Adam and I are back, with our Valentine’s episode where we cover the early 90s Fox dating show STUDS. While the dating show concept was no stranger to TV audiences, STUDS was similar to its contemporary, Love Connection, but hopped up on Blue Chew. One of the few Fox late night success stories, STUDS would go on to produce 580 episodes over 3 seasons. Hell, it probably would have lasted even longer had it not been canceled to make room for The Chevy Chase Show. Yeah…
If you’re new to our podcast, Remember That Show? is where my buddy Adam & I take a look back at some past TV shows that may not have gotten the “shine” of their contemporaries. Some of these were short-lived, while others lasted for years, flying just under the radar. They might not have been “water cooler shows”, but you remember watching a few episodes on Saturdays after mowing the lawn. Pure nostalgia!
If you’ve been listening to the show up to this point, then you know that early 90s Fox is my sweet spot, as it’s such a pop culture time capsule that I’ve never experienced since. We were watching the birth of The Fourth Network, steeped in what the youth felt were cool and edgy concepts. You’d see things they’d never try on “The Tiffany Network” or from the National Broadcasting Company. Nowadays, Fox is just another network, but during this era, they were the epitome of “Look at me! Look at me! Look! Look! Look what I’m doing!”
I can’t say there’s ever really been a down period for dating shows, but there was a period when they really ramped up to what they are now. As I say in the episode, STUDS (and, to a lesser extent, the syndicated Bzzz!) was the last time you saw “real” people on these shows. Just a couple years later, we’d have Change of Heart, Blind Date, ElimiDATE, etc, and then we are OFF TO THE RACES! None of those contestants were real, and they frequently made the rounds through the different shows. STUDS, however, was just simple. It’s a guy who goes out with “the gal from the office”, and we find out how it went. Makes ya miss the glory days of app-less dating and “Meet-Cutes”.
Anyway, braces yourselves for surfer dudes, wild hair, and a slew of double entendres! You can listen to this episode here, or find it on all your favorite pod catchers!
