|
 R
O G E R L O D G E:
Taking
the All-American
Blind Date In Front of
The Eye of the Cameras
by
J.C. Johnson / Spring 2002 issue of
Talking Comedy Webzine |
It’s
Spring … which means Summer won't be far behind… and Summer
means the season for romance is definitely here. But what about singles
who aren't seeing anyone these days how are they going to spend the
coming hot and steamy summer months… who do they turn to? Well,
if you're like most Americans some friend or family member has, at some
time, suggested you try that all-American solution — the dreaded
blind date. An-n-n-n-nd the results were probably DISASTROUS. When the
evening was finally over you swore you'd never try that again. Yet,
you've heard the success stories, those oh so romantic success stories…
Didn't your Grandfather meet the love of his life on a blind date all
those years ago. And wasn't it your Great Aunt Sally who swore by them,
saying she had met her soul mate, her one true love, her destiny on
just such a date. So here you go, off again on another blind date, hoping
THIS one will finally be that special one.
If the search for a soul
mate has got you down, take heart, you're not alone. And, as with all
of life's disappointments, it always helps to know others are going
through much the same sort of things you are. Maybe that's the reason
for the success of the reality style TV show ‘Blind Date’.
For with each and every successful pairing, on this show, there seems
to be 9 or 10 disasters. Roger Lodge, host of the show, feels that a
lot of what makes the show so popular is seeing all those disaster dates.
“People can watch our show and realize that maybe their dating
life isn't all that bad after all. I could be like the couple I'm watching
on ‘Blind Date’.”
When the show first went
into production the goal was to air one successful date and one disaster
date each episode. “We gave up on that after the first week,”
admits Lodge. “Because it was just too tough. It's such a tough
thing to find two people who will work out. If we film twenty dates
we're lucky if two or three of those dates work out, because it's so
hard to find two total strangers who… we may think they're right
for each other, but who knows how it's gonna end up.”
“I've set friends up
on dates,”continues Lodge. “I've never been able to do it,
and now I'm doing it on television. And, I'm having the worst luck.
But it's not as easy as it looks, let me tell you." Viewers are
finding out just how hard playing matchmaker really is whenever the
show lets them take a stab at it via their internet site ( www.blinddatetv.com
) and their special ‘You Make The Match’ episodes. An-n-n-n-nd
the viewers “failed miserably at it, too… which was a lot
of fun,” admits Lodge. But host Roger Lodge doesn't worry about
the somewhat low percentage rate for ‘Blind Date’s successful
romantic pairings because that's what makes the show real for a lot
of it's viewers. “The appeal of our show is that it's real…
real dates… real video and… real funny. And you never know
what's going to happen. That's why people continue to watch, whether
it works out or it doesn't work out… I know a lot of people who
really enjoy it when it doesn't work out. It's even more entertaining.
There's so much more you can do with it when they hate each other.”
“We truly want people
to meet someone who they're going to have a relationship with,”
assures Lodge. “In order to do that we need to know a lot about
them. So they come in for what we call the confessional …because…
well, they pretty much come in and confess to whatever we want to know…
just lay it all out for us so we know what we're dealing with. I'd say
it's a ten to fifteen minute process of asking them a lot of different
questions to find out as much as we can about them in order for us to
do our job.” Roger Lodge admits some of the questions can get a
little embarrassing. And all of this while a camera is starring you
in the face… talk about uncomfortable!
“I gotta hand it to
the people who come on the show,” confides host Roger Lodge, who
himself has never had the guts to try going on a blind date in real
life. “A blind date is so uncomfortable in the first place. Let's
see, how can we ease the tension?… I know, how about a camera crew.
I mean, it's ridiculous… it's such an absurd idea. But I'm glad
they thought of it. 'Cause it's keeping me employed, so it's great.”
If viewers felt host Roger
Lodge looked familiar, the first time they watched the show, that's
probably because he's done everything from small acting roles for TV
and movies, to his own weekly show ‘Sci-Fi Vortex’ for the
Sci-Fi network …including… work for ESPN and Fox Sports Net,
and hosting his own ‘Hard Copy’ segment ‘The Hollywood
Buzz’. But viewers probably remember him best from his popular
guest hosting spots for ‘Talk Soup’. In fact his work on ‘Talk
Soup’ is the main reason he's hosting ‘Blind Date’ today.
“The timing couldn't
have been better,” says Roger Lodge of the auditions for the host
spot on ‘Blind Date’. “I was right smack in the middle
of a two week run on ‘Talk Soup’. I remember going to the
(Blind Date) audition and seeing a sign in the waiting room that read…
‘We are looking for someone with the ‘Talk Soup’ mentality
in our host.’ And I was like, ‘Hello…’ So, I left
the audition, called my agent, and said, ‘look why don't you just
send them my ‘Talk Soup’ tape, or tell them to watch ‘Talk
Soup’ tonight…’” The people behind the scenes at
‘Blind Date’ called him a couple of days later, and it was
pretty much a done deal from then on.
Has he learned anything
after one season hosting ‘Blind Date’? Roger Lodge doesn't
consider himself a dating expert, by any means, …but… one
season and 420 dates later, he does admit you really do learn a lot
from watching so many dates. “It's kind of like analyzing a ball
game,” says Lodge. “You see that many dates and all of a sudden
you start to see these recurring patterns.” As far as his advice
for the guys… “They just really need to be themselves and
not try so hard to impress. I see a lot of men who try too hard. They're
too desperate, and there's nothing more unattractive then DESPERATION.
On the other end of the spectrum…” continues Lodge. “When
you're on a date with a woman be on a date with her! Don't be looking
around the room at other girls. Nothing can end a date quicker than
checking out other girls in front of your date. There's no bigger turn
off.”
If the most unattractive thing is trying too hard and desperation, confides
Lodge, then the most attractive thing has got to be SELF CONTROL. “There's
nothing more attractive than self control. Take your time, explore each
other, get to know each other. I think so many guys, and girls for that
matter, go in for the physical stuff way too soon. And it's just that
old theory of… gosh, if he's doing it with me on a first date he
must do it with everybody on a first date.”
When the matches fail it
can often feel like the blind leading the blind, for the staff of the
popular TV show ‘Blind Date’, but “when it works, when
it really works… its a GREAT feeling,” admits Lodge, with
a bit of both warmth and pride in his voice. As far as real success
stories… There are probably ten couples, host Roger Lodge knows
of, that are either engaged or living together or still dating months
down the line.
“We did a kind of
'Where Are They Now' check back in with one couple (Justin and Tracy).
The couple is (now) engaged, and they just wanted to thank us and tell
us how they've been inseparable since they're first date. It sounds
corny but it's kind of neat to know that we are responsible. 'Cause
that's really the heart and soul of the entire show. That's what it's
all about… finding two people who hit it off.”
If love can bloom, under
the hot glare of TV camera lights… then maybe it can bloom, on
a blind date, for you as well… It gives one hope.
All
Illustrations for this article by J.C. Johnson / Photos Courtesy Universal
Television
To
Read a Small Sampling of My Interviews with Entertainers Click Below:
Comedy Legends Mel
Brooks & Carl Reiner
CBS's King of Queens
Star Kevin James
Stand-Up Comedian
& Playwrite Lou DiMaggio
Roger Lodge — Host
of TV's Blind Date'
To Read
a Small Sampling of My Humorous Articles Click Below:
Taxing Times for
Americans
Talking Turkey
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