By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about the Netflix phenomenon that is Tiger King.
And unless you’re one of those weirdos who’s spending their quarantine pursuing a new hobby or re-connecting with family, there’s a good chance you’ve watched the entire thing six or seven times and launched your own cold case investigation into the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s husband.
A whopping 34 million people watched the docuseries in its first 10 days on the streaming service.
To put that into perspective, the once-popular ABC sitcom Modern Family came to an end last night, and the much-hyped finale drew the show’s biggest ratings in three years — with about 7 million viewers,
So it should come as no surprise that Netflix is striking while the iron is hot by cranking out new Tiger King content.
We learned earlier this week that Tiger King is coming back very soon.
Now, we have details regarding exactly what the new episode will look like.
Usually, when a hit reality series wants to generate a new episode out of thin air, it turns to that trusty old standby — the reunion episode.
You know the format — stars of the show sit around and discuss all the drama of the past season.
It’s never as compelling as the stuff that came before, but it’s usually enough to hold the diehards over until next season.
Of course, assembling a Tiger King reunion is not quite as simple as bringing a group of Real Housewives together so they can be grilled by Andy Cohen.
Joe Exotic is in prison serving a 22-year sentence, the GW Zoo he once owned is no more, and various other cast members were openly displeased with the way they were portrayed on the series and might not be too keen for sitting down with filmmakers for a sequel.
So who will be on hand for the reunion?
Well, that’s not entirely clear.
Thus far, the only newly-minted Tiger King star who has confirmed that he’ll be in attendance is bandana and orgy enthusiast Jeff Lowe.
It’s safe to assume that Joe Exotic pre-taped an interview segment — otherwise, what’s the point of this thing? — but prison rules will likely prevent him from participating in the live portion of the show.
Sadly, it seems the other most-talked about star will definitely not be participating.
“We have not been approached about a new episode and would not participate if asked,” a rep for Carole Baskin tells Entertainment Weekly.
No surprise there, as a previous statement issued by Baskin’s PR team derided the series as “salacious and sensational” and thretened a lawsuit against he filmmakers.
Her displeasure is understandable, as the doc prompted authorities to re-open the investigation into Baskin and the disappearance of her second husband.
And it seems Joe Exotic’s most loyal representative on the outside also will not be on hand for the reunion.
“It’s going to be a live episode, kind of like a reunion,” Joe’s husband, Dillon Passage, confirmed in a recent interview with Andy Cohen.
“Netflix didn’t contact me to [be] a part of that.”
In terms of major players, we guess that leaves Rick Kirkham, John Finlay, and Doc Antle, who has also been openly critical of the series.
It’s starting to sound like this might be one sparsely-attended reunion — but who are we kidding? We’ll be tuning in any way.
Hell, it could be nothing but Saff sitting in a folding chair and recounting the tale of getting her arm ripped off by a tiger for an hour, and we’d still be happy.
Come to think of it, that sounds like pretty solid television.
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