elimiDATE

I feel sorry for twentysomethings dating today, judging by the people that I see on this program. Once in awhile, the person who has their pick of four people at least has one person in the bunch who is halfway decent, but not often. The four who are scrambling to be "the one" say and do some of the silliest/outrageous/dumb stuff to win. It's even worse when there are four women competing for one man; there have been near catfights, and almost X-rated play. The stuff that takes place on this show is laughable, as well as a good primer about how NOT to act on a date.

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Starring: Horny guys, B*tchy girls, and every other type of guys and girls you could think of.

A guy or girl goes on a blind date with 4 guys or girls and gets to eliminate one through every round of the date. It's fun to see testosteroned guys try to make fun of the other guys. It's also fun to see b*tchy girls cat fight other girls. This is a great show, sometimes its sour, and when its sour, it's REALLY sour.

Rank: I don't rank reality shows.

Elimidate differs from other dating/singles shows like Blind Date, Shipmates, Classmates, etc. in that there is *always* drama on these dates, or at least after the producers edit the date. The contestants on Elimidate are usually in their mid-20s to early 30s, with the occasional middle-aged episode of Elimidate thrown in throughout the season.

The *picker* eliminates one suitor each round until after 3 rounds the picker has chosen one of the suitors with whom he or she feels romantically compatible. The suitors, especially the women, need not to know much personal information about the *picker* (ie the man) in order to get into arguments/catfights with their competitors, often over a shallow guy who doesn't add much to the conversation on his date edgewise.

The dates with one man and four women are formulaic. Typically one or two girls will throw themselves at the man, often making out with the guy minutes after meeting him! Next, the man eliminates one of the girls that did *not* kiss him and/or was passive and not dominating the conversation. Now, there is some variety to these situations. Occasionally, the man is a real stud, or the women are more sexually forward than the typical suitor, which results in the guy making out with all 4 girls, many times back-to-back-to-back. The women (and occasional man) who are adamant about their self-prescribed rule of *not kissing on the first date* usually do not win this competitive dating show, and for good reason--the picker generally wants to select the person with whom they share a physical attraction, which possibly leads to a one-night stand or a short-term relationship. Unlike Blind Date, Elimidate does not have follow-up shows or segments on how the winning couple is doing 3-6 months down the road.

Dates with a female picker and 4 bachelor suitors often boil down to the men bickering about their careers. The token unemployed guy or college student is often on the receiving end of the disparaging remarks and he does not often succeed in being chosen in the final round.

The guilty pleasure aspect of Elimidate is laughing at people's awkward behavior while dating, often as the result of drinking too much alcohol, which is paid for by the show's producers. Another high point is when the rejected suitors will flip out after being cut/elimiDated and have juicy insults for the remaining contestants. For the man or woman who travels and dates a lot in various cities, Elimidate can provide some inspiration for venues and bars/clubs to take dates, or where to find singles.

Elimidate is syndicated on a variety of stations, WB, UPN, Fox, WGN, so you can usually find it on 3 or 4 times during the day at various times.

Big egos and little brains is the recurring theme of elimidate. I work late and not much is on TV, and I watch portions of elimidate. The viewer observes the following. 1) Many of the contestants look burnt out. If the viewer's hormones are not at a high school level many of the people look like the bar trash one would not walk but run away from. Camera hogs, ego driven people who believe they are god's gift to the opposite sex. 2) The loser usually is the one who wins elimidate. Look at me I acted so foolish and for my stupid behavior I won a date with an idiot. 3) One gets to hear such interesting conversation like, you dress like a slut, body piercing, and I have bigger boobs than the other contestant. With Such a conversation I rush my finger to hit the channel change button on the remote. 4) Many of the contestants will probably be seen later on the Murry Polivich show. What is wrong with these people!

You can't help but crack up when you see four people backstabbing and cutting each other down for a single date. But hey, it makes for a fast half hour. I find Spider Lou accurate in decribing the female contestants on that show, but I do recall seeing one stunning southern belle that looked like a supermodel from Victoria Secret (Britton from Charlotte, NC). Oh well, you can never get too much of "reality" tv, can you