Jeff and Rachel met for the first time recently at midnight. Before their encounter Jeff admitted he’s much too into himself and has more personality than most gals can handle. And Rachel, a party girl who likes hyper guys and hates those laidback ones, is in it for a hyper-fun evening. It’s a match made in heaven. Or are they doomed?
Actually, it was a match made on “Blind Date” on Wednesday. This was just one of the 210 half-hour “Blind Date” segments circulating syndication that have sucked in a following of college students and business professionals alike.
A frolic at a polygraph exam laced with sexual innuendoes, dinner, drinks and a nudey hot- tub dip later, Rachel and Jeff were well on their way to romance - cut to genital herpes commercial.
“Blind Date” debuted on Sept. 20, 1999 and is hosted by Roger Lodge, the former host of “Talk Soup.” Each segment aims to match up two strangers, or pit them against each other, depending on who you talk to. The show runs week nights on Fox 47 at midnight.
And the simple thrill of watching people on camera fight or make-out, fused with scathing “Pop-Up Video”-style commentary which mocks and analyzes its unsuspecting characters, still renders the show downright mesmerizing, said several MSU students.
“A lot of the guys are losers, and we like to make fun of them,” said international relations junior Jim Taglauer, who succumbs to “Blind Date” madness multiple nights a week. “I’ve tried to figure it out, but I don’t know why we’re obsessed. It’s not that well-developed (of a show).”
Taglauer’s housemate, international relations senior Mike McKenzie, said the lack of development contributes to the show’s widespread appeal.
“The cast changes every night so it’s never the same group of people,” he said. “Every night, you get new characters. That’s what keeps me watching.”
Both admit to watching the show on an almost nightly basis, and nothing stands in their way.
“It’s a given at our house - you can’t watch anything else on the main television when “Blind Date” is on,” Taglauer said. “If everybody’s home, it’s what we’re watching. We all congregate in the living room. It’s kind of sad.”
Taglauer predicted the show’s producers purposefully match an airhead with a sophisticated guy who wants conversation or vice versa. Nonetheless, he said, “It works.”
And the show’s producers say about 20 percent of the dates are successful.
Part of the show’s appeal may lie in a combination of all-out voyeurism and a no-holds-barred window into an alien dating world. A world where pogo- stick jumping, race car driving, potato-sack races and rendezvous to oxygen bars reign supreme.
Linette Sbresny, a telemarketer for Amore International, 2393 Jolly Road, works in the matchmaking business and estimates she watches “Blind Date” nearly every day after work. She also finds guilty pleasure in the people making fools of themselves.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to go through that anymore, because I’m involved with someone,” she said.
Unsuccessful dates grab her attention more than the ones where they end up in a hot tub making out, she said, though she also attributes lack of success to a plot of producers for ratings.
“Lately none of them have been compatible people, and when they don’t make a good match, its good for the ratings.”
When she watches, Sbresny said, she watches solo before her boyfriend returns from work. Though he thinks her habit is “funny.”
And as for her own blind date experience?
“It sucked,” she said of the experience. “I was basically like one of those people from the show, going ‘I don’t ever want to see this guy again. Ever.’”
For more information visit www.blinddate.excite.com. New episodes debut Sept. 17.
