HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Hell Date'' was a
prank A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
,
dating show Dating game shows are game shows that incorporates a variety of matchmaking systems and services in the form of a game with clear rules. Human matchmaking is involved only in selecting the game's contestants, who are usually selected more for th ...
on
Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
(BET). The show was created by Peter M. Cohen and produced by Peter M. Cohen Productions. The show presented itself as a typical dating show, such as ''
Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...
'', however it featured actors pretending to be a contestant/participant on the show, and portraying a character, with their goal being to make the date an unpleasant experience. Unbeknownst to one unsuspecting dater, who is not aware of the setup. The show aired for two seasons, with both seasons having slightly different formats, yet the idea was primarily the same. The first season was filmed in the
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
area. The second season was filmed in the
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
metropolitan areas.


Series overview


Season one format

In the first season, two segments were shown per episode. In the beginning of the segment, an unsuspecting dater, (who is unaware that this is not a legitimate dating show and he or she believes is on a typical dating show) described themselves to the audience. Immediately following, an actor known as the "Hell Dater", would describe themselves to the audience, letting the audience know that he or she is an actor and playing a character, and their objective is to purposefully make this a terrible date for their unsuspecting partner. The unsuspecting dater, and the hell date actor then met and introduce themselves to each other. At first, the actor shows very mild hints of annoyance on the date, to where the unsuspecting dater is bothered, but isn't at a level to where the date becomes abnormal. However as the date progresses, (more especially towards the very end of the date.) the actors become increasingly more extreme and uncomfortable with their character, making it very embarrassing and torturing for the unsuspecting dater. At the end of the date, the victimized dater is informed that this is a prank show and that they are on "Hell Date." This is done by a character named "The Devil" who is a little person dressed in a devil costume. The unsuspecting dater would then be interviewed on their experience on "Hate Date" This is when the segment ends. If this was the first segment, the second segment is done in an identical format. At the end of the second segment, the episode ends.


Season two format

The second season had a slightly different format. Each episode featured only one unsuspecting dater and one single segment. In the beginning of each episode, "The Devil" in a prerecorded scene is sitting in a dark room and conversing with and describes three hell date actors, and the character they are portraying to the unsuspecting dater. The unsuspecting dater in a separate scene (who is unaware that this is not a legitimate dating show and he or she believes is on a typical dating show) would then describe themselves to the audience. The unsuspecting dater is then introduced to the three hell daters all at once, in which all four go on and participate in a small date activity. The unsuspecting dater is given the privilege to eliminate two hell daters after this. Similar to that of Elimidate. This is however done in a sly method. Two of the hell daters act outrageously strange and insane for no apparent reason immediately within meeting the unsuspecting dater, while the third actor is purposefully putting on a normal facade. This of course in turn makes the unsuspecting daters choice almost surefire. After two of the hell daters are eliminated, the third hell dater who successfully put on a normal facade, actually turns out to be even more outrageous than the first two. At this point for the remainder of the program, an identical format to season one is played out. At the end of the date, the victimized dater is informed by The Devil that this is a prank show and that all three daters are actors, and that they are on "Hell Date." The unsuspecting dater is then interviewed on their experience on the show. The program then ends.


Partial list of notable actors who played the Hell Daters

* Daheli Hall *
Zainab Johnson Zainab Johnson is an American comedian and actress. She is best known as a semi-finalist on NBC's ''Last Comic Standing''. Johnson is a series regular on Amazon's ''Upload''. Life and career Johnson was born and raised in Harlem, New York, one ...
*
Chenese Lewis Chenese Tharis Lewis, born November 14, 1979, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is an American actress, host, plus-size model, and a positive body image and self-esteem advocate. Dubbed “One Of The Original Plus-Size Influencers” by Forbes, she made ...
* Karlous Miller It is very common for some Hell Date actors to appear in several different episodes, if they repeat their same character or portray a different character.


External links


BET Shows - Hell Date
*
Hell Date
' official MySpace * {{IMDb title, id=1068979, title=Hell Date 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings American dating and relationship reality television series BET original programming