''The Dating Game'' is an American television

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by

Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...

from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it continued in syndication for another year (1973–1974) as ''The New Dating Game''. The program was revived four additional times afterward, with the first from 1978 to 1980 as ''The All-New Dating Game'', the second from 1986 to 1989, and the third from 1996 to 1999 all airing in syndication, while the fourth revival aired a single season on ABC in 2021. Jim Lange hosted ''The Dating Game'' for its entire ABC network run and for the 1973 and 1978 syndicated editions. The 1986 revival was hosted by

Elaine Joyce Elaine Joyce (born Elaine Joyce Pinchot) is an American actress. Early life and education Elaine Joyce Pinchot was born in Kansas City, Missouri, of Hungarian ancestry, the daughter of Iliclina (née Nagy) and Frank Pinchot. Career She made ...

for its first season and Jeff MacGregor for its remaining two seasons. When the show was revived with a different format in 1996, Brad Sherwood was named as its host.

Chuck Woolery Charles Herbert Woolery (March 16, 1941 – November 23, 2024) was an American television host, actor, and musician. He had long-running tenures hosting several game shows. Woolery was the original host of the original daytime '' Wheel of Fortun ...

took over for the two final seasons, with the original format reinstated, in 1997 after he had left '' The Home and Family Show.'' Beginning in 1966, ''The Dating Game'' was often paired with ''

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show. Newly married couples compete against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created ...

''. This was especially true when the two shows entered syndication, and in 1996, the revivals of ''The Dating Game'' and ''The Newlywed Game'' were sold together as a package called ''The Dating/Newlywed Hour''. The program was originally broadcast in black-and-white, but when a prime-time version began in October 1966, both versions were broadcast in color, making the daytime version the first ABC daytime series to be regularly broadcast in color. In February 2021, it was reported that ABC and current distributor Sony Pictures Television would revive the show as ''The Celebrity Dating Game'', with actress

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel ( ; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She made her film debut in ''Mumford (film), Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known f ...

and singer

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin (born February 26, 1953), known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo a ...

as hosts, which premiered on June 14, 2021. It ran for eight episodes until August 16, 2021, and was canceled in April 2022.

Format

Typically, a

bachelorette ''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a Single person, single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word ''bachelor'', and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some ...

would question three bachelors, who were hidden from her view; at the end of the questioning period, she would choose one to accompany her on a date, with expenses paid by the show. Occasionally, the roles would be reversed with a gentleman questioning three ladies; other times, celebrities would question three players for dates for themselves, co-workers or relatives. Before becoming famous,

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a ...

, Suzanne Somers,

Yvonne Craig Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress who is best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series ''Batman (TV series), Batman''. Other notable roles in her career include Dorot ...

, Lindsay Wagner,

Leif Garrett Leif Garrett (born Leif Per Nervik; November 8, 1961) is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his drug ...

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations fo ...

and

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. He portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley on the American television Western series '' The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin on the American television sc ...

appeared as contestants on the show in the 1960s and early 1970s. Other contestants who appeared before becoming famous included

the Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

, Jackson Bostwick,

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, Joanna Cameron,

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

in his Foreign Man persona (under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Baji Kimran),

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason Ritter, Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for ...

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American comedian, actor, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, and his family moved to the United States when he w ...

Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is an American politician who was the 16th United States secretary of energy from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she previously served as the 47t ...

(governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2010),

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

(governor of California from 2003 to 2011) and

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. Serial killer

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's episodes were shown during his murder spree and after he had been convicted of assault in California. Some contestants appeared even after they were fairly well known, including a young

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, Burton Cummings,

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

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Maureen McCormick Maureen Denise McCormick (born August 5, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her role as Characters of The Brady Bunch#Marcia Brady, Marcia Brady on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television sitcom ''The Brady Bunch'' (1969–1 ...

, Barry Williams,

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, Richard Dawson, Jay North and

Paul Lynde Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and game-show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well know ...

. A trademark of the show was that at the end of each episode, the host and winning contestants would blow a kiss to the viewers.

Gameplay

Original version

Generally, the bachelorette would ask questions, written in advance on cards, to each of the three hidden bachelors. The same question could be asked to multiple bachelors. This continued until time ran out. The bachelorette would make her choice based solely on the answers to her questions. Occasionally, the contestant was a bachelor who would ask questions to three bachelorettes. Certain kinds of questions were "off limits", such as name, age, occupation and income.

1996 revival

For the first season of the 1996 revival, a different format was used. A notable change was that the prospective bachelor/bachelorette knew the first names of the three contestants at all times. Instead of asking questions of the contestants, the bachelor/bachelorette was presented with two pun-laden statements, each pertaining to one of the contestants. When chosen, a new statement replaced the old one and the potential date explained the reason why that fact pertained to him or her. Play continued until time expired, and then the bachelor/bachelorette would announce his or her choice. In several weeks of episodes that aired at various times throughout the season, another format was used. This format had the players choose a potential date based on appearance and another based on personality. To decide the "looks" portion, the bachelor/bachelorette would observe each contestant (another change not seen on any ''Dating Game'' series beforehand) for several seconds, with the contestants wearing noise-canceling headphones to prevent them from hearing the bachelor/bachelorette talking about them. The statement round was used to determine the "personality" portion. After the game ended, the bachelor/bachelorette would select one contestant based on appearance and one based on personality, then would be prompted to choose between the two. If the bachelor/bachelorette was to select the same contestant for both looks and personality, the contestant would win a $500 cash prize. The remaining two seasons reverted to the original format, but there was more of a variety between bachelors and bachelorettes.

