Dear Netflix, We Need a Bridgerton Release Date
My dearest Netflix,
I hope that this letter finds you well … and stuff. Look, I know that you are busy. You’re converting all your intelligent viewers back into reality television zombies with Love is Blind and Goop Lab. We’ve all been obsessed with and talked about nothing but Cheer and To All the Boys and Miss Americana. We get it. You are making TV and making millions.
But I think you should know that 2020 is not off to a great start for most of us, especially the romance-loving community. Libraries are holding romance hate-athons, the Empire destroyed the Alliance, and Sandition isn’t getting a second season. Not to mention, the primary season is killing all of us softly and the ending of The Good Place was too cathartic. Every last one of us is staring down November 3rd like poison and wine, and to be honest, we need a countdown that we can rely on for some good feels. So can you do us a solid and announce real-quick the release date for the new Shondaland series, Bridgerton?
Bridgerton is everything we have been waiting to see on our TVs. Sure, we occasionally have a Masterpiece Theater series that showcases a few earls in top hats, and you, yourself have been known to provide us with the perfect little romcom. But we romance readers, we lovers of all things regency, have never ever had a major network take one of our beloved book series, like The Bridgertons by Julia Quinn, and turn it into eight one-hour episodes of highbrow humor, family drama and guaranteed romance. We are greedy for it.
But not too greedy. This letter isn’t even asking for key art or a teaser trailer. Just drop that release date. I’ll write it for you. “Shondaland’s newest series for Netflix, Bridgerton, is set to release all eight, one-hour episodes to the streaming platform on ______, 2020.” Just fill-in-the-blank and hit post. We will definitely get the word out.
I’m just not sure how much longer we can take small tidbits on social media from the cast and crew without something to gnaw on. Yes, it’s lovely to see the incredibly diverse writers’ room. Thank you for this pic, Chris Van Dusen. But this tweet is like a year and half old. LET THEM OUT OF THAT ROOM (or at least let them show us the episode titles).
DAY ONE! of the #Bridgerton writers’ room and already beyond impressed w this crew. #talent #oooh #shondaland #netflix #showusyourroom #representationmatters pic.twitter.com/5IDy92x5fW
— Chris Van Dusen (@chrisvandusen) October 30, 2018
I’m starting to feel weird about how closely I’ve been stalking Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington) online because she’s the only one bringing the hottest of the hot behind-the-scenes looks. Like look at these A-B-C Bridgerton boys in their floppy regency haircuts and their sideburns.
Just here delivering the #Bridgerton content you deserve
LOOK AT THESE HANDSOME MEN pic.twitter.com/eivlqVhSjB— Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) October 23, 2019
The last table read for the entire season was in October, and we still don’t have a couple of ninja shots of Simon Basset in his aristocratic breeches? I’m trying to let this shot of Regé-Jean Page in his own clothes, looking on his character’s unwanted ducal lands suffice, but jeans just aren’t the same, Netflix.
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So, here is what I’m really trying to say with this letter. I love Julia Quinn’s The Bridgertons series. Regency romance means a lot to me. Knowing that the absolute and undisputed QUEEN of television, Shonda Rhimes, is bringing this beloved romance family to all our TVs is one of the most soothing realities of the current hellscape we call existence in 2020. But you guys have been awfully mum about everything Bridgerton. This IMDB page is woefully bleak. There is a very long list of things I would like to know.
- How many (and which) books does season 1 cover?
- Will Lady Whistledown, so perfectly cast as Julie Andrews, appear on-screen or will she just be voiceover?
- Will there be a second season ordered?
- Can I get screeners?
- Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dyvenor seem to have top billing, so is it safe to assume that season one = The Duke and I, ie the story of Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset?
- What are those episode titles again?Â
- HOW am I supposed to live when POLIN is this adorable?
But I’m not asking you to answer those questions right now, Netflix. Sure, they plague me day and night. In truth, all I’m asking for (besides the screeners question because I was deadass serious about that) is the release date. Look, you wrap in a couple of days. I know it’s customary for cast and crew to exchange wrap gifts. Couldn’t one of those sweet little packages be a release date announcement for us romance-starved fans?
I am half agony, half hope —
Me, a romance reader who is planning to pillow her head every night until she gets a Bridgerton release date with a tear-stained copy of The Viscount Who Loved Me.Â
