The Dating Guy (original) (raw)
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Canadian adult animated sitcom (2008–2010)
| The Dating Guy | |
|---|---|
 Season 1 DVD cover |
|
| Genre | Animated sitcom |
| Created by | Matt Hornburg Mark Bishop |
| Directed by | Joseph ShermanJamie Whitney |
| Voices of | Fab Filippo Anand Rajaram Sean Francis Lauren Ash |
| Composer | Jono Grant |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | John Morayniss Frank Saperstein Mark J.W. Bishop Matt Hornburg Frank van Keeken |
| Producers | Mark SatterthwaiteMark J.W. BishopMatt Hornburg |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | marblemedia Blueprint Entertainment (season 1) Entertainment One (season 2) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Teletoon Detour |
| Release | September 17, 2008 (2008-09-17) –May 8, 2010 (2010-05-08) |
The Dating Guy is a Canadian adult animated sitcom that originally aired on Teletoon at Night[1] from September 17, 2008, to May 8, 2010.[2]
The show was created by Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop, with executive producers being John Morayniss and Frank Saperstein.[3] Produced by marblemedia and Blueprint Entertainment and, later, Entertainment One, the show also has a Gemini Award-winning tie-in website, with two web series: The Morning After Show, which discusses episodes of the main show, and Dr. Love, which features an in-depth look at dating;[4] unlike the show, the web series are live action.[5]
The show's premise revolves around the adventures of four Canadian twenty-something friends living in Downtown Toronto, looking for love in all the wrong places.[6] Guests such as Russell Peters and Howie Mandel appear on the show.[7]
The show's existence was first noted in 2006; at the time, C.O.R.E., who had most recently produced The Wild, was slated to provide animation services.[8] By 2007, a different animation studio was being sought, with the show then-scheduled to premiere in late 2008. Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto was the animation service.[9] and later in March 2009.[10]
According to Frank Saperstein, the idea behind the show is based on the real-life dating experience of one of its creators.[11] The influence of the founders of marblemedia, Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop, on the show's premise has also been noted.[12]
The show focuses on four main characters who constitute a group of friends, Mark, VJ, Woody, and Sam, and a number of recurring characters.[13]
- Mark Dexler (Fab Filippo) – Mark is a 25-year-old single man who works as a copywriter at an ad agency. He shares an apartment with his best friends VJ and Woody.[14]
- VJ Mendhi (Anand Rajaram) – Mark's Indian Canadian, virgin roommate. He works in IT at the same ad agency where Mark works. Despite sharing an apartment with his friends Mark and Woody, he does not pay rent. He is extremely perverted and has seen all the internet porn in the world. It is revealed in the episode 'Too Fast, Too Dexler', that VJ is short for Vagina.[15]
- Woodrow "Woody" Jenkins (Sean Francis) – the womanizing, Black Canadian bartender of the Hotel Ego bar, and lives with Mark and VJ.[16]
- Samantha "Sam" Goldman (Lauren Ash) – Mark's neighbor and friend, who is a concert promoter.[17]
Recurring characters
[edit]
- Anderson Anderson (Gabriel Hogan) – Sam's one-and-off-again boyfriend, from the US, who has multiple careers.
- Celia (Bryn McAuley) – a country Mormon who is new to the city and works at the Hotel Ego bar with Woody.
- Vince (Louis Ferreira) – a police officer who takes his job very seriously and his speech is vaguely similar to Al Pacino. He once dated Sam and remains a friend to her.
- Wang (Albert Chung) – the owner of A Taste of Wang the local Chinese restaurant, who is also a part-time drug dealer.
- Lily Wang - Mr. Wang's daughter and employee, who is VJ's love interest and a former girlfriend of Irwin.
- Vikram Cha Cha (Sugith Varughese) – VJ's veterinarian uncle.
- Irwin Chang – the leader of the Chinese mafia who is menacing, despite the fact that he rarely speaks and usually communicates through blowing smoke rings.
- Rudolph - Irwin's accomplice and translator.
- Jeff (Tony Daniels) – an Arab who works at a falafel restaurant. He was killed by cannabis in "Spanking the Monkey".
