As any lazy newscaster or clickbait scheme will tell you, dating has upped in popularity as we shimmy into the post-pandemic world. In truth, dating shows have remained a pretty steady source of content before, during, and (almost) after COVID-19, but it’s as good a way as any to segue into today’s recommendations, which are a 67% match for the dating show genre.

KATHERINE’S PICK:
Celebrity Dating Game [ABC, 10p]
Bachelorette Hannah Brown and Scholars favorite Nicole Byer play the Dating Game in ABC’s newest summer reboot of classic game shows. I hope they don’t end up with the dud!

JASON’S PICK:
The Republic of Sarah [The CW, 9p]
This could so go either way, and the trailer–with its soaring, manipulative cues–is zero help, but I can’t help but be a bit charmed at the idea of a young person and her fellow townspeople fighting for the protection of their quaint town after a valuable ore is found there and a greedy corporation swoops in, threatening their way of life.

FIONA’S PICK:
The Bachelorette [ABC, 8p]
Last week Greg got the first impression rose and the internet went wild. Tonight the journey continues with the twenty three men who made it past night one. You can bet you’ll hear the phrase “here for the right reason” about a million times.

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

• There’s some shadiness as to whether the new Hulu doc The Housewife & the Hustler, about Beverly Hills reality star Erika Jaymes and her con man ex-husband Tom Girardi means to be a hard-hitting expose or a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills companion piece, given that Jayne is apparently intimately involved in the production. That it is created by ABC News and Bravo is a subsidiary of NBC, might grant it a tad more integrity (maybe?).
• Bobby Flay and Michael Symon square off again on a new season of Food Network’s BBQ Brawl. Man, we really should not write this while we’re hungry.
• To gin up more interest in the Spanish high school thriller Elite‘s fourth season (out next week), while also closing some timelines on characters who will not be returning to the halls of Las Encinas High, creators Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona have created a special collection called Elite: Short Stories. As with the regular series, it will be on Netflix.
• The latest in the growing true-crime-companion-to-crime-show genre is Acorn’s The Real Manhunter which looks at the real life of Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton–30 year police veteran and inspiration for Manhunt (on which he is played by Martin Cunes).