Readers of a certain age may remember ABC’s “The Dating Game,” the first-ever reality dating TV show.
Nowadays, dating shows are more popular than ever. There’s “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette,” “Love is Blind,” “Are You the One?” “The Ultimatum,” “Indian Matchmaker,” and even “Love on the Spectrum U.S,” a show that explores the dating lives of single people on the autism spectrum.
On Sept. 7, the show, which first aired on Netflix in 2022, took home two Primetime Emmy Awards – one for outstanding casting for a reality program and an additional one for outstanding director for a reality program. The awards were presented at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, which preceded the main Emmy Awards program on Sept. 15.
“Love on the Spectrum U.S.” is based on the award-winning Australian show “Love on the Spectrum,” which also aired on Netflix from 2020-2022. The format of both shows is similar. Each follows six or seven developmentally disabled adults as they date each other in an effort to find love and romance. In between dates, participants are supported by families and friends and coached by relationship expert and author Jennifer Cook, who is also neurodiverse. Both shows were co-created, directed and produced by Cian O’Clery, an Australian director who wanted to challenge myths about people with ASD.
“The initial kernel of the idea was about raising awareness that people on the spectrum do want to date and want to have relationships just like everybody else does,” said O’Clery, in an interview with Screen Australia.
According to Disability Scoop, Netflix reiterated O’Clery’s point in its description of the show: “Most people on the spectrum have the same desire for intimacy and companionship as the rest of the population, yet difficulties in social interaction and communication are a key feature of autism, which makes finding a partner an often daunting and difficult experience,” says Netflix. “This uplifting and insightful series celebrates diversity and difference, with participants who are warm, funny and generously open. It sets out to teach us all lessons of love, romance, intimacy and acceptance.”
In the course of making the shows, O’Clery found that it was also “about showing the true diversity of the spectrum. You’ve got people with very low support needs who are highly intelligent, who have great jobs, who are professors, and you’ve got people who need support 24 hours a day… It’s really diverse. Everybody’s different.”
To learn more about “Love on the Spectrum U.S.,” click here.
