Love Is Blind and other Netflix reality shows have been so good because they aren't shackled by censorship and commercial breaks

The Washington Post

Netflix's advantage over broadcast and basic cable is that it doesn't have to hew to traditional TV standards. "In this all-you-can-eat format, far less energy is spent editing the stories around the false construct of commercial breaks and cliffhangers designed to stretch from one crisis to the other," says Hank Stuever. "Love Is Blind is in no danger of turning into a serious documentary project, but it’s also not as obligated to follow the genre’s prescribed tropes down to the letter. The participants can, when needed, stop pretending to ignore the camera and behave like rational people who have discovered (too late) that this experiment has gone too far." Stuever adds: "Something about mixing the emotional mayhem of reality TV and one’s private relationship with Netflix just clicks. The reality genre rewards the binge impulse and other forms of obsessive-compulsive watching. Also, there are no commercials — the ceaseless ads for cosmetics, weight-loss programs and car insurance discounts that pester TV’s reality fans into a stupor. And no Andy Cohen, no cross-promotions — no nonsense, really, except for the nonsense of the reality show itself." ALSO: Creator Chris Coelen began developing Love Is Blind two years ago with Netflix in mind.