On a frigid Monday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan, a group of about 100 people gathered under the NBC Studios marquee hoping for a glimpse of one of Hollywood’s newest heartthrobs.
The occasion? Connor Storrie, one of the stars of the breakout Canadian hockey romance show “Heated Rivalry,” was set to make his late-night television debut on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”
His co-star, Hudson Williams, had appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” a few days earlier and the crowd waiting for standby tickets was so long that ahead of that Jan. 12 “Late Night” filming, a post on the show’s Instagram account noted that there would be no additional tickets available and discouraged people from waiting outside. After his show, Fallon likened the fanfare around Williams to Beatlemania.
But even without a chance to sit in for the taping, fans gathered, hopeful for even a glimpse of Storrie.
“I feel like this community-level psychosis for these two men is something that I haven’t seen in a while,” said Divya Saha, 29, of Brooklyn. Because she works in the 30 Rockefeller building, she had also popped down to see Williams, she said, and spoke to people who had been camping outside of the building since 2 a.m. to try get tickets.
For those who have somehow avoided the hype around the show: It follows two rival hockey stars, the Russian player Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) and the Canadian Shane Hollander (Williams) who, over the course many years, hookup and then fall in love, all while keeping their relationship a secret. The story is based on the author Rachel Reid’s series “Game Changers” and was far from a sure-fire hit. The show was produced for Crave, a Canadian streaming service, and was filmed around Ontario, Canada, on a relatively low budget. Right before it was set to air in Canada in late November, the series was licensed by HBO. Casey Bloys, the head of HBO Max, told The New York Times that he while he knew it would “make some noise,” he didn’t anticipate that the show would turn into such a phenomenon.
But that’s exactly what happened, with all of the accompanying pop culture signifiers. Tattoo studios are offering flash tattoos inspired by the show with designs incorporating show phrases such as “stupid Canadian wolf bird,” “1221” and “you look pretty.” Theme nights at clubs have started popping up and quickly selling out — the event company Club90s is putting on a nationwide “Heated RivalRave” tour (83 shows and counting) at venues including Webster Hall in New York City and House of Blues in Chicago. Trivia nights, watch parties and costume contests have popped up at bars across the country.
Back at Rockefeller Center, an S.U.V. pulled up and fans whipped out their phones and started cheering. But it wasn’t Storrie who got out — it instead was a group of men who profusely apologized for the disappointment.
One girl yelled to the crowd: “How am I supposed to know where’s best to stand? I’ve never done this before.”
Finally, Storrie did arrive and quickly made his way into the building, giving fans just a few seconds to try to spot him. Within moments someone else yelled from the crowd: “Who got a good video and wants to airdrop it to me?”
Inside, while talking to Meyers, Storrie noted that he had taken a red eye to New York after presenting at the Golden Globes and stopping by the Chateau Marmont for 30 minutes of an after-party.
Even more than watching Storrie and Williams do the celeb circuit, it is the sense of community that has formed around the show that has been the real highlight for many fans.
A few days after Storrie appeared on “Late Night,” Brandon Krisko was preparing to teach his fourth “Heated Rivalry”- theme SoulCycle class.
The show resonated with Krisko because it reminded him of his own coming out and he appreciated a gay love story being represented on television. When he heard the 2002 song “All the Things She Said” by t.A.T.u. during a climactic scene from the fourth episode, he knew that he wanted to incorporate in his SoulCycle class.
“When I put it on the schedule, it was the middle of winter break, I didn’t know if anyone liked the show or was going be into it, but I thought let’s just put it out there and try it,” he said.
By the end of the month, SoulCycle will have hosted nearly 100 “Heated Rivalry”-theme rides. Inside the Williamsburg studio last Saturday afternoon, the front desk was adorned with photos of the show’s stars, the phrase “we’re going to the cottage” (if you watch the show, you know) and a Team Canada hockey jersey. As snow fell outside, people wearing “Heated Rivalry” merchandise or hockey jerseys piled into the warm studio. Lots of them had never taken a class before but were inspired to try it because of the theme.
And what would a pop culture phenomenon be these days without a bunch of strangers gathering in a park? Similar to the look-alike contest craze of this past fall, a flier began circulating last week encouraging people to come to Thompson Square Park on the Lower East Side in New York on Saturday for exactly 3 minutes and 33 seconds to sing t.A.T.u’s “All the Things She Said.”
It was Josie Hovis, 20, who had organized the event. She had taped 50 fliers around the city and dropped some off at a “Heated Rivalry” watch party at Boyfriend Co-Op in Bushwick, in Brooklyn.
“If there’s ever a time in my life where I think I could get folks to come together through word of mouth, this is the time,” she said. “If we’re all having this experience in our bedrooms why not have this experience in a park?”
Later on Saturday afternoon, snow had stopped falling but the temperatures had dropped and the ground had started to freeze. But despite the weather, nearly 50 people showed up to the park ready to sing. And from 3:30 p.m. to 3:33 p.m. strangers sang the song together.
For those that missed it, don’t worry: On Sunday, there will be a Storrie and Williams look-alike contest in Washington Square Park.
Shivani Gonzalez is a news assistant at The Times who writes a weekly TV column and contributes to a variety of sections.
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