Television series
FBoy Island
A tropical dating show that turns its premise into the punchline: women must sniff out which of the 26 men courting them are sincere and which are professional liars chasing a cash prize instead of a partner. Hosted by Nikki Glaser's merciless commentary, it's less romance than detective work with abs. Watch it for the bad decisions, not the love story.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like reality dating shows where the fun is watching people scheme, bicker and misread each other, and you find a sharp-tongued host more entertaining than sincere.
Skip it if your patience runs out quickly with cheerful cynicism, since the whole premise depends on deception and the romance often feels like a game board rather than real feeling.
What it asks of you: Episodes run about 55 minutes, light and quick and gossipy, so it dips in easily, though keeping track of who is scheming with whom takes some attention.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Too Hot to Handle2020
Same tanned ensemble chaos, but with a genuinely funny structural twist: any physical contact drains the prize money, so lust becomes a financial liability. It's FBoy Island's smarter, meaner cousin.
But The narrator's smugness can wear thin fast, and the format repeats its one joke for several seasons running.
Love Is Blind2020
Strips out the looks entirely and asks if people will get engaged to a voice through a wall. It's the same 'can strangers fake or find real connection on camera' question, played completely straight.
But Takes itself far more seriously, and the earnestness can feel exhausting if you came for the trash.
The Bachelor2003
The granddaddy of the genre — one person, a crowd of suitors, and a rose ceremony that invented half the tropes FBoy Island is busy sending up. Essential context, still oddly watchable.
But Decades of episodes, glacial pacing by modern standards, and a sincerity FBoy Island deliberately mocks.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from FBoy Island
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Tinder Swindler2022
FBoy Island turns 'is he lying about who he is for money' into a game show bit; this documentary shows what that lie actually costs when the stakes are real.
A documentary about a real con man who seduced women on dating apps and drained their bank accounts using a fake jet-set persona. Everything FBoy Island jokes about, with no laugh track and real victims.
But Genuinely upsetting rather than fun — this is the dark mirror, not a lighthearted romp, and it will sit with you.
More like this (7)
The Circle2020
Swaps romance for pure social deception — players build online personas to manipulate strangers who can't see their faces. Same lying-for-advantage engine, filtered through a completely different game.
But No physical chemistry or dates at all, so if you want the beach and the bodies, this won't scratch that itch.
Are You the One?2014
A house full of singles matched by an algorithm they must guess correctly as a group to win money. More strategy, more screaming, more spreadsheets of who's kissed whom.
But Early seasons show their age technically, and the format demands patience for slow-building group dynamics.
Perfect Match2023
Netflix throws reality-show veterans from other dating shows into one villa, so everyone already knows how to perform for cameras. Meta, self-aware, gleefully cutthroat.
But Requires some familiarity with other reality shows to appreciate the in-jokes, or you'll miss half the fun.
Bachelor in Paradise2014
Rejects from other Bachelor shows get dumped on a beach with open bar and zero rules. Messier, drunker, and far less structured than its parent show — closer to FBoy Island's spirit.
But Storylines shift week to week with little continuity, and it leans hard on viewers already knowing the cast.
Married at First Sight2014
Strangers legally marry before ever meeting, then live together while experts decide if it should stick. The stakes escalate FBoy Island's premise into something with actual legal paperwork.
But Long seasons, heavy on therapy-session filler, and the format can feel repetitive across its many international versions.
Joe Millionaire2003
It's the direct ancestor of the 'is this person deceiving me for a prize' format — FBoy Island just made the deception the explicit rules instead of the twist.
The original gender-flipped version of this exact con: a construction worker is passed off as a wealthy bachelor, and women compete for a fortune that doesn't exist. Same premise, two decades earlier, less self-aware.
But Dated production values and a slower, more earnest tone that lacks FBoy Island's winking self-awareness about its own trashiness.
Terrace House: Boys × Girls Next Door2012
Same basic experiment — strangers, attraction, cameras — but with every artificial incentive removed, showing how much of FBoy Island's tension comes from the cash and the cameras, not the people.
A Japanese reality show with no game, no prize money, and no confessionals — just young strangers sharing a house while a panel of comedians reacts from a studio. Watching desire and social awkwardness unfold at a completely different speed is oddly riveting.
But Painfully slow by Western reality standards, subtitled, and almost aggressively polite — there's no manufactured drama to hold onto.
People
Cast
Nikki GlaserHost
Writing
- Elan GaleCreator
Production
- Ben BitontiExecutive Producer
- Elan GaleExecutive Producer
- Jason GoldbergExecutive Producer
- Nikki GlaserExecutive Producer
- Sam DeanExecutive Producer
Recommended by
Love Island, The Circle, Perfect Match, Too Hot to Handle, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, Deaf U