''Best Friend's Date'' is an American

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

-drama television series. It aired on the Noggin channel as part of its nighttime programming block for teens,

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a prime time and late-night block programming, programming block on the Noggin (brand), Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by MTV Networks and Sesame Works ...

. In each episode, a teenager goes on a blind date with someone chosen by his or her best friend. The show was hosted by

Tika Sumpter Euphemia LatiQue "Tika" Sumpter (born June 20, 1980) is an American actress and producer. Sumpter began her career as the host of '' Best Friend's Date''. From 2005 to 2010, she appeared in the daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live''. In 2010, ...

and Nick Slatkin. It was filmed from July to August 2004. The show ran for one season of 12 episodes. It premiered on December 3, 2004, and aired its last episode on February 11, 2005. The show is notable for launching Tika Sumpter's career and for featuring an entire episode, "The Boys' Night Out Date," about a gay relationship. Most episodes featured groups of teenage friends from Los Angeles, while the final two episodes included guest appearances by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, Ali Mukaddam, and Stacey Farber.

Format

The show is based on the premise that people's best friends probably know them better than they know themselves. Each episode has a teenager's best friend screen and select their perfect blind date. Their compatibility is tested as cameras accompany each date to find out whether the result is "magic or tragic." Roger Catlin of the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and ...

'' likened the show's format to a "less perverse" version of ''

Date My Mom ''Date My Mom'' is a television dating show that aired on the music channel MTV and was produced by Kalissa Productions. The series premiered on November 15, 2004 and ended in 2006. An 18- to 24-year-old heterosexual male, gay male or lesbian f ...

''. The episodes start with a best friend selecting a date for their friend from a pool of four candidates. After they put each prospective date through rounds of interviews and challenges, the choice is made. Next, the best friend introduces their choice to their friend and their friend's parents. The young provisional couple must then cope with first date jitters and a variety of surprise curveballs that the show throws at them, like singing karaoke on street corners or bowling while handcuffed together. Each date ends with a deciding moment where each dater must decide whether it is a budding romance, a mutual "no thanks," or a heartbreaking rejection.

History

Noggin LLC first trademarked the show's name and format on June 15, 2004. The show was officially announced to be greenlit by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' on July 13, 2004. It was shot on location in Los Angeles from July 24, 2004, through the end of August. The first episode premiered on December 3, 2004, and new episodes aired until February 11, 2005. The soundtrack for the show was composed by Derek McKeith. The first ten episodes are self-contained stories, and the last two episodes make up an hour-long special. The special expands on the usual format by holding two dates (a double date) involving two celebrities: Drake (Aubrey Graham) and Ali Mukaddam. The finale aired on February 11, 2005, at 9:30 PM. An encore showing was played on February 13. A week before the finale aired, ''

Multichannel News ''Multichannel News'' was a magazine and website published by Future US covering multichannel television and communications providers, such as cable operators, satellite television firms and telephone companies, as well as emerging Internet ...

'' listed ''Best Friend's Date'' as one of the shows that helped to increase Noggin's ratings during its The N block by 15% by the end of 2004.

Cast

*Nick Slatkin

Episodes

Noggin aired the episodes slightly out of production order. It featured an episode guide on its The N website.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0430830, title=Best Friend's Date
''Best Friend's Date''
on

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

2000s American reality television series 2004 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings Noggin (brand) original programming American English-language television shows American television series about teenagers American dating and relationship reality television series