Remember Dating Around, the surprisingly addictive, low-stakes reality show Netflix dropped a year ago? Critics raved about its no-frills reimagining of the dating show genre and refreshingly diverse cast of love-seeking singles. Well, happy (early) Valentine’s Day: It’s coming back.
Vulture can exclusively report that not only has Netflix ordered a second season of Dating Around, but the season has already been filmed and will appear on the streaming service later this year. To keep things fresh, producers moved production to New Orleans for a different vibe than the first batch of episodes, which were shot in New York City.
Netflix’s silence on a second season led to speculation it was moving on from Dating Around, or that perhaps the show’s audience size didn’t match the hype. But Netflix unscripted chief Brandon Riegg told Vulture the service is “really excited” about the format. “We love that show, and we love the fresh approach that the producers came up with when they first pitched us the concept,” Riegg said. While he wouldn’t talk about how many people have watched season one, the exec said Dating Around performed very well on other metrics the service looks at. “It was very buzzy and got a lot of great recognition and member love [on] social media,” he said.
Season two of Dating Around will once again consist of six self-contained episodes. Each installment revolves around a single person who goes out on dates with five other (often very different) singles.
News of Dating Around’s return comes as Netflix prepares to launch another potentially buzzy dating franchise. Next week, the service will unveil Love Is Blind, a “social experiment” from the producers of Married at First Sight in which various potential couples court each other for days, never seeing one another until they’re engaged. The show will roll out over three weeks, starting February 13.
This story first appeared in Buffering, Vulture’s weekly newsletter about the streaming business. Subscribe today!
