Tennessee Williams - Star Trek: Voyager TV - The Sopranos TV - Donald Trump - The League of Gentlemen TV - Star Trek: Voyager TV - Laughter in Paradise 1951 - Manhattan 1979 - The Catherine Tate Show TV - Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner - Horizon TV - Red Dwarf TV - Lucy Worsley TV - Panorama TV - Behind the Curve 2018 - Trailer Park Boys 2001-2018 - Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day 2009 - Secrets of Sugar Baby Dating TV - Dateline: The Women & Dirty John TV - Frankie Boyle TV - Jim Bishop - The Tinder Swindler TV - Trafficked TV -
We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning. Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley to Blanche
All we need are the Delaney sisters and we can make a date of it. Star Trek: Voyager s3e3: The Chute, Harry to Tom
I’m not going to go out with you, OK? The Sopranos s5e1: Two Tonys, Dr Melfi to Tony, HBO 2004
I’m gonna be dating her in ten years. Donald Trump, CBS news interview, re ten-year-old girl
95% of the people that come through our doors are weirdos. The League of Gentlemen s2e3: A Plague on Royston Vasey, dating agency woman to new client, BBC 2000
You have a fiery spirit. You will make a worthy mate. Star Trek: Voyager: Prophecy s7e14, Klingon bird to Harry
You promised to take me out tonight and I’ve had a bath especially. Laughter in Paradise 1951 starring Joyce Grenfell & Alastair Sim & Fay Compton & Guy Middleton & George Cole & Hugh Griffith & Ernest Thesiger & Beatrice Campbell & Mackenzie Ward & A E Matthews & John Laurie & Veronica Hurst et al, director Mario Zampi, Grenfell on dog-n-bone to fiancé
I’m dating a girl who does homework. Manhattan 1979 starring Woody Allen & Diane Keaton & Michael Murphy & Mariel Hemingway & Meryl Streep & Anne Byrne & Michael O'Donoghue & Wallace Shawn & Karen Ludwig & Charles Levin & Karen Allen & Davis Rasche et al, director Woody Allen
Q) What do you do?
A) I go to high school. ibid.
I think people should date for life. Like pigeons. And Catholics. ibid.
Woman returning home: Well good night. Yes? James, I know you want you come in. And I know you probably want more than just a drink or a cup of coffee. It’s just that I’m not drunk enough. The Catherine Tate Show s1e1, BBC 2004
Man: ... I took you to the Munich Beer Festival ... ibid.
Each site operates a bit differently, but the gist is this. You complete a personal ad about yourself that typically includes a photo, vital statistics, your income range, level of education, likes and dislikes, and so on … So there are two massive layers of data to be mined here: the information that people include in their ads and the level of response gleaned by any particular ad. Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner, Freakonomics
Of the many ways to fail on a dating website, not posting a photo of yourself is perhaps the most certain. ibid.
Getting a date is hard enough as it is. Fifty-six percent of the men who post ads don’t receive even one email; 21 percent of the women don’t get a single response. ibid.
For men, being short is a big disadvantage (which is probably why so many lie about it), but weight doesn’t much matter. Or women, being overweight is deadly (Which is probably why they lie). For a man, having red or curly hair is a downer, as is ‘bald with a fringe’ – but a shaved head is okay. For a woman, salt-and-pepper hair is bad, while blonde hair is, not surprisingly, very good. ibid.
Internet dating is big business. It’s worth over two billion dollars per year. And claims to generate a fifth of all committed relationships. Horizon: How to Find Love Online, BBC 2016
‘There is no way that these algorithms can do what they claim to do.’ ibid. Eli Finkel
‘Even believing that there is such a thing as a soulmate tends to be destructive to relationships.’ ibid.
She had a wooden head and was afraid of forks. There was no future in it. Red Dwarf s11e4: Officer Rimmer, BBC 2016
History’s most awkward blind date. Six Wives with Lucy Worsley III, BBC 2016
We investigate the criminals who con people looking for love. Catfish: the romance fraudsters who exploit the lonely. We set a trap for the criminals as we uncover a crime that takes us around the world. Panorama: Billion Pound Romance Scam, BBC 2018
The pick-up artists who harass women on the street. And post-footage they secretly film online. I go undercover and find teenagers being approached by older men … Revealing the truth about seduction boot-camps. Panorama: Secrets of the Seduction, BBC 2019
There is a business which claims to offer a formula for success … He [Ahmed] leads a group of men based in Glasgow who call themselves pick up artists … Consent doesn’t seem to be a big concern. ibid.
The seduction industry is said to be worth around £80 million. (Romance & Relationship & Date) ibid.
There’s now Flat Earth dating sites popping up. Behind the Curve, Netflix 2018
Lucy went out with Randy a few years ago and I just can’t get past it. I can’t. I’ve tried and it drives me nuts. Trailer Park Boys s6e2: The Cheeseburger Picnic, Ricky
Bubbles, do you want to go on a date or something? Trailer Park Boys, Countdown to Liquor Day, 2009, Jenny
I’m Tiffany Sweeney and I’m going to be stepping into the world of sugar dating. I go undercover and try sugar dating for myself joining over three and a half million people using sugar dating websites here in the UK. Sugar babies aim to find rich sugar daddies or mommas who will give them a monthly allowance; they can receive thousands of pounds in cash as well as expensive gifts. But what are some sugar babies expected to give in return? Secrets of Sugar Baby Dating, BBC 2019
Valentina currently has seven sugar daddies who give her a monthly allowance known in the sugar dating world as an arrangement. ibid.
‘They want to meet a girl that brings and injects like youthfulness back into their lives.’ ibid.
‘I felt like this was the one that I had been waiting for. Maybe it was too good to be true. Did he love me or was this all a game.’ Dateline: The Women & Dirty John, victim, Sky Crime 2020
Who was this guy?: ‘His name was Dirty John. I started snooping and I found everything.’ ibid. other victim
‘He was handsome, tall and very fit … ‘He said everything right … I fell in love.’ ibid.
She [prospective daughter in law] decided to do some snooping … They were not going to be put off … ‘ [He] did not look to her the actual hands of a doctor.’ ibid.
Your options really narrow in your forties. You’re pretty much reduced to going out with people you’ve already gone out with. The sexual equivalent of eating out of the bin. Frankie Boyle Live: Excited for You to See and Hate This, BBC 2020
Watching your daughter being collected by her date feels like handing over a million dollar Stradivarius to a gorilla. Jim Bishop
Nowadays, the best way you can meet someone is on a dating app. The Tinder Swindler, woman, Netflix 2022
I get these threatening messages. These enemies were watching me, my family. ibid.
He has this magnetism. There is something about this guy that is special. ibid.
The Israeli millionaire that cheated on women. ibid. victim searches Google
A guy who had pretended to be the son of a diamond millionaire. ibid. victim
Simon Leviev was sentenced to 15 months for the crimes he committed in Israel. He was released after 5 months … Simon currently lives in Israel as a free man … It is estimated he has swindled $10 million from victims across the globe. ibid. caption
I was like a fish. That hook was so far down my belly.’ Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller s2e7: Romance Scams, victim, National Geographic 2022
Romance scamming: a global crimewave that surged during our loneliest moments of the pandemic. ibid.