Episode status

Various episodes from the ABC daytime run have aired on

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

. The remaining ABC versions of the show, which were made for primetime and for syndication, are assumed to exist in their entirety. After the syndicated finale in 1980, repeats of the 1978–1980 version were seen on KHJ-TV (now

KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). The two stations share studios at the ...

) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from September 26, 1983, to September 12, 1986 (when The All-New Dating Game with

premiered on September 15, 1986), as well as in some other cities. In another variation of the final year in reruns, some episodes from ABC daytime, ABC primetime and weekly syndication were shown.

Guests

Notable people who appeared on ''The Dating Game'' include: *

, subsequently dubbed "The Dating Game Killer" (1978) *

Jo Anne Worley Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...

(1967) *

(1968) *

* Pee-Wee Herman * Robin and

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb wer ...

from the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

Theme music and cues

The show used many contemporary songs, ranging from those of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass from the 1960s to pop music used for celebrity guest and band appearances. For the first few episodes at the beginning of the ABC run, live music was provided by the Regents (unrelated to the doo-wop band of the same name who were famous for their song "

Barbara Ann "Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached No.13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. A more well-known version of the song was recor ...

"), a house band from Jack Martin's A.M-P.M. on

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...

Starting in 1966, the show used recorded music, with the main theme provided by the Mariachi Brass, featuring trumpeter

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

. The show used cover songs made by Skip Battin & the Group (1967, Aurora 159) and the Challengers (196?, Triumph 64). The series used several songs by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as cues for the show, including: * " Spanish Flea" (when introducing the bachelor) * "

Whipped Cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

" (when introducing the bachelorette)Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (2005).
Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed
'.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

. Retrieved February 15, 2020. * " Lollipops and Roses" (when the dates meet) Other songs were used after the interview portion, when guests were choosing a date, including: * "Ladyfingers" (Herb Alpert) * " Lemon Tree" (Herb Alpert) Music used during celebrity guest appearances included: * "Live" ( The Merry-Go-Round) * "Close to You" (

Carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters trad ...

) * "Midnight Confessions" ( The Grass Roots) * "I Want To Be Where You Are" (

) * "I Want You Back" ( The Jackson Five), during the prize description * "Cheyenne" (

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

) * "Goin' Out of My Head" (

Little Anthony Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues/soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his h ...

) * "What's It Gonna Be" (

) Other music cues used on the show included: * "

Fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "f ...

" by

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

(when host Jim Lange would introduce the three potential dates to the audience) * "Love Sickness" by the Trumpets Ole (a brief cue used when the time limit for the interview portion is reached) * "Boston Bust-Out" by

Jimmy McGriff James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. Biography Early years and influences Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McGriff started playing pia ...

(before the date is introduced to his or her prize) In 1972, ''The Dating Game'' added a

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

-style closing theme called "Little Rosie" to its ABC daytime version; the tune was used also on the first two syndicated versions, through 1980. The song, along with some of the show's other cues, was featured on the 1973 album ''Themes from TV Game Shows'', produced by Chuck Barris. The show continued to use the 1966 opening theme until 1974; during the 1978-80 version, the show used a rearranged version of it. The 1978 opening theme is found on the Barris album's first track and is credited to Barris and David Mook. The 1980s reboot of the show used music composed by Milton DeLugg, while later editions featured a re-recording of the original theme by Steve Kaplan. The music for ''The Celebrity Dating Game'' was composed by Cheche Alara.

International versions

These versions are no longer airing.

Legacy

In his first autobiography, ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'' (1988), Chuck Barris claimed that ''The Dating Game'' was a cover for his

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

activities, and was promoted by the CIA. However, his second memoir, ''The Game Show King: A Confession'' (1993), mentions neither the CIA nor his previous book. A CIA spokesman has categorically denied that Barris ever worked for the agency in any capacity. The show's popularity in the 1960s inspired a

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.Laverne and Shirley'' episode, Lenny and Squiggy appear as bachelors on ''The Dating Game''. ''The Dating Game'' was parodied by

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

during a 1983

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pre-launch event. The three "contestants" were

Mitch Kapor Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus Software, Lotus, where he was instr ...

Lotus Software Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was sold to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 sprea ...

, Fred Gibbons of

Software Publishing Corporation Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) was a Mountain View, California, Mountain View, California–based manufacturer of business software, originally well known for its "pfs:" series (and its subsequent "pfs:First" and "pfs:Professional" derivati ...

and

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

. A recurring parody featured in the current version of ''

Let's Make a Deal ''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...

'' called ''The Dealing Game'' features

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

and Jonathan Mangum (both as different characters in each appearance), but instead of a date, each represents a curtain and tries to convince the contestant to pick his curtain. Model

Tiffany Coyne Tiffany Adams Coyne (born May 6, 1982) is an American model and dancer presently known best for her role of model and hostess on the CBS game show ''Let's Make a Deal''. Biography On May 6, 1982, Tiffany Lynn Adams was born in Layton, Utah. Her ...

plays the role of the "hostess". ''The Dating Game'' has been cited as a predecessor to future "reality TV juggernaut" '' Love is Blind'' in which contestants similarly choose among suitors sight unseen.

Licensed merchandise

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

released three home games based on the original 1965 version of ''The Dating Game'' from 1967 to 1968, while Pressman Toy Corporation released a home game based on the late 1980s version in 1987. In 1968, a 33⅓ rpm party record called ''The Dating Game Party Pak'', narrated by Jim Lange, was released; it included postcard invitations, name tags and scorecards for six people to play. In the late 1990s, Sony's website released an online version of ''The Dating Game''. A video slot machine based on the original 1965 version with an animated Jim Lange was released by IGT in 2004 in both nickel and quarter versions. In March 2011, a new virtual version of ''The Dating Game'' was launched on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and other social media network sites. The game was developed by 3G Studios, under license from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

References

External links