Once reality TV fans learned that there would be a new version of the Dating Game, they wanted to know more about the Celebrity Dating Game. News broke that The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown would appear on the show, and when she shared that she was officially dating someone back in February, people wondered where she met her boyfriend.
Meeting on a game show would definitely be a fun and entertaining tale to tell people, but can love connections actually happen on the Celebrity Dating Game? And what do viewers actually think about it?
Let's take a look at why people don't seem to like this new reality series.
What Fans Think
Zooey Deschanel has done a lot after New Girl finished, and now she's the co-host of this new show.
People don't love Celebrity Dating Game and according to The Sun, they have been tweeting their opinions of the new reality series, and they're not very positive at all.
One person said, "I haven’t felt so embarrassed for humanity as I have while watching." Another commented, "#ABC has hit peak cringe with #CelebrityDatingGame. I'm actually embarrassed for everyone involved."
When discussing the show in a Reddit thread, one viewer said that while they found it enjoyable, they didn't think it really felt like a series about dating: they wrote, "It was absolutely ridiculous but I thought it was fun. Not really much of a dating show."
Another viewer agreed: "I thought it was pretty entertaining, but in no way an actual dating show."
The Celebrity Dating Game has an Audience Score of 4 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and many comments on the website show that people aren't big fans of the show. One viewer compared it to the original and found it lackluster: they wrote, "HORRIBLE! They need to go back and watch the old Dating Game! They've ruined this game. Make it like it was back then. There will be a huge ratings increase! I guarantee it."
There are tons of dating shows on TV now, whether people are competing for the affection of a suitor or talking in pods and then getting engaged, like The Bachelor and Love Is Blind, so maybe TV fans aren't so sure that this concept is unique enough.
In the first episode, Hannah Brown appeared, and she had three potential dates, and they had to guess her identity. They didn't get it right at all: Vishal said Demi Lovato, Jack said Taylor Swift, and Evan said Blake Lively, according to the Daily Mail.
The Hosts
Viewers have also commented on the hosts of The Celebrity Dating Game and they don't seem to love seeing Zooey Deschanel and Michael Bolton.
One viewer started a Reddit thread asking how people liked the series and wrote, "Seems like such an odd thing for Zooey to do. I hope she’s enjoying herself though. What do you all think of her new gig?"
Someone responded, "It was a little cringey. I only watched 1 episode. It does seem random…"
A review on Cinemablend.com called Michael Bolton "the best part of the show. Also, the weirdest part of the show." The review mentioned that Bolton sings a lot in each episode and his songs are meant to be parodies that help fans guess who the celebs are.
People wondered what the show would be like even before getting the chance to watch the first episode: in a Reddit thread from several months ago, some people wondered why Bolton and Deschanel were put together, and someone said that they weren't happy about a game show getting a new version.
In an interview with Parade, Zooey Deschanel shared that she watched some clips of the original show, but she hasn't watched much of it.
Deschanel said that she had fun seeing the celebs on the show and how they dealt with the situations: she explained, "It’s really interesting to see everyone on this show because it’s open-ended. Each person really reacts in a situation differently, and it’s really fun people-watching. I really enjoy just seeing how people interact with other folks, who are on the other side of a wall. Not seeing them and just getting clues from their voices and what they say."
Bolton shared that he loves doing parodies of songs: according to TV Insider, he said, “Having the musical component is great because I get to sing the songs I sing until I get to that parody. It’s not easy ‘unlearning’ songs I know so well as I’ve sung them live thousands of times. It’s hard to dig into a line melodically that you’re not used to doing, but some of them ended up being quite easy to sing.”
Fans will have to keep tuning into the Celebrity Dating Game to see how they feel about the rest of the season.