8 March 5 - 11, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Giving Up the Ghosting According to a new survey from Forbes, we live in one of the least-ghosted states in the country. We aren’t convinced. BY ALYSSA FIELDS T hey’re probably just busy. That’s why they haven’t texted back. Until the next morning, when they still haven’t said anything. Maybe they’re sick and just aren’t on their phone for a couple of days. By the week mark, the only reasonable explanation for extended silence is a medically induced coma. Or you’re being ghosted. But a tragic ac- cident resulting in a vegetative state hurts less. Ghosting isn’t a new concept. Genera- tions of women are tied by a thread strung by a man who never calls. Or, before the ad- vent of the landline, never sent the carrier pigeon with sweet nothings tied to its ankle. Today, with the ease of text communication, sudden abandonment has never been easier. And dating in Texas can be especially hard. A Forbes Health survey found that about 60% of 5,000 U.S. respondents had been ghosted. But other reports indicate that Texas may be one of the least ghosted states in the country. Another study from Number- Barn, surveyed 1,500 residents in the 30 largest metropolitan areas. Dallas didn’t break the top 15. (We feel for singles in Aus- tin, who came in at fourth most-ghosted.) Dallasites may not even be too worried about their talking phase crossing the threshold. The polyamorous online dating service Sister Wives assessed Google search trends and analytics and found that Texans are searching items related to ghosting at far lower rates when analyzed proportionally to population. The study found the exact oppo- site of what you’d expect. Small towns are more likely to have anxieties about filling the graveyard of former situationships. “Residents in smaller states are more worried about ghosting due to the limited dating pool,” Sister Wives CEO Christopher Alesich said in the study. “The risk of run- ning into the person who ghosted you is higher in these smaller towns. This adds an- other level of anxiety to the situationship, and it becomes harder to ignore.” Nature of the Game Licensed counselor and founder of Pillow Talk Sex Therapy, Megan McKinney, works with singles and couples in North Texas, and according to her, the propensity to ghost and the reaction to being ghosted all depend on how people attach. “It’s very dependent on the person,” she tells the Observer. “If both people are pretty secure and haven’t put a ton of emotional stock into someone they just met on an app, then they might be disappointed at first, but then they just keep going.” McKinney says people with anxious at- tachment styles, who develop strong feel- ings very quickly, are going to be easily scorned. People with avoidant attachment styles, hoping to avoid confrontation at all costs, are most likely to disappear. “People have kind of resigned attitudes, meaning they know [ghosting] is sort of the nature of the game,” she says. “Apps are very, very fickle. Essentially, the way those communications are going to end is also go- ing to look pretty fickle.” Most people, no matter how much it hurts, accept that ghosting is not new to the dating pool; it might just happen a little more often. “Things naturally moved slower [before apps],” McKinney says. “There had to be mindfulness behind things. Now, everything is quick. You could talk to someone 24/7 if you really wanted to.” But worse than ghost- ing, McKinney says, is when they haunt you. Haunting is the inevitable return of the per- son who ghosted you, usually just popping in via Instagram DM or story like, without any real substance or apology. But that’s a story for a different time. If you’re waiting on a text from a Casa- nova right now, we hope he wakes from his coma soon. ▼ TELEVISION THE GANGS OF … FRISCO? TAYLOR SHERIDAN RELOCATED HIS NEW SPIN OFF SERIES FROM NEW ORLEANS TO FRISCO FOR REASONS WE CANNOT EXPLAIN. BY ALYSSA FIELDS N ew Orleans: the city that care forgot, the birthplace of jazz, where young adults go to christen their 21st year with strong pours and forgetful mornings. Frisco: The safest suburb in Texas. So be it beyond us how and why Taylor Sheridan, unofficial patron saint of Texas cine- matography, renamed his upcoming spin-off series from NOLA King to Frisco King. The Paramount+ series stars Samuel L. Jackson as Russell Lee Washington Jr., who began as a guest on the original Oklahoma-based series. Initially drafted to be based in the Big Easy, the show lost its original showrunner and lo- cation in the last seven months. Now Sheridan, slated as showrunner and writer for the entire eight-episode season, is moving the show to the stay-at-home-mom capital of the world. “We are honored to have Taylor Sheridan write the first season of Frisco King and bring to life Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic char- acter,” says Paramount Television Studios prexy Matt Thunell to Variety. “Having him pen all episodes of the season with his sin- gular voice will be a treat for fans of Tulsa King and audiences around the world.” Sheridan has been a driving force in bol- stering the Texas cinema scene both through his work and massive legislative efforts. When Sheridan isn’t placing his shows in Texas, he’s filming them here. He’s got to have the guy in charge of shutting down roads in downtown Dallas on speed dial. It wouldn’t surprise us if the show rebrand happened right after Sheri- dan got the quote for shipping a dozen cai- mans to his studio in Fort Worth. The change from New Orleans to Frisco has caused a little shock and awe. Our own news editor’s disbelief was so strong that he thought it was a joke. And we’d do anything for an exclusive with Jackson, whose work travel reroute might go down as one of the worst in history. But anyone who knows anything about Sheridan knows he loves to bring business back home. More surprising than the change in film- ing location is that Sheridan has now gone with [City Name] King three times. If he’s looking to Real Housewives-it with a four- peat, Grand Prairie King has a nice ring to it. We could even get on board with Las Colinas King. The options are endless. If you think about it, New Orleans and Frisco really aren’t that different. What alli- gators are to the bayou, unleashed poorly trained golden retrievers are to the suburbs. What jazz music is to Frenchman Street, ACDC’s “Thunder” is to anyone who’s ever been to a home game of the Dallas Cowboys. Fifty bucks says the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make at least one appearance. Double it for a cameo from Troy Aikman. Either way, expect an eventual shutdown on Preston Road, probably. And a sighting of Samuel L. Jackson at The Star. Production starts next month, and they’re always look- ing for extras. Adobe Stock Texans are less likely to ghost potential romantic partners than in other states. ▼ Culture Monica Schipper/Getty Images Taylor Sheridan might soon make Dallas- Fort Worth the Hollywood of the South.
