Pop the Balloon was a viral hit for Black Daters. Then it’s it

One of the more heated exchanges from the original Put the balloon or find love-The popular YouTube show, which ruthlessly appreciate the attractiveness of the other person to face a lesson in humility.

Aaron, a 29-year-old plumber, whose transactions switches included “being indiscriminate” and “inappropriate”, just ended an insult to a woman that she had too much hair on her hands when the competitor Kayla cut it to the size.

“You somehow look like a ninja turtle, you are not so sweet, you have to relax and be ghostly as hell,” kayla said As the other women erupted in applause and cheers. Instead of retreating, however, Aaron withdrew, “you are not even qualified to deal with me” before boasting that he has more money than her.

The moment, like many of the exchanges in the show, attracts its attractiveness to a sharp focus: Pop balloon He doesn’t restrain himself. Located in seamless, Stark White Studio, with many slow movement checks, the show is frank and vulnerable, often funny and sometimes problematic. This is the anti-the test of a highly produced dating franchise as Bachelor– But people loved this lack of lacquer; The show is an average of about 2 million viewers per episode and has recently been parodied Saturday night liveS

But much of the authenticity that fans loved was absent from restart Netflix, a live version called Live balloonwhich debuted last week hosted comedian Yvoni Orji from UncertainAnd with the participation of reality stars and competitors in all competitions. This episode already deals with accusations that it is “Flies” and amount to “Paper bag test.” Which raises the question, what does the show lose, especially what is anchored in black culture when expanding its range to include everyone?

“Of course, Netflix added deis,” @camsimply He jokes on Bluesky after hearing about the new version.

“We can’t have anything!” @princey5ive replied.

“They generated the pop balloon … uh”, ” @richgirlenergy_ Posted on X.

This is a “tragedy”, a Netflix Executive Director, who speaks on condition of anonymity, tells Wired from the premiere, saying that it will not be surprising if the team working on the show makes several adjustments, given the overwhelming negative answer.

Netflix did not reply to requests for comment.

Started in December 2023 by Bolia Matundu and Arlet Amuli, who also act as a host, Pop balloon has followed the same approach to bare bones to find love in his 51 episodes. A group of single women or men stand side by side in line, each of which holds a red balloon and a toothpick. They are familiar with the future suitor who must ask and answer questions (“What is your love language?”; “Do you have children?”). Although the show includes people of any origin – entrepreneurs, doctorsTeachers, engineers, even claims scammers– The competitors are mostly black, straight and Christian.