The Dating Guy

The Dating Guy is a Canadian animated series that originally aired on Teletoon at Night[1] starting on October 17, 2010[2] and ending on May 8, 2011.[3] In the United States, it aired on HDNet starting on September 17, 2009.[4]

The Dating Guy
Season 1 DVD cover
Genre	Animation Sitcom
Created by	Matt Hornburg Mark Bishop
Voices of	Fab Filippo Anand Rajaram Sean Francis Lauren Ash
Composer(s)	Jono Grant
Country of origin	Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Morayniss Frank Saperstein
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	marblemedia Entertainment One
Distributor	Entertainment One
Release
Original network	Teletoon at Night
Original release	October 17, 2010 (2010-10-17) – May 8, 2011 (2011-05-08)
External links
Website
Production website

The show was created by Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop, with executive producers being John Morayniss and Frank Saperstein.[5] Produced by marblemedia and 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 indepth look at dating;[6] unlike the show, the web series are live action.[7]

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.[8] Guests such as Russell Peters and Howie Mandel appear on the show.[9]

Development

The show's existence was first noted in 2006; at the time, C.O.R.E. was slated to provide animation services.[10] 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.[11] and later in March 2009.[12]

According to Frank Saperstein, the idea behind the show is based on the real-life dating experience of one of its creators.[13] The influence of the founders of marblemedia, Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop, on the show's premise has also been noted.[14]

Characters

The show focuses on four main characters who constitute a group of friends, Mark, VJ, Woody, and Sam, and a number of recurring characters.[15]

Main characters

• 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.[16]
• VJ Mendhi (Anand Rajaram) – Mark's Indian Canadian, virgin roommate. He works in IT at the same ad agency Mark works at. 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.[17]
• Woodrow "Woody" Jenkins (Sean Francis) – the womanizing, Black Canadian bartender of the Hotel Ego bar, and lives with his Mark and VJ.[18]
• Samantha "Sam" Goldman (Lauren Ash) – Mark's neighbor and friend, who is a concert promoter.[19]

Recurring characters

• 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 te Hotel Ego bar with Woody (season 2).
• Vince – 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 – an elderly nazi and Woody's best customer at Hotel Ego.

Episodes

The show ran for two seasons of 13 episodes each.[20]

Season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original US air date
1	1	"Bonnie & Mark"	September 17, 2009
Mark hits it off with Bonnie just before she robs a bank, making him her accomplice. Sam meets the mysterious street illusionist Archangel who briefly impresses her with his mystical abilities.
2	2	"Beaver Fever"	September 24, 2009
Mark's new girlfriend Brie invites the gang to her parents' cottage for the weekend. Mark is hunted by Brie's father while V.J. and Woody attempt to get lucky with the ladies at an all-female retreat across the lake.
3	3	"Boner Donor"	October 1, 2009
Mark is promised the best sex of his life in exchange for a kidney to save his date's dying brother. What do you think he'll do?
4	4	"A Taste of Wang"	October 8, 2009
V.J. falls for Lily and becomes involved in illegal fish fighting to win her from her gangster boyfriend. To impress Jeanie, Mark lies about knowing a famous singer. Now he must convince Sam, a dead-ringer for the celebrity, to impersonate the badmouthed rocker.
5	5	"Statute of Limitations"	October 15, 2009
Mark is emasculated when an artists sculpts him with a reduced manhood. Elsewhere, Woody gets a tattoo. On his face. Who would do that?
6	6	"Yummy Dummy"	October 22, 2009
Mark hooks up with ventriloquist Shari, but takes a liking to her dummy Mallory.
7	7	"Really Bad Lieutenant"	October 29, 2009
A drunken Woody and V.J. are abandoned at a reenactment pioneer village but think they have traveled back in time. Mark and Sam date police officers Valerie and Vince, a crime fighting duo with reality issues.
8	8	"Captain Petard"	November 5, 2009
Mark meets a gold-digger. Then he steals a boat to impress her. Meanwhie, Woody starts a pillow-fighting league.
9	9	"There's Something About Amelia"	November 12, 2009
VJ and Woody believe the son of Sam's new boyfriend is the Antichrist. Mark dates a were-wolf. Can he take her out at night? What's her budget for hair products? Does she walk on two legs or four? So many questions!
10	10	"Cherry Sundae"	November 19, 2009
A porn star named Cherry Sundae takes a liking to Mark. Because that always happens in real life.
11	11	"Woodyplicity"	December 3, 2009
Woody pretends he has a twin brother in order to date twin sisters. Elsewhere, VJ totals Mark's car.
12	12	"Wind Tunnel"	December 10, 2009
After spending the night with Mark, local weathergirl Connie goes to work commando, accidentally flashes the world and loses her job. Mark, feeling responsible, takes action to get her job back, but is forced to accept the position himself. V.J. turns a golf-putting device into the next great sex toy.
13	13	"He's Here and He's Queer"	December 17, 2009
VJ's family sends him a mail-order bride. Also, someone pops the question.