- Randy (Dwayne Hill) – a common thief who steals anything he can get his hands on. He was killed by being frozen by liquid nitrogen in "24ish", but returns in the next episode "Perfect 10 Killer".
- Brian Booyah (Howie Mandel) – The CEO of Johnson and Booyah (season 2).
- Denise Felcher (Kathleen Laskey) – Mark and VJ's sex addicted boss.
- Bryce (Noah Cappe) – Mark's coworker who acts like his boss.
- Ursula (Krystal Meadows) – A young coworker of Mark and VJ; whom the latter has a crush on.
- Zorro – VJ's perverted, pet raccoon.
- Cpt. Steiner (Aron Tager) – an elderly Nazi and Woody's best customer at Hotel Ego.
The show ran for two seasons of 13 episodes each.[18]
A review of the show prior to its release on Teletoon praised it for its humour but criticized it for a perceived lack of polish.[19] A review of the DVD rated it 2/5, praising the show's eccentricity and references to Canadian culture but criticizing its humour and storyline.[20]
The Dating Guy has also been criticized for allegedly being a ripoff of the webcomic Least I Could Do, which was reportedly submitted to Teletoon to create an animated series. It did not come to fruition.[21] Teletoon has reportedly denied the accusation.[22]
Awards and nominations
[edit]
The Dating Guy awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Gemini Awards | Best Cross-Platform Project - Fiction | DatingGuy.com | Won | [23] |
| 2011 | Banff Rockie Award | Best Cross-Platform Project - Fiction | DatingGuy.com | Won |
Home video releases
[edit]
A DVD containing only Season 1 was released on April 26, 2011.[24] The first season was also released for online viewing on the US version of Amazon Video.[25] The entire show is available from the Canadian iTunes Store.[26] Seasons 1 and 2 were both available on the US version of Hulu until it was removed in the late 2010s.[27]
- ^ "Teletoon Unveils Teletoon at Night's Fall 2010 Programming Highlights". Channel Canada. 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
- ^ "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02.[_dead link_] Alt URL
- ^ AWN | Animation World Network (2007-10-23). "Marblemedia Finds Blueprint for Dating | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
{{[cite web](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fweb "Template:Cite web")}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "marblemedia". marblemedia. 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ Emily Claire Afan (2010-10-15). "Teletoon kicks off new A18-34 block Sunday » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "The Dating Guy | TELETOON at Night". Teletoon.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ Metro, Staff (2010-10-14). "Romance gets animated on The Dating Guy | Metro". Metronews.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Teletoon gets a date » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Blueprint, marblemedia go Dating » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ AWN | Animation World Network (2008-04-02). "Dating Guy To Hit Teletoon | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
{{[cite web](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fweb "Template:Cite web")}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Ramin Zahed (2009-03-31). "Executive Q&A: MIPTV 2009". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ Katie Bailey (2011-12-12). "Best of the Year: marblemedia » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "datingguy.com". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Mark Dexler". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "VJ Mendhi". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Woody Jenkins". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Sam Goldman". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "The Dating Guy - Episode Guide - Zap2it". Tvlistings.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ Avril Lavigne (17 October 2010). "Sneak A Peek: The Dating Guy | Mike's Bloggity Blog | Canada's Entertainment Blog | Movies, Television, Music, Radio". Mikesbloggityblog.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "The Dating Guy: Season 1 | DVD Reviews". Pressplus1.com. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Ryan Sohmer wants you to help make an LICD cartoon a reality!". The Webcomic Overlook. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Teletoon responds to the LICD discussion". The Webcomic Overlook. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "About the Academy - Academy". www.academy.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11.
- ^ "Dating Guy - Season 1 / Célibataire cherche - Saison 1 Bilingual: Amazon.ca: Fab Filippo, Sean Francis, Lauren Ash: DVD". Amazon.ca. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ comiXology. "The Dating Guy: Season 1, Episode 1 "Bonnie & Mark": Amazon Video". Amazon. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "iTunes - TV Shows - The Dating Guy, Season 1". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ^ "Hulu - TV Shows - The Dating Guy". Hulu.com. Retrieved 2016-01-05.