PILOT REVIEW: Love in the Wild

LOVE IN THE WILD

Hosted by Darren McMullen
Directed by David Dryden

Love in the Wild is a new summer dating show on NBC that seems to combine elements of several reality shows. There is pairing up like The Bachelor, competition like The Amazing Race, and an exotic location like Survivor. I don't have high hopes for summer reality shows like this but this one seemed to work for the most part and it kept my interest longer than most of the summer shows so far. The setting is in beautiful Costa Rica and some of the exterior shots were great. The host is likable enough and doesn't try too hard to be funny, he just does his job.

The couples were an intriguing bunch and not over the top or too fakey. They actually seemed like real people which is not always the case in shows like this. It was easy to root for the likable front runners who won the first competition and were only one of two couples to stay together for the next task after making an immediate connection. The show already has it's "villain" in Ben who is very unlikable but of course got lots of screen time. The challenge was simplistic but the exotic environment helped and the show seemed to nicely balance the drama or success between the couples with the tasks. It's mindless summer fare like most everything else on broadcast TV but it's decent enough for its genre if not one of the better ones in the genre. I might even check it out again next week.

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