So, anyway. A man and a woman are on a first date at a restaurant. She's Mikaela and he's Kevin. He's a bit nervous. He works as an exterminator and he knows some people are put off by that. He drinks beer and, because he's nervous, he drinks too fast. He's not drunk, just on edge.
While Kevin goes to the washroom, Mikaela asks the waitress to give her phone number to the bartender – "without my date seeing." Oh, my. Who would do that?
You know, TV trends come and go. Right now, there's a rash of true-crime programming. That's thanks to the success and popularity of HBO's The Jinx and Netflix's Making a Murderer. In fact, such is the perceived appetite for the genre that NBC's Dateline is airing three one-hour true-crime stories on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. One is called The Face of Evil, airing Friday (NBC, 10 p.m.) and Deadly Valentine airs Saturday (8 p.m.)
You've got your serious cable dramas, too. Deep psychological drama. Or blood and guts. Two of those airing this weekend. And because it's a crowded weekend and Valentine's Day is on Sunday, I'm talking up one particular show now.
First Dates: Worst of the First (Saturday, Slice, 9 p.m. and Sunday, 5 p.m.) chronicles several disastrously odd first dates from the First Dates Canada series that aired last year. Never aired, these encounters are gently funny, awkward and bittersweet. Yes, Kevin never realized that Mikaela had slipped her number to the bartender while he was in the bathroom. But Mikaela did say later that his job as an exterminator wasn't off-putting.
Dating shows, especially those as gentle and good-humoured as First Dates will survive any trend that comes and goes. They have universal appeal. There's the cringe factor, the yearning and there's the compassion.
Your compassion will abound when watching Worst of the First . About 600 singles agreed to meet for a first date and cameras captured everything. The show inevitably attracted some nitwits and some people so terribly, painfully desperate that, mostly, your heart goes out to them. Even if you wouldn't give them your actual loving heart.
There's the chap who blurts out, "Do you wanna meet my mom?" as soon as he establishes a little rapport with his date. There's the guy who ogles his date's bosom and while her humour saves the situation, she knows the guy is way too interested in her body.
We see Jason meeting 41-year-old Melissa, a woman who is a few years older than him. She's big into sexual chemistry. The first few minutes unfold in near silence. Then Jason announces, "I'm polyamorous." He wants to date loads of people, not be exclusive. Melissa explains that she is what Jason would call "a swinger." She explains to his awestruck eyes, "It's very safe and very fun."
And, as Jason struggles to be clear about "polyamorous," he blurts out, "Actually, since I became polyamorous I haven't gotten laid at all." It's not a cringe-inducing encounter. If anything, it's rather sad, these two people who seemed to be a match not finding anything to connect with in the other person.
Angela, a recruiter, treats all first dates like a job interview. "I'm not romantic," she declares. "I'm just not into that." So she badgers her date Markiian with blunt questions: "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Actually, Markiian is a bit smitten. "She's like the girl version of me," he gushes. Do they click for a second date? You'd be surprised.
When First Dates aired, I wrote: "Put away your bias about reality TV. Put away your skepticism about dating shows. Sometimes, even reality TV can take us to a special place of insight and warmth, and First Dates does it with aplomb." It remains true.
First Dates: Worst of the First is a gentle, funny show. Yes, you ask: "Who would do that?" But you don't hate anyone.
Airing Wednesday
The Nature of Things: Trapped in a Human Zoo (CBC, 8 p.m.) is a rather good and saddening story. An Inuit family left Labrador more than 100 years ago for Europe. Baited by promises of comfortable living and wealth, they in fact became people paraded like animals, in "human zoos" for the pleasure of paying customers. Their story was lost until recently.