news Netflix Would Like to Forget the ‘Love Is Blind’ Live Disaster, Please

Netflix’s first attempt at live programming, Chris Rock’s “Selective Outrage,” went off almost without a hitch. Its second try, a live-reunion special for popular reality-dating series “Love Is Blind,” did not.

The “Love Is Blind: Live Reunion” was set to stream live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. An IndieWire employee was ready to watch, but his web browser rerouted from his Netflix queue to an error message reading: “Pardon the interruption. We’re having trouble playing Netflix. Please check your internet and try again.” After refreshing, the error message remained for the next 30 minutes. By then, like probably many, he gave up and watched “Succession.”

Nine minutes into our hero’s wait, the main Netflix Twitter account noted the delay.

Promise #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be worth the wait…. pic.twitter.com/t7eOSLD3K6

— Netflix (@netflix) April 17, 2023

Eighty minutes after that, Netflix went with “our bad,” basically.

“To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon… we are incredibly sorry that the ‘Love is Blind Live Reunion’ did not turn out as we had planned,” the streamer tweeted Sunday at 9:29 p.m. ET. “We’re filming it now and we’ll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry.”

“As soon as humanly possible” turned out to be another hour — for some, but not all. One Netflix user in Sacramento told IndieWire she was able to watch the filmed program at about 7:30 p.m. PT. It took “longer than usual” to load, but she was able to watch the entire 96-minute reunion. (The special was even longer than the Season 4 finale, which clocked in at 89 minutes; those are now the two longest episodes in series history.)

IndieWire was also in attendance at the Netflix viewing party at Los Angeles club The Vermont Hollywood. About a half hour after the live-screening was supposed to start, Chloe Veitch, a contestant from Netflix reality show “The Circle,” took the stage to sort-of announce there were technical difficulties and that the show would start soon. Some attendees thought she was referring to the club’s system experiencing trouble, and not the show itself.

Also at Vermont Hollywood were cast from previous “Love Is Blind” seasons as well as members from other Netflix reality-dating shows (“Too Hot to Handle,” “Perfect Match”) as well as a few stragglers from ABC’s “The Bachelor.” The club’s eventual screening of the filmed show experienced no lag or picture-quality issues on a giant screen with great sound. No one seemed troubled by the hour-plus delay, but that’s what catering and an open bar can do for you.

Perhaps the only way to have a better time sober was to be a part of the Bravo social-media team last night:

We would never keep you waiting for a Reunion
😉


— Bravo (@BravoTV) April 17, 2023

On Monday, Netflix waited until 3 p.m. ET/noon PT to officially release the reunion special. Netflix declined comment on this story, including technical questions about why some were able to (eventually) watch late last night/early this morning but others seemingly were not.

Vanessa Lachey, who co-hosts the series with husband Nick Lachey, opened the reunion special with this: “Welcome to ‘Love Is Blind: The Reunion! I want to say: I am sorry we’re late, we’re no longer live, but we’re finally here!”

Love Is Blind: The Reunion will be available globally at 12pm PT on April 17. Promise. pic.twitter.com/vHKxyOiSgq

— Netflix (@netflix) April 17, 2023

Guys, we made it.
 
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