Next on Netflix: Why You Should Watch Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness

By: Lanie Brice ‘24

Image Credit: Netflix

This year, Jonathan Van Ness launched his own Netflix series after finding success on the wildly popular Queer Eye revival. As the hair and grooming expert of the Fab Five, JVN reached a far wider audience than he had before coming off of his web show Gay of Thrones. With the web show, podcast, and a spot on Queer Eye under his belt, Getting Curious feels like a natural evolution. Over six episodes, Jonathan educates the audience on a number of topics speaking to experts like a food chemist, Lizzo’s hairstylist, top architects, and his own figure skating coach. Like Jonathan, this show has personality to spare and is a perfect refreshing taste of television to watch the next time you find yourself trapped in the endless Netflix scroll. 

It’s Awesome If You Have Time for Just One Episode

Each episode in this series runs a quick 25-27 minutes and is relatively self-contained, which makes it the perfect show for a study break. It’s totally bingeable if you want to watch all six episodes in one sitting, but it’s an easier choice than most if you struggle with limiting your TV time. This show is the perfect, lighthearted choice to go with a midday snack, and since each episode has a full arc on a unique topic, it’s easier to tell yourself that you’re just going to watch one. 

Image Credit: Netflix

There’s a Mix of Super Fun and Really Important Topics

Don’t expect to learn too much from these episodes, but it’s fun to see Jonathan’s excitement talking to experts on a range of subjects he find interesting. While some that are funny and match Jonathan’s interests he’s mentioned on Queer Eye, like figure skating, hair, and snacking, others are more heartfelt and personal like the standout episode about gender noncomformity and how society got so obsessed with the binary. This episode is both emotional and informative as well as being approachable on a topic that many people need further education on. There are also totally random and silly ones like skyscrapers and bugs. There’s sure to be at least one topic that grabs your attention.

I personally started with the snacking episode and found it quite interesting to learn about how most of our sense of taste has to do with our other four senses more than our taste buds themselves. 

Image Credit: Netflix

Getting Curious has the Nostalgia of a Kid’s Show with Topics that Interest Grown-Ups

There is a level of whimsy infused into Getting Curious that is usually only reserved for kids’ shows. In Why Do I Love Snacks So Much, there’s a cartoon mouse that narrates the episode, and Michelle Kwan appears as a music box sized figure skating fairy godmother in Why Don’t You Love Figure Skating As Much As I Do. It creates a certain sense of throwback nostalgia to your favorite kids’ shows while having content that keeps your attention. 

It’ll Hold You Over Till The Next Season of Queer Eye

Missing the Fab 5? You can catch Tan France on Netflix’s Next In Fashion and Antoni Porowski with his cookbooks, and now you can keep watching JVN on your laptop until another season of Queer Eye can drop into your queue. This show is perfect for existing fans and carries a similar heartfelt yet funny and uplifting feeling.

Want Even More JVN? Getting Curious Started As a Podcast 

Getting Curious has been around since the end of 2015 as a podcast when Jonathan started it as a passion project, so it even predates the existence of Queer Eye. The spin-off show is only a small taste of the podcast. If you’re looking for a much more informational, in-depth experience learning about a variety of topics (or you feel an emptiness after finishing these six episodes), make sure you check out the podcast on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Jonathan has even talked about bringing in experts that were cut for time on the show to share even more than the streaming series could get into. With such a long backlog of content, you will truly never have to give up your favorite show. 

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