onToo Hot To Handle, a show which will force them to abstain from physical contact of any kind, especially sex.
The moment this bombshell lands on the singles, the audience gets the pleasure of watching them panic over the notion. After all, they all showed up thinking they were in for a summer of sun, sand, and sex, and nowthe latter is completely off the table. At least, that’s the idea. If the singles can keep their hands to themselves, there is the promise of a $100,000 prize at the end of the season, but if they break the rules by engaging in physical contact of any kind, a fee will be deducted from the pot as punishment. It’s the exact makings of a seriously entertaining reality show, butit also has the potential to be a successful one. It just needs to change up its casting call.
Too Hot To Handle
Stuffed in a house with attractive singles, ten adults are invited to participate in Too Hot to Handle, a reality dating competition television series. Hosted by a virtual assistant known as “Lana,” the contestants are individuals with difficulty committing to relationships. Stuck in paradise, the contestants must resist temptation entirely if they want a chance at a $100,000 grand prize with a twist—every time a rule is broken, the prize pool is diminished.
‘Too Hot To Handle’ Experiments With How We Form Relationships
The charm ofToo Hot To Handleis watching a group of frisky singlestry (and often fail) to abstain from physical contact. They act like it’s impossible to do so, and that they just can’t help themselves, which is frankly absurd but oddly funny to watch.This often leads to them breaking the rulesand stealing kisses or engaging in some heavy petting when no one’s around. But nothing gets past the show’s host, Lana; a talking cone that roams around the island handing out fines like they’re free candy. The biggest thing aboutToo Hot To Handleis that there is potential for it to work.
In a lot of ways,Too Hot To Handleis reminiscent of Netflix’s other hit reality dating series,Love Is Blind.Both shows put an experimental twist on datingand seek to challenge the usual way we go about it.Love Is Blindputs a wall between its contestants and forces them to get to know one another sight unseen. They then choose to engage the person they’ve fallen in love with, and only then are they allowed to meet face to face. The rest of the season follows the couples as they navigate their new relationships, andtest the theory of whether love is truly blind.
Too Hot To Handleseeks to prove that a successful relationship can be built without physical contactby forbidding the contestants to touch or kiss. It’s not quite as concrete asLove Is Blind, as there’s no way to keep theToo Hot To Handlecontestants from breaking the rules, but it is something that they’re always being reminded of, and punished for when they slip. That being said, the show does recognize that physical contact is still important in a relationship, and later in the season grants the singles watches that will light up green at random times, which will allow them to kiss and touch, without any deduction from the prize money. But the green lights aren’t handed out loosely and are only given topeople who have shown that they can build an emotional relationshipwithout relying on the physical side.
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Forget the pods, these individuals are looking for love on a farm, in church, and beyond.
‘Too Hot To Handle’ Has a Recipe For Success
As wild as it may sound,Too Hot To Handleactually has a very smart premise, and one that could very well produce successful relationships from it. However, actually watching the show you’d never believe it, and that’s because of the casting choices. Choosing contestants who only want sexual relationships is never going to breed the results the show intends. Yes, that’s likely the point, as it continuously brings in viewership. But buried under all of the sexed-up singles and the drama that comes with them, is a premise that could actually lend well to modern-day relationships. Nowadays, with technology being the gateway to a lot of relationships, we tend to focus on the physical attributes of a suitor.Dating apps are designedto follow this exact formula. You put your best pictures into it, and maybe some basic information, and thenfellow singles swipe throughand decide whether they’re attracted to you or not. It’s a bit shallow when you really think about it, but it’s become the new norm.Too Hot To Handlechallenges this way of thinking, but isn’t able to properly succeed due tochoosing contestants who aren’t interested in its ultimate goal.
IfToo Hot To Handlewere to change up its casting, we might actually see some success stories come from it, and it may even become one of the better dating shows out there. Instead of singles who have no interest in long-term relationships, the show should be picking up singles who are simply looking for their perfect match and are looking to switch up their approach to dating.It also needs to drop the part where they trick the contestantsinto believing they’re on a different show, since that often sours their mood and only makes them care less aboutToo Hot To Handle’s format. It is undoubtedly part of the charm, watching people who haven’t engaged in serious relationships try and form them without physical contact, butsometimes the drama gets a little tiring and audiences just want to see a genuine romance unfold.
With such a unique and not-often-tried premise,Too Hot To Handleis wasting its potential on its casting choices. Don’t get me wrong, the contestants the show has had have been great, and have even gone on tomake names for themselves outside of the show. But if the series actually wants to see if its ideas can work in the long run, it needs to do a major cast switcheroo. Or perhaps, give us a spin-off, aToo Hot To Handle2.0 if you will, where we get contestants who are actually willing to follow the show’s format. It’s undoubtedly entertaining to watch as the contestants fail to resist temptation and slowly drain the prize pot, and without them, the show may lose a bit of its draw. But if it ever decides to take its own premise seriously,Too Hot To Handlecould very well become a reality dating success story, andwouldn’t that be the greatest plot twist of all?
Too Hot To Handleis available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
