Detailed examinations of Showtime's Polyamory: Married and Dating

Note: Episode 3 of the series, titled "Poly Lovers," airs tonight (Thursday July 26) at 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times. It will be re-aired several times in the coming week; see schedule (under "Ways to Watch" and "On TV," click "All Airings").

Watch a trailer for Episode 3 below (1 minute. If this version doesn't play, you can watch it on YouTube worldwide.)

Seven episodes will air this first season of the series. Whether it's renewed for a second season will depend on how big an audience it gets — and that will depend in part on how much buzz for it you spread around.



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While I've been mostly offline in the woods at the Network for a New Culture's Summer Camp East, Jessica Karels has been doing an admirable job of covering, in depth, Showtime's new reality series Polyamory: Married and Dating. She's posting her stuff at Modern Poly ("the pulse of the polyamory movement"), which she played a large role in founding and where she's now chief technical officer.

Modern Poly, incidentally, is serious about becoming a major nexus of the community. It runs the now-indispensable Poly Group Registry of local discussion/ social/ support groups (go add yours if it's not there already), is building a stable of regular high-quality writers, and recently incorporated as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, one that is allowed to engage in political activity. Statement of purpose: "Advocating for choice in relationships and equal rights across families."

For each episode of the series Jess is providing

● A detailed plot synopsis,

● Thoughtful commentary on aspects of poly that the episode raises and how they're being presented to the public, and

● Links to all other reviews and commentary she can find.

I don't often think someone does my job better than I could, but here it is. So that's where I'll direct you for the best coverage of the Showtime series:

Polyamory: Married and Dating — Episode 1 Review

Polyamory: Married and Dating — Episode 2 Review

Also: Jessica plans interviews with members of the show's cast and possibly the director. Check back for more articles.

Some updates:

Polyamory: Married and Dating — Episode 3 Review

Polyamory: Married and Dating — Episode 4 Review

Polyamory: Married and Dating — Episode 5 Review

July 31: Jessica has just put up her promised compilation of Online Reactions to Showtime's Polyamory: Married and Dating, with discussion.

She writes, "I watch the show anywhere from 3 to 6 times in the process of writing my reviews. My husband and his girlfriend keep having the luck of walking in either right before or during one of the sex scenes. The household joke is that me "writing the review" is an excuse to watch softcore poly-porn ;)"

A review of the show by Team Triad, "three lovely people who love each other...and love to talk."

TheBlackLeatherBelt is a poly gal who's posting satirical but detailed recaps of all three episodes so far (with quotes) — because "you see, children, on the West Coast they have Tantra. And here on the East Coast, we have Snark." Episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Here is Cunning Minx's and Lusty Guy's audio review of the series on Minx's Polyamory Weekly podcast, Episode #329: "Reality: Polyamory on Showtime" (July 31, 2012). Show notes.

Says Time Warner Cable's RoadRunner site:

You Can Love Polyamory Without Other Shows Getting Jealous

...Don't tune in expecting wild swinging debauchery, though. Polyamory focuses on how these complex relationships work through carefully laid boundaries between each person. Though this sometimes causes the show to drag in places, there's still that "LOOK HOW WEIRD FACTOR" keeping you glued to the screen.

A writer at the feminist ontheragmag.com is fascinated and freaked and wants Jen to run away.

In Trenton, New Jersey, a newspaper columnist stuck in old culture freaks out completely.

Anthony of the show's triad posts on Facebook (Aug. 4, 2012):

After looking today at the incredible number of tweets about Polyamory: Married and Dating, and reading all these people who'd never heard of it, are thinking about these things for the first time, and how important and monumentous of a moment that is for the civil rights and social legitimacy of poly people, I feel really grateful to and proud of Showtime, the production company BermanBraun, and the creator Natalia Garcia for taking the risk. I wish the poly community members who nitpick about the 'message its sending' would step back and realize it just did something huge and unprecedented just by putting the word in countless people's mouths for the first time.

Can't get Showtime? Here are all the officially available video clips from the series, adding up to about 18 minutes of trailers and teasers so far (August 10). They're faster-paced than the actual show but give a pretty good look at what's going on, minus most of the sex scenes.

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