Why Discovery+ Is The Streaming Service For The Rest Of Us

When I’m looking to fill my review list each month, I peruse the individual newsletters that the networks and streaming services send, announcing what their premieres will be for that month. When I opened the e-mail from discovery+, this title stopped me cold: Naked And Afraid Of Love.

You all know what the show Naked And Afraid is about, right? Twelve seasons of the series have aired on Discovery, the cable parent of discovery+; in it, two strangers are dropped into the middle of nowhere with no supplies and are tasked to survive on their own, using their skills and smarts. And, they happen to be doing this without a stitch of clothing on them.

Naked And Afraid Of Love, premiering on August 22, takes that concept to the next step; dropping sixteen naked singles on and island; they not only have to survive on that island, but they’re also seeking to hook up with each other — or maybe even find the one.

That breathtaking concept for a reality show is why discovery+ has done so well since its U.S. launch in January; by the end of April, it and other Discovery streaming services had signed up over 15 million subscribers, most of which were paying for discovery+.

But the streamer, which combines the library of shows across Discovery’s networks (Discovery Channel, Food Network, Animal Planet, TLC and HGTV, among many others) with original series, isn’t trying to go for an audience that appreciates both prestige TV and campy reality. It’s quickly gaining subscribers because it’s not trying to be anything more than what it is: The streaming service for the rest of us.

What do I mean by that? For one thing, discovery+ isn’t trying to present its viewers with the next Emmy-worthy series (unless it’s in one of the reality categories). There aren’t shows on the service that you need to sit down and watch intently, then go back and read all the thinkpieces about it to see if others interpreted the episodes the same way you did. No, these are shows you can enjoy without having to feel like they’re homework, whether the topic is cooking, travel, home improvement or true crime.

Take, for example, one of the streamer’s breakout hits, Queen Of Meth. The docuseries is the story of how Lori Arnold, Tom Arnold’s sister, became the biggest meth dealer in Iowa, tumbled from the top of the heap to land in prison, and now is remaking her life. Watching the series, you not only get a sense of how truly messed up the childhoods of the Arnold siblings were, but you also get a sense that Lori Arnold, while remorseful about her drug dealing past, also misses it in a way.

It’s the type of true crime show that has been a staple of Discovery’s various networks, especially Investigation Discovery, for years. Here, the format is a bit zuzshed up, with a celebrity tie-in and some more documentary-style photography to accompany the usual talking head interviews, shots of old photos and news clips, and reenactments. It’s not as hard-driving as a show on ID might be, but it’s certainly not a show that engenders deep consideration. It’s less Making A Murderer and more Tiger King.

In fact, discovery+ has done a good job of leveraging its parent company’s biggest franchises, beginning with the hydra-headed 90 Day Fiancé universe. For instance, there’s The Single Life, where we see favorites like Danielle and Big Ed navigating singledom after their notorious original relationships blew up in front of the cameras (and in Danielle’s case, continues to blow up, as she confronts Mohamed yet again in this series). There’s Love Games, where the franchises’ couples go against each other in a Newlywed Game-style format. And there are a handful of other series that involve franchise favorites in various iterations.

Other franchise extensions include the extremely enjoyable Chopped 420, where Ron Funches and a trio of cannabis experts, including drag queen Laganja Estranja, judge meals infused with everyone’s favorite botanical. There is also Chopped Next Gen, featuring young chefs; Battlebots: Bounty Hunters, a new tournament in the robot battle series; Deadliest Catch: Bloodline, which follows Josh Harris, the son of late Deadliest Catch captain Phil Harris, as he fishes off Hawaii; and Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel, where the Ghost Adventures crew investigate the notorious hotel in downtown L.A. that has been the scene of multiple murders and disappearances.

Even originals that haven’t been connected to a franchise, like Weekend Getaway With Michelle Buteau and Battle Of The Brothers, have been enjoyable distractions from the shows you just have to watch. Buteau, who stars in the former show, and the Voltaggio Brothers, who star in the latter, are reality veterans, and both shows are produced with an eye towards their strengths; Buteau’s funny and warm as she travels different parts of the country with her comedy girlfriends, and the Voltaggios bring the brotherly competition they displayed on Top Chef to the teams they lead on their show.

Sometimes, it feels like consumption of TV comes from peer pressure instead of from the good old fashioned sense of coming across something that looks like something you might enjoy. None of the shows on discovery+ are demanding you watch them in order to keep up with the zeitgeist. They’re just there as a way for you to spend a few hours just letting TV wash over you, even if you’re watching a favorite episode of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives for the 127th time.

Which makes us wonder what will happen to discovery+ when the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger is completed. Will the streamer stand on its own or will it be combined with HBO Max to make a mega-streamer that will likely be able to compete with the Netflixes of the world? To be honest, the reality content that HBO Max has put out to this point has been… OK. They haven’t really created any standout franchises, and the shows that have gotten the most attention, like The Great Pottery Throw Down, are imports from other countries (though FBoy Island, premiering on July 29, has the potential to become the streamer’s first reality franchise).

A mega-streamer would certainly give HBO Max instant cache in the reality arena, given all of Discovery’s various franchises. But it might be better for the new Warner Bros. Discovery to leave discovery+ right where it is. After all, if you want people to find Naked And Afraid Of Love, they’ll find it a whole lot easier if they don’t have to wade through listings for Hacks, Last Week Tonight and Sesame Street to get there.

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.

Stream Queen Of Meth On Discovery+