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Reality Dating Shows: The Now and Then of this Phenomenon The phenomenon of dating shows has swept over the nation. We turn on the television out of boredom or out of loneliness, and think that by taking an interest into someone else’s private dating life will give us some kind of peace about our own pathetic ones! Dating shows have become the most common reality television within the past year (cited in TV guide, 2003). With a variety of selection dating, from singles talking over a cup of coffee, to the multiple group dating which humiliatingly zeros down a lucky man and women in which they share the victory of an already chosen date just for them! Although this ever so popular dating addiction we have all become so prone to is take over evening television, as we know it today, it is far from a new phenomenon. Take a trip down memory lane. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, dating shows were very common, not as common as they are today, but just the same, people took a similar interest into the dating world of others. The Dating Show airing from 1956-1987, was the beginning of it all. This show was set up as a game show more so than a reality show. There was a selected person who would be seated in a hidden area, so the various dates couldn’t be seen. The ”picker” would get to ask a variety of questions to the #1, 2, 3 possible dates, and the lucky one, in which the picker felt most in common with, would win the game!
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