Whether you need a feel-good escape from actuality or to embroil your self in drama you’ll by no means expertise in your every day life, TV has received you lined.
But what occurs when the world you see onscreen is overshadowed by what is going on on behind the cameras?
If you have ever had a favourite present hit by scandal, you may need observed it affected the way you watched the present — for higher or worse.
The Curious Case of Queer Eye Season 8
Typically, when a brand new season of Queer Eye drops on Netflix, I’m on it like Antoni Porowski on the bizarre meals in somebody’s fridge. But when Season 8 premiered on Netflix on January 24, the urge to binge was lacking. So was the spark.
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Season 8 felt awkward and compelled as I plodded by way of the brief six-episode season. For the primary time in my Queer Eye-watching historical past, which dates again to the discharge date of Season 1, I did not shed a single tear. I felt distracted.
In November of final yr, we first realized that Bobby Berk, inside design professional, wouldn’t be returning after Season 8 wrapped.
As it does, the web went wild with hypothesis. Some eagle-eyed followers observed Bobby had unfollowed fellow castmate Tan France on Instagram, and the rumor mill ran with it. Was this why Bobby was leaving?
With the rumors of a rift swirling behind my thoughts, I scrutinized each interplay between the 2.
Instead of watching the heroes’ lives, hair, homes, and wardrobes remodel earlier than my eyes, I used to be laser-focused on the solid interactions.
Was {that a} “look” he simply gave him, or am I imagining issues? Does there appear to be lots much less Bobby this season, or has he all the time been within the background greater than his costars?
And the place do the loyalties of the remainder of the solid lie?
The behind-the-scenes drama was turning this present from healthful to tiresome. I needed to care about Season 8’s heroes, however I used to be continuously taken out of the second.
It appears that figuring out the solid weren’t finest associates without end and ever was coloring how I noticed the interactions not solely between the solid members however with the heroes as properly.
I needed to marvel: does this occur to different exhibits with behind-the-scenes misadventures?
It relies upon. The drama solely ruined Queer Eye as a result of I did not anticipate this type of habits from the seemingly candy and supportive solid.
What about different exhibits with points behind the scenes?
When Drama Builds Anticipation
Let’s check out Yellowstone, the antithesis of Queer Eye. Where Queer Eye’s solid is lovable, useful, and caring, the characters on Yellowstone are conniving, indignant, and flawed.
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These exhibits are evening and day, however they share one frequent thread — they’ve each had numerous behind-the-scenes drama within the information lately.
The distinction is that the problems circling Queer Eye dampened curiosity within the present, whereas the issues behind Yellowstone have solely fueled impatience for the final half of Yellowstone Season 5.
In February of final yr, rumors surfaced that Kevin Costner wouldn’t return for the remaining episodes of Season 5 because of artistic variations and pay points.
Later within the yr, Taylor Sheridon, the present’s creator, sued Yellowstone star Cole Hauser’s espresso firm for trademark infringement.
This drama is a complete lot uglier than Bobby quietly unfollowing Tan on Instagram, and but it does not make me wish to drop Yellowstone from my watchlist.
Perhaps it is as a result of I anticipate drama from Yellowstone. The present has constructed a world the place underhanded deeds are the norm, and it isn’t irregular to see folks breaking guarantees or calling one another out on their points.
The first half of Season 5 noticed one character murdering his organic father — the real-life artistic variations and authorized points plaguing the solid are delicate by comparability.
The Drama Should Enhance the Moment, Not Ruin It
It all comes all the way down to the model of the present and the kind of behind-the-scenes drama.
Widely acknowledged rumors of solid infighting and bullying on the set of Desperate Housewives did not hurt its watchability as a result of the characters additionally bullied each other.
However, rumors of bullying on Glee made it arduous to assist the characters we have been purported to root for.
The feud between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker made Samantha Jones’ cameo in Season 2 of And Just Like That… extensively anticipated, whereas Chevy Chase’s feuds along with his Community costars made later seasons of the present arduous to look at.
The notorious “Scandoval” of Vanderpump Rules Season 10 delivered an enormous bump in viewership for Season 11.
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We’re speaking hundreds of thousands of recent viewers. For a drama-centric actuality present, scandal was not solely inspired; it was anticipated.
When Scandal Goes Too Far
Sometimes, beloved exhibits face a scandal so grave the one resolution is to axe a personality solely to keep away from a rankings loss.
When Isaiah Washington used a homophobic slur in opposition to a costar within the earlier days of Grey’s Anatomy, it was obligatory to jot down Washington out of the present or face backlash.
Similarly, severe abuse allegations in opposition to Kevin Spacey meant he wanted to be fired from House of Cards to maintain viewers .
When folks put in lengthy days collectively on a TV set, there’s certain to be somewhat drama. If we’re watching as a result of we crave the stress, behind-the-scenes shenanigans may also help us get excited a couple of present.
But after we anticipate extra from our TV exhibits, the drama can result in disappointment.
How does behind-the-scenes chaos make you’re feeling about your favourite exhibits?
Does it make you wish to flip the TV off, or are you itching for extra? Let us know within the feedback.
Shela Ward is a senior workers author for TV Fanatic. You can follow her on X.
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