Some Thoughts On 'Heated Rivalry,' Including, But Not Limited To: Ahhhh, Mmmm, And [Crying Emoji] | Defector

"Then, suddenly, my inbox was full of writers pitching me about it and my group chats were on fire about "the gay hockey show," so I figured I should check it out. I will say, as someone who is deeply allergic to tv shows that people describe as "heartwarming" or "necessary" or "a balm for our troubled times," I am very glad that the first few episodes were sold to me as simply "super fucking hot.""

"Kelsey: I completely agree. People keep texting me to ask if the show is "good," which I don't really know how to answer. It isn't prestige television. In the finale, the CGI fire is so bad that it's actually jarring as a viewer. One of the actors (Francois Arnaud) plays a professional hockey player who appears to have never run before in his life. But it is absolutely a show that is horny and sexy and fun to watch. There are butts! Many butts!"

"Kelsey: Yes, Brandy, I have been meaning to thank you for being Canadian, and thus funding this show, which seems to have been made with $12 and a hope and a dream for Crave. Brandy: Government funding of the arts is so important! Kelsey: How did you begin watching Heated Rivalry, Brandy? Brandy: I have been vaguely aware that hockey romance was a huge publishing trend for a few years now, and had heard that this was being adapted,"

Heated Rivalry is a Canadian hockey-romance television adaptation that aired its season finale on December 26. The show is low-budget and produced for Crave, with visible production flaws like unconvincing CGI and uneven physical performances from some actors. The series foregrounds explicit, frequent, and enthusiastic sex scenes that many viewers find horny, sexy, and fun, including abundant nudity. The program emerged from a recent hockey-romance publishing trend and generated heavy social media and inbox buzz prior to release. Canadian public funding of the arts is explicitly noted as a factor in enabling the production.

Read at Defector