★★★★★ 0/5

Dinner Date

Dinner Date's Manu Feildel takes the prize as the host who brings the least screen time to a television programme in 2011.

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When he won Dancing with the Stars I asked Manu Feildel to tell me about his upcoming series Dinner Date, but the answer I got was so devoid of detail I couldn’t make anything of the quotes.

Now having seen the first episode I understand why.

He’s barely in this thing.

It’s painfully obvious from watching the show that the My Kitchen Rules host has been brought in at the end of the production to simply add a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ to this new dating series. At no point does he even meet the participants, let alone attempt to play Cupid (as Publicity notes suggested).

Produced by Quail TV (Find My Family, Send in the Dogs Australia), this is based on a UK format. Singles looking for love are given the chance to have a blind date with three prospective partners who all whip up a dish in their kitchen. Over a home-cooked meal the two will get to know one another, with one eventually selected for a later overnight romance.

Feildel’s opening repartee is a brief as it gets: “Can you win someone’s heart by cooking them a wonderful meal? I think you can. I’m Manu Feildel and this is Dinner Date where one beautiful woman goes on 3 blind dates. Will she find love at the dinner table? Let’s see.”

And with that a narrator takes over as we meet freelance PR consultant and single mum, Simone, 32.

As with Come Dine With Me and My Kitchen Rules the first take is to surmise the menu and make value judgements about the chef behind it. Without Feildel on hand Simone even does a bit of the storytelling herself.

“Oh my goodness. I’ve got five menus in front of me. I have to choose three,” she explains. “Here goes nothing.”

The first dinner is cooked by carpenter Nick, 35, who doesn’t say a lot about his last relationship and isn’t too keen on kids. Bow bow. A lot is made of first impressions, physical appearance, attire and instant reactions.

The show details the cooking by the blokes, as a part-cooking, part-dating format.

Simone likes the look of Nick and vice versa. She tells him he looks like a cross between Prince William and Prince Harry.

“Well they’ve got different fathers,” says Nick.

Say what? Are we actually putting that allegation out there on a dating show? Interesting…

Next potential beau is “Italian stallion” Mark, 29, who works in real estate. This guy looks like a player, full of confidence and knowing what he wants in a woman.

“People might call it chauvanistic, I call it traditional,” he explains.

The soundtrack plays Smooth Operator.

Mark even sings, before he starts to caress her fingers. Yup.

The two click physically, but there are moments when his bravado puts doubts in Simone’s mind.

The narration also adds a little attitude, if not quite the same cheek as Come Dine with Me.

The final date is Drew, 36, a father of a nine year old boy. Being a parent puts Simone at ease. He looks like he can cook too. Of the three blokes, this date seems the most relaxed.

When the dates are all over, two men will receive a knock on their door with a (rejection) greeting card from Simone and the lucky boy will open his door to a beaming Simone.

Book-ending each date Feildel threw in teaser questions about Simone’s progress. Geez mate, would it have been hard to drop by their kitchens? Again, it reeks of being an after-thought…

I can only presume his thick French accent precluded him from being the series narrator too. Maybe they can get him to tango in next week’s episode?

The production shots here are pretty good, even if the format feels like My Kitchen Rules colliding with Shopping for Love. I was frustrated by the over-use of pop music which distracts from the key players. Note to all ob-docs producers: please don’t use music with vocals when people are speaking at us (The Block is guilty of this too). Pay someone to compose!

I gather from Feildel’s opening introduction that the format will stick to single females meeting three males. It might get more interesting should that premise get reversed, or even incorporates gay singles, but I suspect the target audience is predominantly female.

There are two dating formats on television right now, the long-running and well-produced Farmer Wants a Wife and FOX8’s relative-newcomer Dating in the Dark Australia. I don’t think either have much to fear from this new kid on the block.

Maybe Manu could host a new version of Perfect Match? But he would have to turn up every week for that.

Dinner Date airs 9:30pm Tuesdays on Seven.

42 Responses

  1. Finally a reality television series dedicated to the topic of dating and relationships with several tasty dishes thrown into the equation! What more could a single gal want when flicking through the TV channels on a Tuesday evening, but food and sex! Perfect combination for a winning show. 9 out of 10. (I deducted a point for the host – sorry Manu but I’d prefer to watch someone younger/sexier – perhaps James Kerley could give it another shot!?)

  2. I just finished watching it… and for what is was, I thought it was really entertaining! And Simmone is just so lovely, I just followed the journey with her and hoped she picked a worthy guy.

    I’m not saying it’s high-quality television, but it was not snooze-worthy at all. And c’mon it airs so late, does it really matter what people think? I do agree that the Manu clips should not have been included.

  5. @davidknox, I agree about the overuse of pop music in TV shows now. It is often very annoying and distracting. Surely they have stock instrumental music they can use if they don’t want to pay a composer.

    @shelley, yeah, the show has the sort of premise and format where I am sure they will be tempted to cast obnoxious, cringe-provoking idiots of both sexes just so the audience can enjoy hating them. From past dating shows I’ve seen, people just don’t know how to react on camera in these situations. Understandably so, a blind date is nerve wracking enough without it being recorded for TV cameras.

  6. Why does every show have to revolve around cooking these days? Times must be tough, Australians sure must be living in poverty if they need to resort to cooking shows to get cheap ideas to feed their families.

  8. I noted weeks ago when this show was first announced that it had Bomb written all over it.

    Now I’m certain it will be.

    David, how hard would it be for you to set up a sweep to see just how long this turkey lasts?

  11. The ads for this are woeful beyond belief.

    Praying for a failure but who knows as it is on ch 7 and I am constantly astounded by their ratings.

  14. Thanks David, you’ve saved many of us an hour of our lives.
    But I wouldn’t be too quick to dismiss this show. I can see it speaking to your middle-age-plus female demographic. My 58yo sister-in-law is squirming with excitement , she can’t get enough of Le Manu in any format.

  18. Excellent point re the music, David. I doubt composers are paid enough for it to be a significant expense (sadly). Totally over pop songs everywhere.

  19. p.s, David, i’m sure Manu wouldn’t have a problem with turning up every week for Perfect Match, he turned up every week for DWTS 🙂

  20. I knew weeks ago that Manu was only going to introduce the show, and not actually be part of it or narrate it. Don’t really see a problem with it. At least it will stop people saying “Oh Manu’s in everything “.

  21. It does reverse into single man visiting women at home for dinner as one of the girls in our apartment block is in this. I don’t know her well so have no details.

  22. What??? That is the only part Manu plays in the show? I thought he would help the men decide on menus, cooking plans, etc, as he is a chef, for God’s sake. A great big boo and hiss to the producers, you’re right, this reeks of afterthought to cash in on Fieldel’s raised media profile. If it succeeds and has a second season, I would imagine he would be more of a presence on the show, perhaps?? At the very least, he should be giving the blokes some menu guidance.

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