The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s.
ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it resurfaced in several syndicated versions (1973–1974 as The New Dating Game, 1978–1980, 1986–19–1999; repeats of the last version appeared in the 1999–2000 season.) For years it would almost always be aired in tandem with another Barris production, The Newlywed Game, which premiered on ABC the following year.
But they all have the same influence: Chuck Barris, the creator of the one that started it all!
In this show, a single woman would be given a choice of three bachelors whom she could talk with, but not see.
After asking them a series of questions, she would chose which one to go on a date with.
Jim Lange, fresh from his announcing duties with Tennessee Ernie Ford stepped through the flower-speckled rotating partitions for the first of many, many times shortly before Christmas 1965. On one side you had 3 bachelors answering questions from a girl on the other side of the partition (each not being able to see the other).
The girl was given a certain amount of time to ask as many questions as she could to the 3 bachelors.
More often than not the questions would be of a quirky nature. G.: "If we were marooned on a desert island, what would be the first thing you'd do and why? During a commercial break, the girl would think about which bachelor she'd select.
When the show returned, Jim would have her announce her choice.
The original version of the long-running game show, hosted by veteran host Bob Eubanks.
Newlywed husbands and wives would take turns answering (often risque) questions while their spouses ...
One standard trademark was that at the end of each episode, the host and winning contestants would blow a kiss to the viewers.