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The Love Connection

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Love Connection is an American television game show, hosted by Chuck Woolery, in which singles attempted to connect with a compatible partner of the opposite gender. The show debuted in syndication on September 19, 1983 and ended on July 1, 1994, after 2,120 shows. Reruns continued to air until September 8, 1995. The series was relaunched for one season in 1998 under the same title with Pat Bullard as host. In 2017, the series returned on Fox with Andy Cohen hosting.

Love Connection was produced by Eric Lieber Productions in association with and distributed by Telepictures (1983-1986), Lorimar-Telepictures (1986-1989), Lorimar Television (1989-1990), and Warner Bros. Television (1989-1994).


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Format

Love Connection's main premise was to arrange dates for couples. A guest appeared on the show after going on a date with one of three contestants, having chosen on the basis of the contestants' videotaped profiles. After the date, the televised appearance was scheduled.

Love Connection tapings took place before a live studio audience. Woolery would introduce the guest and show excerpts from the three candidates' videos. The studio audience would then secretly vote on which candidate they preferred for the guest. (In the 1998-99 version, home viewers voted online and were included in the tally.) The guest then revealed whom he or she had actually dated, and the date joined the conversation from backstage via closed-circuit television camera. Woolery led the guest and date to discuss their time together. If they both agreed that the date had been successful, the couple would be reunited onstage; otherwise, the date's participation in the show ended. Woolery would then reveal the vote result; if the guest had had a successful date with the vote winner, Woolery would congratulate the couple for making a "love connection," and they would usually (but not always) accept the offered prize of a second date at the show's expense. After a successful date, the guest was always offered another date with that person; but if the vote winner was one of the other contestants, the guest could choose a date with the vote winner, regardless of the success of the first date. And if the guest had already unsuccessfully dated the audience pick, the guest could choose to go on a date with either of the other contestants. If a second date took place, the couple would be invited back for a second interview at a later taping. Usually, two or three segments aired per show. In a variation that aired on Fridays, a bachelor or bachelorette who had not yet chosen a date would make an appearance and allow the studio audience to make the choice for him or her, based on video excerpts. The couple would report back in the usual fashion several weeks later. If the couple hit it off, they were entitled to a second date at the show's expense. If not, the contestant could choose between the two losing candidates for the second date.

In the 2017 revival, the guest appeared on the show after having gone on a date with each of the three contestants, and all three were interviewed from backstage after the video intros and audience vote. This version added a segment where guests and contestants rated their first impressions of each other's looks on a scale of 1-10. After the interviews, the guest received an overnight date with the contestant of his or her choice; the guest also received a $10,000 prize if he or she chose to spend that date with the vote winner.

The great majority of contestants in the original series were in their twenties and had never been married. However, older never-married, widowed, and divorced (some multiple times) contestants were occasionally selected as well. The show paid the expenses incurred on the date, plus $75 for incidentals. The incidental amount was increased to $100 for the 1998-1999 revival. In the 2017 revival, contestants were given $500 for each date.


Love Connection Video



Legacy

The show was one of the biggest game show hits of the 1980s and early 1990s, and helped revive Chuck Woolery's hosting career. At 11 seasons and 2,120 episodes, it was one of the longest lasting game shows in syndication. For many years it was third behind Merv Griffin's Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (formerly hosted by Woolery) for longest lasting game show in syndication, but since has been surpassed by Family Feud and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Coincidentally, the show premiered on the same date (September 19) that Woolery's former show, Wheel of Fortune, debuted its syndicated edition in 1983.

As of 1993, among the couples who met on the show, there were a total of 29 marriages, 8 engagements, and 15 children, according to Woolery.

A year later, in a Daily Variety Magazine trade ad promoting the end of the original shows' run after 11 seasons, it was stated that there were 35,478 taped interviews, 2,120 Shows, 31 Marriages, and 20 babies.

"Two and two"

Woolery created his trademark phrase, "two and two" on Love Connection (and simultaneously on Scrabble, the daytime game show he hosted on NBC during the same period). The line referred to the fact that the program would return in two minutes and two seconds, the total length of a standard commercial break at the time, including the fade-out and fade-ins bookending each break.

Syndication

The Chuck Woolery episodes were rerun on the USA Network from October 16, 1995 to June 6, 1997 and on the Game Show Network from January 6, 2003 to July 18, 2008. Beginning November 9, 2009, the Woolery episodes returned to GSN's weekday lineup but have since been removed. The Pat Bullard version has not been aired since its cancellation.

Revivals

In 2015, a remake of the show was in development by Warner Brothers for a shot in 2016 with comedian Loni Love as host, but those plans fell through.

On January 11, 2017, Fox announced plans to revive the series for spring 2017, with Andy Cohen serving as host. The reboot premiered at 9:00 pm ET on May 25, 2017.

Ratings

Source of the article : Wikipedia



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