Dating shows have been a staple of America’s finest art form since the television was invented. From the ‘Newlywed Show’ to the ‘Love Connection’, our obsession with on air romance has stood the test of time throughout numerous generations. However, the format of these shows have drastically adjusted their appearance since the wholesome days of the “Dating Show”; just check in with Tilla Tequilla or The Flavor of Love to see the evolution of the dating show. But what is on the horizon for this guilty pleasure for this upcoming season? PUBLIC reviews exactly what is in store for reality fans this fall!!
Starting August 9th, my Monday evenings are spoken for. ABC must have heard how incensed I am over what they did to Tuesdays, and decided to atone – the Alphabet Net is bringing back Dating In The Dark for an encore season and straddling it nice and cozy next to the newest skank on the block The Bachelor Pad. Soon having a “case of the Mondays” will refer to getting a heaping helping of single-life-schadenfreude.
The Bachelor Pad intrigues me. From the outside, it seems like any other lazy twist on a reunion special. A dash of Big Brother, a dash of The Bachelor(ette), a slight touch of MTV’s Inferno, and you’re ready to go. But with the insanity surrounding Jake Pavelka’s pronounced spotlightophilia, I think ABC’s ready to kick up the dating game smut level. We might not be treated to anything a lurid as A Shot at Love, with Tila Tequila but frankly I’m not even sure what regularly occured on that show was legal, much less worth repeating.
What really surprises me about The Bachelor Pad is that ABC is finally letting the Bachelor series down off the pedestal. Until now there was a required suspension of disbelief involved with The Bachelor(ette) shows – you as the viewer were asked to imagine that no one on the show had sex with each other, no one got drunk, everyone was seeking to find true love, and one happy couple found it. Even as the seasons started to add up and the proven track record of the show (in terms of creating happy marriages) got worse and worse, ABC still asked you to believe.
No longer! Now rejects from the shows’ long history will compete (shirtless!) against each other for “a second chance at love” and also for TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. The gloves are off, romance is dead, and ABC’s looking to cash in. Rumors are that Jake and Ali wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Dating in the Dark, on the other hand, is an old-school reality dating show at heart. Its simple premise (people go on dates in the dark, pick their partner, and then get to see them in full light before deciding whether to go through with a real life date) and broad array of contestants (hunky, buck-toothed, the whole spectrum!) make me think of those golden old dating shows that got me hooked on the genre in the first place – 5th Wheel and Blind Date.
The pleasure of the show lies in the genuinely interesting question it attempts to answer (do looks matter?), and in the relative everydayness of the contestants. I think it’s pretty healthy to see average looking people get lucky on TV. Now if we can only get Therapist Joe to do a cameo…
So get ready to see straight people – hot, homely, crazy, whorish, deluded straight people – do their best and worst to each other every Monday night. Or you could just go to a gay club and watch the same stuff go down for real.
-Topher
Tags: crazy, entertainment, reality, TV show
