In Let’s Marry Harry, 20 single women vie for the honor of marrying reality star Harry Jowsey at the end of five weeks. Reality fans know Jowsey from his notorious appearances on shows like Too Hot To Handle and Perfect Match, and his reputation for playing the field precedes him. But since his father’s recent death, the Aussie is ready to settle down and start a family.
Opening Shot: Various women say to the camera, “Harry Jowsey, I’m going to marry you!”
The Gist: Harry knows that if it were up to him to choose a potential bride, he’d end up getting into yet another toxic relationship, because “my dating life has been terrible,” something that anyone with rudimentary Googling skills can find out. So he has three advisors helping him: Amanda Kloots, one of his closest friends; Georgia Hassarati, former Perfect Match winner who used to be in a relationship with Harry; and Sonny Henty, whom Harry calls an “honorary brother.”
The idea is that the confidants will be in a separate house from Harry and his suitors, watching footage of the women’s interactions with Harry and each other, and they will pick who goes on dates with him and who will be eliminated.
The women range in age from 23 to 33, and most of them are brunettes (Harry must have a type). On the first day, they all get a ring, because they’re all technically “engaged” to Harry. Harry meets them as a group, talking to a number of them individually throughout the night. He vibes with some, like Faith and Debralee, and has some awkward encounters with others. The confidantes pick five women to have a “group date” with him the next day, and one of them is a surprise candidate, chosen based solely on one of the confidants thinking she’s perfect for Harry.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Let’s Marry Harry is more or less the same format as The Bachelor and the myriad reality dating shows that have used that format.
Our Take: What Netflix is trying to sell us with Let’s Marry Harry is that Harry Jowsey isn’t the playboy viewers have seen over the years, whether it’s via his various reality show appearances, gossip stories about his dating life, or what they’ve heard on his podcasts. Deep down, Harry is a good guy with a big heart; at least that’s what we hear from Kloots and his other confidants.
But we all know that the show isn’t going to work if Harry behaves by being respectful of the contestants and the process. For heaven’s sake, the third episode is entitled “Why Do I Keep Kissing Everyone?” The only real wrinkle that sets this show apart from a typical season of The Bachelor is Harry’s reputation. And if he didn’t at least show some evidence of that reputation during the season, there would be no reason to do the show.
That being said, Kloots, Hassarati and Henty are supposed to be there to keep Harry from acting on his worst instincts. Their roles and influence feel a little specious, though; Kloots apparently connected with Harry to help him with his grief when his father died, and she seems more like the show’s host than a real confidant. Hassarati feels like she’s there so the contestants can speculate with each other as to how and why Harry stays friends with his exes. Henty… well, we don’t have a read on him yet.
We also don’t have a read on the contestants yet, which makes sense given that there are 20 of them to start and no one gets eliminated in the first episode. There will be compatibility tests given by the confidants in order to help them decide who stays and who goes. But the group as a whole seems like the usual combination of people who would decide to go on a show like this: Some are showy, others try to demonstrate that they’re dynamic and intelligent, and still others are really eager to settle down and start a family.
The show will succeed or fail, though, on Harry’s inability to keep his hands off the bachelorettes, and to be honest, we’re not sure we’re interested enough in Harry or the contestants to wait around to see that.
Performance Worth Watching: Harry Jowsey should have more personality than he actually does, but he’s charming enough to see how all of these bachelorettes think that they’re going to be the one to change him, dammit.
Sex And Skin: Nothing super-obvious, though the Season 1 highlights at the end of the episode indicate we may see more than just kissing.
Parting Shot: On the boat where the group date takes place, Harry smooches with one of the contestants while the other four look down from the crow’s nest above and give their commentary.
Sleeper Star: Only one of the bachelorettes, Jade, says she’s not going to throw herself at him if he isn’t interested. On a show like this, such a comment is a revelation.
Most Pilot-y Line: A bachelorette says she wants eight kids, and jokes that she has wide hips for a reason. Ugh.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Let’s Marry Harry gets a big fat “meh” from us because the format isn’t anything new and neither Harry nor the bachelorettes are interesting enough to keep us watching.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.