JULY 6, 1973
The Dating Game, a Chuck Barris Enterprises game show revolving around three young men who vied for a date with a young woman who was hidden from their view, hosted by San Francisco radio personality Jim Lange, went to its reward on ABC Daytime, after 8 years and 2,035 shows.
The Dating Game was the first foray into game shows for producer Chuck Barris, a former songwriter (he composed "Palisades Park," a Top 10 hit for Freddy Cannon in 1962). His production firm churned out such memorable favorites as The Newlywed Game (which first appeared on ABC 7 months after Dating's debut), The Family Game, and the ever-irrepressible Gong Show! ABC gave The Dating Game a primetime edition, seen between October 6, 1966 and January 17, 1970 every Saturday night (sometimes leading in for nighttime versions of other popular ABC Daytime mainstays Let's Make A Deal and The Newlywed Game). Its popularity in the 1960s was big enough to inspire an ice-cream flavor (pink ice cream with diced dates [get it?!] and butter toasted pecans) by Baskin-Robbins!
A daily syndicated edition, launched in the fall as The New Dating Game, carried the show for an extra season. It has seen several resurgences on TV—all syndicated—in 1978, 1986, and 1997.