# How often were winning bachelors stood up after "The Dating Game"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037 "2013-02-22T02:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/1 "2013-02-22T02:39:59Z")
A while ago, we had a thread about [Rodney James Alcala](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678610), the “Dating Game Killer”. He was called that because, even though he was a convicted rapist and right in the middle of a serial killing spree, he was allowed to be on “The Dating Game” as one of the bachelors. He ended up being the lucky guy picked by the bachelorette, but they never actually went out on the date that they won. The bachelorette refused to go on the date because Alcala was [“creepy”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Alcala#Dating_Game_appearance). Smart girl. Last night, while I was cruising the Internet, I found out that Phil Hartman’s first television appearance was on “The Dating Game”, and he was also the winning bachelor. However, according to Wikipedia, he was also [stood up by the bachelorette](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman#Early_life) and the date that he won apparently never happened. Since Phil did not turn out to be a serial killer, I’m curious as to how often this happened, that the bachelorette (or bachelor) refused to actually go on the date that they had won. I’m a bit too young to have witnessed the Dating Game’s heyday, but I did watch [Phil Hartman’s appearance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWVlPHuDRes) on YouTube (skip to 10:40 to see Phil’s part of the episode). The prize was a trip for two to the DoubleTree Inn in Monterey, CA. Perhaps the bachelorette was uncomfortable spending time in a hotel with a man she hardly knows…but, then, if you’re uncomfortable with that, why participate in the show? Did most winning couples on “The Dating Game” actually go out on the date that they won together? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/2 "2013-02-22T06:20:32Z")
Hm, I would find a ‘date’ arranged at a hotel to be skeevy, a dinner and a movie are a date. I would have been a bit upset at having to go off to some hotel somewhere for my ‘date’ and would have refused to go as well. [Or I would have made sure to have brought someone along with me to share my room. The bachelor can get his own damned room.] ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/3 "2013-02-22T06:42:52Z")
I don’t know if (or when) they stopped doing it, but the dates used to include a [Dating Game Chaperone](http://www.katecarlisle.com/romance/kate.php). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/4 "2013-02-22T12:21:52Z")
The dates were a short vacation at some resort. The man and the woman always each had their own room. There was always a chaperone. The stays at the resort were paid for by the resort itself as advertising. I don’t know what percentage of those so-called dates (which I suspect often consisted of the two people spending time by themselves and ignoring their supposed date) didn’t come off. I suspect that sometimes one or both of the two people decided that the resort was stupid, so they didn’t waste their time going there. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/5 "2013-02-22T13:13:49Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > Last night, while I was cruising the Internet, I found out that Phil Hartman’s first television appearance was on “The Dating Game”, and he was also the winning bachelor. However, according to Wikipedia, he was also [stood up by the bachelorette](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman#Early_life) and the date that he won apparently never happened. Bah - now I’m blaming this trollop for Phil’s murder. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/6 "2013-02-22T15:14:46Z")
A friend of mine was on the 80s incarnation three times and won on his third try. The prize was a three day Ensanada cruise. There was no chaperone anymore in those days. They never ended up going because they were supposed to schedule a weekend together and she just wasn’t interested. Two or three years later, my friend ran into her when he was at a strip bar and she was one of the dancers. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/7 "2013-02-22T15:48:13Z")
The show got looser about things as time went on. The need for chaperones disappeared, as they decided that the couple were adults and didn’t have to be watched all the time. The sexual implications in the questions became stronger. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/8 "2013-02-22T16:08:07Z")
Does anybody think the contestants were actually looking for love or marriage? Let’s face it- just as on current romance-oriented “reality” shows, a huge percentage of the contestants on \*\*\*The Dating Game \*\*\* were people who wanted to get into show biz, and thought ANY kind of TV exposure would be good for their careers. Young Tom Selleck and young Andy Kaufman are just two of the many aspiring actors, actresses, singers and comics who appeared as contestants. I’m sure there were many cases in which the bachelorettes and the “winning” bachelors either didn’t like each other that much and skipped their vacation or one of them said, “I already have a hubby/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend and I only did this show to get on TV. Sorry!” ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/9 "2013-02-22T16:34:42Z")
Kirstie Alley was on [Match Game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6uC7SgzTLM) as a contestant. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/10 "2013-02-22T16:41:29Z")
I remember some show looking back at the Dating Game. It was mentioned that not all dates came off, and sometimes the participants just took the vacation without making it a date, sometimes bringing other dates along. But I have no idea if those were exceptions or the norm. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/11 "2013-02-22T16:49:07Z")
There had to have been, just by chance, a few real love connections too. I wonder how many long term relationships or marriages started from that show. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/12 "2013-02-22T16:52:51Z")
I worked as a Contestant Coordinator for the show for a couple of years in the late 1960s. I can’t really put any hard numbers on it but certainly sometimes the winners didn’t go out together. Sometimes on a short trip/date like to the San Diego Zoo they both just passed. Sometimes one or the other of them would sign over their trip and let the other person choose a traveling companion – there may have been some money exchanged between the winners in that case but the production company was not involved in that. The staff on the show took turns chaperoning dates. Unless the couple were under 18 the chaperone was just along to handle tickets, cab fares, etc., and sometimes to do a bit of PR (like calling the local newspaper to try to get a picture of the couple at the local cheese festival). With younger daters the chaperone would share a room with the one of the same sex, with adults the chaperone had his/her own room. I did have a couple of trips where the couple decided to hate each other during the trip … uncomfortable, but nobody died on my watch. It was a long time ago and I don’t remember the numbers but there were several contestants on The Newlywed Game who later went on The Dating Game but none that I know of who met on Dating Game and then went on Newlyweds. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/13 "2013-02-22T16:57:57Z")
[moderating] Thread moved from General Questions to Cafe Society, where TV show discussions live. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/14 "2013-02-22T17:04:47Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > It was a long time ago and I don’t remember the numbers but there were several contestants on The Newlywed Game who later went on The Dating Game Hopefully there was an appearance on Divorce Court in between. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/15 "2013-02-24T01:30:35Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Kirstie Alley was on [Match Game](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6uC7SgzTLM) as a contestant. She appeared again years later as Bachelorette #1 _and_ #2. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/16 "2013-02-24T02:41:35Z")
Here’s a young Farrah Fawcett. My God, was she a living doll back in those days! [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM9qd1VRSyA) Check out the awful hairpiece on Jim “Wig” Lang. :eek: Would anyone actually want to date those three bachelors? They all seem pretty creepy to me! :dubious: Am I just getting hard of hearing as I approach 60, or are their names really Lance Rimmer, Joey Hooker, and Paul Knuckles?\* ☹ They’re going to have “a Gaelic dinner” in Austria?!? :eek: “The Dating Game always swings with the current fashions.” Love it! 😛 \*I suspect they’re all stage names, or part of the April Fool’s joke. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/17 "2013-02-24T03:19:02Z")
Joe Hooker is on IMDB: [Joe Hooker - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0393628/) He looks familiar, and I think the other 2 guys were actors as well. If I’m right then everyone we see in that segment was an actor. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-were-winning-bachelors-stood-up-after-the-dating-game/651037/18 "2013-02-24T03:39:05Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > Joe Hooker is on IMDB: [Joe Hooker - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0393628/) > > He looks familiar, and I think the other 2 guys were actors as well. If I’m right then everyone we see in that segment was an actor. Again, is that surprising? Reality shows always attract people looking for a big break in show biz. Did Tom Selleck or Farrah Fawcett or whoever really expect to find romance? Or did they just want to get their faces on TV in order to get more acting or modeling jobs?