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Love Is Blind, Netflixs latest entry into trashy reality TV, comes out today.
Welcome to the blind love experiment, Nick says.
Here, you will choose someone to marry [incredibly long pause] without ever seeing them.
Nick and Vanessa Lacheyseemlike hosts.
They put on very serious faces and they say, … islove blind?
At the end of each episode, theres even a credit that reads hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey.
Lets call it the Chris Harrison Line.
And lets also agree that Nick and Vanessa Lacheyabsolutelydo not qualify.
A host doesnt need to be in every scene of a show, or even most of a show.
He does not oversee many of the dates.
He rarely interacts with the contestants.
Hes incidental to the proceedings, especially in the years sinceThe Bachelorhas decided itsa series without unbreakable rules.
Nevertheless, if Chris Harrison leftThe Bachelor, you would know it immediately.
His identity and the shows identity have become permanently linked.
Might someone else be a more involved reality host than Chris Harrison?
Now, lets look at Nick and Vanessa Lachey onLove Is Blind.
At first theyseemlike hosts.
They stand in front of the assembled contestants and explain whats about to happen.
They greet the contestants.
Sometimes, very rarely, theyll even say a contestants name.
Thats the high-water mark of their hosting duties.
They do not deviate from their scripts.
They do not express emotion.
They do not appear in the finale.
They do not engage with the end of the show in any way.
Like not-that-Mark-Walberg onAntiques Roadshowand Carson Daly onThe Voice, they do not cross the Chris Harrison Line.
