You’ve got to be kitten about this new series.
Netflix has introduced a new dating show called “Sexy Beasts” that they describe as “Love Is Blind” meets “The Masked Singer.” “Sexy Beasts” involves guests testing chemistry with others without ever seeing their faces — which are masked by cutting-edge Hollywood movie prosthetics. Singles, transformed into various animals and mythical creatures, then head to blind dates.
Produced by All3Media-backed Lion TV, the reality show has signed on for two seasons and will be narrated by “Catastrophe” star and comedian Rob Delaney.
“Making ‘Sexy Beasts’ for Netflix has been an incredibly exciting process,” said Simon Welton, creator and executive producer for Lion TV. “With an international cast featuring some truly brilliant characters, a host of prosthetics which look extraordinary in 4K and with Rob Delaney narrating, the viewers are in for a real treat. I hope the show puts a smile on peoples’ faces as they play along to discover who’ll fall in love with who, and what our cast all really look like.”
Each episode will feature a new single eager to find love based on personality, not looks. The ambitious single will select from among three potential love matches in full prosthetic makeup — but the single will only see the real face of their pick after making the final decision.
Artist Kristyan Mallett, an FX artist who has worked on “Mission Impossible” and “The Theory of Everything,” has designed 48 makeup prosthetics for the show.
The show’s trailer introduces a cute panda and a bull with a sick haircut.
“I wanna get married. I wanna have babies before I’m, like, 26,” the panda says.
“Do you have health insurance?” the bull replies.
Viewers then encounter some kind of green bug with antennae, as well as a gopher with buck teeth. In addition to a dog and a devil, there are also some harder-to-identify creatures.
In full makeup, contestants go on normal dates — or not. Activities include going to an amusement park, shooting guns and making out despite horns or other facial features getting in the way.
People took to Twitter to share their thoughts — and concerns — about the new show. “Am I on drugs?” one Twitter user asked. “This looks horrific I’m going to watch it 5 times,” another commented.
The show also drew some criticism after some remarked that the contestants look conventionally attractive. “All those people are thin and attractive underneath of the costumes so the ‘based on personality alone’ thing is a bit of a stretch,” added another.
“This year it’s ‘Sexy Beasts,’ which is fun, frivolous and totally original which is just what we all need during these strange times,” said Nick Catliff, Lion TV’s chief content officer, and Richard Bradley, Lion TV’s chief creative officer. “It’s great to be working with a streamer that supports genuine creativity and risk-taking across the genres. Making an ambitious trans-Atlantic dating show through the pandemic was a massive challenge for us all at Lion, but we are thrilled with the way it’s turned out.”
The first six-part season of episodes will be released globally on July 21, and the second season of six more episodes will drop later this year.
