A&E has had a huge success with it’s groundbreaking Live PD reality series, and now their sister network Lifetime is looking to expand the concept into the world of blind dates!
The show, titled Date Night Live, is set to premiere Thursday, July 27 at 10/9c and will feature up to nine first-time dating couples per episode broadcast live from New York City, Atlanta, Dallas and San Diego.
From the press release:
Using cutting-edge, mobile-live technology, viewers get a fly-on-the-wall point of view in real-time, across multiple time zones, as cameras capture the promise of romance, awkward conversations, cringe-worthy moments and everything else in-between up to nine dates per episode. In-studio hosts, comedian Michelle Collins, Z100’s Bethany Watson and relationship coach Paul Brunson, will be in on all the dating action as they bounce from city to city and provide commentary as the evening develops. Will it be love at first sight? Or will the date crash and burn?
Big Fish Entertainment President Dan Cesareo talked about their use of current technology to open up reality shows to live broadcasts. “Our goal is to reinvent various genres,” he said. “With Live PD, we busted open the doors and brought true transparency in law enforcement to television for the first time, and we knew that this unique viewing experience could translate into other formats.”
So they jumped at the opportunity to go from the harrowing, can’t-look-away, perpetual potential disaster of police work to blind dates, which has just as much — albeit completely different — harrowing, can’t-look-away, perpetual potential disasters. “With Date Night Live, Lifetime gave us the incredible opportunity to turn the traditional dating show on its head with couples getting to know each other completely unvarnished for the first time on live TV, unfiltered and unedited. This is what it’s really like to date in America.”
Just for fun, here’s another version of the Date Night Live Lady and the Tramp graphic with a Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme:
Lifetime’s EVP Head of Programming, Liz Gateley, iterated Cesareo’s excitement. “We’ve all had those moments where we been at a restaurant, eavesdropped on a date, watching fascinated as it unfolds. Date Night Live is a unique opportunity for our audience to experience that same phenomenon, from the comforts of our home. This is America’s chance to watch love and romance unfold LIVE, where anything can happen.”
According to the press release, there are eight episodes planned. But, I’m guessing that if the show takes off, they will be able to quickly add on more given the live format.
If you are interested in appearing on Date Night Live, Big Fish Entertainment currently has a casting call up on their website:
Doron Ofir Casting & Big Fish Entertainment announces casting for the most innovative and fully interactive new television dating project ever!
We are seeking extraordinary single men and women genuinely looking for love, open to new possibilities and have an active dating life who are at least 18 years old to share their authentic experiences of navigating love in the modern era.
For the first time ever viewers will be tuning in LIVE and connecting with daters from around the country for Date Night.
If you are single and between 18-80 years old from New York, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, or Atlanta with a vibrant, social, successful, adventurous, life and are genuinely looking for the opportunity to date someone amazing apply now!
They do not provide any contact info specifically for casting, but the website does have a contact form.
Just like Live PD, the concept for Date Night Live is brilliant — and I really do think these shows are going to COMPLETELY change reality television! In addition to being in real time and more authentic due to lack of editing, I imagine the costs are dramatically less than your standard reality series (once again due to lack of editing as well as other unnecessary steps), so everybody wins! I’m guessing the success will all rely on just how well the hosts handle commentating.
Although the “live” aspect is pretty groundbreaking, the rest of the concept for Date Night Live has been explored before. British newspaper The Guardian started a dating series called Watch Me Date more than two years ago. The Youtube series was inspired by their Blind Date column and featured potential couples meeting for the first time while recording the encounter by wearing Google Glass eyewear.
At the time, the show’s executive producer Merrope Mills said that they had been approached “by three or four production companies about developing a format for television.”
For a glimpse at what Date Night Live might look like, here is the Watch Me Date trailer followed by three episodes from the inaugural season:
