90 Day Fiance The Other Way and Before The 90 Days Air Back-to-Back: WHY?

The 90 Day Fiance world feels a little topsy-turvy right now. Social media is full of longtime viewers asking questions.

Which 90 Day Fiance spinoff is airing right now? And, when they get their answer, the follow-up question is always the same: why?

Both Before The 90 Days Season 6 and The Other Way are airing each week, taking up 4 hours within a 26-hour time frame.

That part is simple, though it has a lot of fans frustrated. The real question is why TLC is subjecting viewers to this impossible schedule.

Just to clarify, because there are people who are understandably feeling confused at the moment.

90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days is airing on Sunday nights. This is Season 6. And it’s a normal time for this two-hour spinoff to air.

This is the one with returning cast members Jasmine and Gino. We also see Christian and Cleo, Statler and Dempsey, Riley and Violet, Meisha and Nicola, David and Sheila, and Tyray.

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way has begun airing Season 5 episodes much more recently — on Monday nights.

This spinoff normally airs on Sunday nights. But even on Monday, the episodes still fill two-hour timeslots.

For reference, this show features returning cast members like Daniele and Yohan and Kenneth and Armando. Most people are talking about toxic couple Brandan and Mary.

It’s too much

That means that the folks at TLC expect 90 Day Fiance viewers to spend four hours watching this franchise within a 26-hour period.

This isn’t just an excessive expectation. It’s downright unrealistic.

Even without commercials, that’s a three-hour time sink.

We’re not talking about binging a marathon of a familiar show.

Viewers are still learning the names of this batch of The Other Way stars.

Some fans can and will do this, but many will not or simply cannot. This is too much to ask when rolling out new episodes, especially with reality TV.

Another super weird element of all of this? This is way, way too soon for 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 5.

We just watched Season 4 — whose cast included Daniele and Yohan. The Season 4 Tell All of The Other Way was in late May. It’s now July, not even two months later.

Most of these spinoffs air eight months to a year, if not longer, after the last. This is bizarre.

What gives?

Fans are wondering why anyone in charge would make these two spinoffs clash with each other like this.

Airing such lengthy shows practically back to back … it feels like it’s pitting them against each other.

This is oversaturating the market to an absurd degree — with an already bloated franchise.

One thing that we have to consider is that the network might be deliberately risking (almost inevitably) lower ratings and viewer burnout for a reason.

We all know that these storylines follow people’s real lives. Editing might play fast and loose, but the love and breakups are real.

Is it possible that this franchise is in some sort of “race against time” to air episodes before … something?

It could be about something good — or ostensibly good — happening.

When you’re filming people’s real lives, spoilers are all but inevitable. We report on some every season.

Whether it’s a wedding or a baby or something else (as we’ll discuss in a moment), perhaps some positive development has TLC rushing to air everything that led up to it.

Of course, maybe something terrible happened.

We all know that the network has aired some truly vile people — not just toxic partners, but outspoken bigots, violent criminals, and more. They only pull the cast members or footage in response to massive outcry.

So we have to consider that there could be something that TLC fears will get out soon, so they hope to profit off of footage while they can. This is a very cynical take … but it’s possible.

What if it’s about continuity?

We mentioned that we’d “discuss in a moment” another possibility. And that’s the idea that someone could be headed for another spinoff.

Let’s say that Daniele and Yohan end Season 5 moving to the US. Well, then this season needs to air before 90 Day Fiance. The same goes for Brandan and Mary (however unlikely) and others.

This would be a clumsy way of pushing the footage out the door. It would mean that they’re all but throwing away a season to preserve continuity for the next one.

The most boring explanation of all may simply be that … maybe 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 5 straight-up sucks. In its flop era.

That thought occurred to us when TLC first announced this absurd schedule.

But thus far, the season features both fan-favorites and a new couple. A friend who has never watched this show messaged me about Brandan and Mary. So no, this season doesn’t seem like a nothingburger. Not so far.

What if this isn’t about Before The 90 Days or The Other Way?

Dark clouds loom upon the horizon. 90 Day: The Last Resort, an ominous fusion of Marriage Boot Camp and some sort of “All Stars” spinoff, premieres next month.

Interestingly, this show will air on Monday nights … which may imply a very short season of The Other Way. Basically an intermission season.

It could also mean moving The Other Way to Sunday nights after B90 ends? We’ll find out next month, it seems.

Why change things up at the risk of alienating viewers?

Simply put, Warner Bros Discovery has been losing billions — plural. Sometimes in a single quarter.

That is no surprise, since the company’s head is David Zaslav — a man whom a recent GQ article characterized as “the most hated man in Hollywood” and skilled “only at breaking things.”

Despite the accurate reporting, GQ first gutted and then deleted the article after Zaslav pitched a fit. Point is … WBD needs a win.

Which leads us to a less likely yet oddly compelling theory: that David Zaslav ordered this schedule mashup in order to kill me, personally.

Not for negative reporting on him. Everyone who isn’t directly on WBD payroll or whose boss isn’t making a movie for the company (that’s what happened at GQ) reports negatively on him. That’s the only honest way to do so.

The motive? For figuring out that he’s secretly Thomas Edison’s descendant, who wants to finish his ancestor’s mission: destroying the Warner Brothers. (That is a joke)

Okay, so it’s probably unlikely that David Zaslav is descended from Thomas Edison. Not every industry-ruining egomaniac is related.

It’s more likely that 90 Day Fiance is bloated and has spun out of control, what WBD is in chaos, and that Zaslav’s general incompetence is to blame … even if he didn’t personally make this scheduling call.

Whatever the reason — from our serious guesses to our not-so-serious ones — this is a mess. And fan reactions are ranging from confused to frustrated.