Love Island type TV Show network CBS genre Reality

“Inarticulate morons”… “A tacky waste” … “Gross” … Dumb as hell”… “A hot mess.”

In other words: Love Island just had its CBS debut!

The Tiffany Network aired a 90-minute U.S. premiere of the reality series Tuesday night, introducing its viewers to the Villa, Islanders, and Couplings. The show is no stranger to controversy in the U.K., where Love Island is a huge smash. (The U.K. version is also currently streaming on Hulu.)

Image zoom Colin Young-Wolff/CBS Entertainment

Yet the initial reaction from Twitter was actually quite positive: Most viewers tweeting in real time seemed to be shocked at how much they enjoyed the show. And fans of the U.K. version largely said the CBS edition was surprisingly close to the mark.

Here are some of the reactions:

That one Islander, Kyra, dropped that her last relationship was with a woman, blew up Twitter especially. Love Island was criticized before it aired for lack of gay representation, as the format is set up for male-female couplings:

In other aspects: Fans gave high marks in particular to relative newcomer host Arielle Vandenberg, who added just the right amount of playful personality to the role. But some dinged the show for sound issues (a windy and, at one point, rainy location right next to the ocean resulted in a lot of background noise) and some seemingly choppy editing.

One aspect that received a consistent thumbs down was the show’s narrator. It’s a tricky role, as the narrator is tasked with injecting some humorous commentary. The U.K. version’s narrator, Iain Stirling, is rather beloved by fans for his snark.

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