Can Canceled ‘FBoy Island’ Work on a New Network?

FBoy Island on HBO Max
(Image credit: HBO Max)

Season two of reality show FBoy Island, which sees three women on a tropical locale who are joined by 26 men — 13 of them OK guys, 13 of them sketchy “FBoys” — is on The CW August 3. 

Season three is on The CW starting October 12. Season one can be streamed on CWTV.com. 

Nikki Glaser hosts. 

The show ran for two seasons on HBO Max before it was canceled

FBoy Island sees the women navigate the dating pool and try to sort out who is a Nice Guy and who is an FBoy, who is only there for the cash. The CW calls the show “a social experiment that asks: Can FBoys truly reform or do Nice Guys always finish last?”

Katie Thurston, who was on season 17 of The Bachelorette and season 25 of The Bachelor, will be on the new season in the fall. 

The CW will also premiere spinoff FGirl Island in the mid-season. Glaser will host that show, too. 

When The CW announced it was acquiring FBoy Island, Heather Olander, head of unscripted programming at the network, said,“With its innovative and modern twist on the reality dating genre, incredibly talented host Nikki Glaser, and truly unforgettable title, FBoy Island on The CW is a perfect match.” 

Urban Dictionary defines an fboy as a guy who plays with women’s feelings and leads them on. 

With the broadcast networks set to start their fall seasons amidst the writers’ strike, many are finding shows in unique places, whether they are acquiring them from other nations, such as The CW with Sullivan’s Crossing, Son of a Critch and several other Canadian series, pulling them off the canceled heap, or borrowing them from a corporate sibling. 

Vanity Fair called FBoy Island “gleefully dumb,” but said it may nonetheless suck a viewer in. A review in Variety said, “It didn’t take long for FBoy Island to make me feel like my brain was leaking out my ears, drip by stupefied drip … The new dating reality series is some unholy combination of Bachelor in Paradise, Love Island and Too Hot to Handle.”

Elan Gale created FBoy Island. Gale executive produces for TheYearOfElan Productions, alongside Jason Goldberg for STXtelevision, Nikki Glaser, Noah Fogelson and Bob Simonds. STXtelevision produces the show. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.