The video: Mark Orlando is looking for love. His criteria for the woman of his dreams? She "can make me laugh, but isn't afraid of robots. Maybe somebody... ethnic." So begins Yahoo's new Bachelor-skewering web series Burning Love, which takes the conceit of the confoundingly popular dating show — 20 gorgeous women fall implausibly head-over-heels for a wealthy, attractive man they just met, and compete for his affection — and mercilessly parodies it. (Watch the video below.) The spoof features an unusual array of contestants: A blind girl, an 84-year-old, a pregnant flight attendant, a homeless person, and a woman in a giant bear suit. The series is produced by Ben Stiller and co-stars Kristen Bell, Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Malin Akerman, and Ken Jeong. The icing on the cake, however, is — spoiler alert! — a surprise cameo from Jennifer Aniston, who's hiding in the giant bear suit. New episodes of Burning Love are released every Monday and Thursday on the Yahoo Comedy Channel.
The reaction: This is "the best spoof of The Bachelor franchise yet," says Carter Matt. Burning Love "completely and totally" eviscerates every maddening, mundane element of the dating show, from the limo introductions to contestants' ill-advised attempts to hide their true selves. This is also the "funniest thing Jennifer Aniston has ever done," says Jenni Maier at Crushable. Between the incessant tabloid rumors and bland rom-coms, I always forget that she "can actually be really funny." Burning Love is so hilarious it's worth watching "whether you're a well-versed Bachelor fan or not," says Meghan Carlson at Buddy TV. And at around nine minutes an episode, it is "blissfully brief compared to The Bachelor's movie-length airings." Check it out:
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