Season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Original US air date
14	1	"24ish"	October 6, 2010
Two Swedish flight attendants await Mark and Woody, if they can get to the airport in 30 minutes; Sam and V.J. think a zombie uprising is at hand.
15	2	"Perfect 10 Killer"	October 13, 2010
Sam tracks a serial killer who's targeting perfect women; Mark buys his first pair of "man shoes" and falls in with a ring of international spies.
16	3	"Incredible Shrinking Woody"	October 20, 2010
A mad scientist shrinks Woody and Anderson for sinister purposes; Mark and Sam compete on a Japanese game show.
17	4	"AssPocalypse Now"	October 27, 2010
Sam goes to Brazil for a butt augmentation while V.J., on the run from Woody, gets an unexpected gut reduction. Mark follows Sam into the Brazilian jungle to retrieve the one-of-a-kind jeans he needs for work.
18	5	"Leprechaun Interrupted"	November 3, 2010
V.J. and Woody abduct a leprechaun, whose hot Irish daughter puts a hex on them; Sam tries to revive an ex-rocker's career by getting herself committed to a mental hospital.
19	6	"Gross Encounters of the Virgin Kind"	November 10, 2010
V.J. thinks he's had an alien encounter after a night of heavy partying; Sam coaxes her boyfriend to get cosmetic surgery.
20	7	"VJ and the Holy Boner"	November 17, 2010
V.J. embarks on a porn odyssey, while Mark reconnects with an old flame.
21	8	"Spontaneous Skidmark"	November 24, 2010
Woody's new basketball-player flame becomes pregnant, forcing Woody to evaluate what type of father he'll be; V.J.'s car has a volatile temper.
22	9	"Spanking the Monkey"	December 1, 2010
Sam becomes maternal toward her ex's monkey; Woody and V.J. raise a botanical monster.
23	10	"Brother From Another Tanning Booth"	December 8, 2010
In an experiment, Woody and Mark change their skin tones; a boy band may jeopardize Sam's career as a concert promoter.
24	11	"Too Fast Too Dexler"	December 15, 2010
Mark is dumped for being too safe, and Woody lands them both in a gang war; V.J. and Sam date conjoined twins after they become glued together.
25	12	"Weekend at Booyah's"	December 22, 2010
Mark must make his boss happy after the latter had a short-lived romance with Sam; Woody encounters a promiscuous woman from the afterlife. Guest star: Howie Mandel
26	13	"20,000 VJ's Under the Sea"	December 29, 2010
Mark takes a job working for Russell Peters, who takes the gang on an underwater adventure to find Atlantis in his submarine. Guest star: Russell Peters, Howie Mandel

Reception

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.[21] 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.[22]

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 that did not come to fruition.[23] Teletoon has reportedly denied the accusation.[24]

Awards and nominations

The Dating Guy awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2011	Gemini Awards	Best Cross-Platform Project - Fiction	DatingGuy.com	Won	[25]

Home video releases

A DVD containing only Season 1 was released on April 26, 2011.[26] The first season was also released for online viewing on the US version of Amazon Video.[27] The entire show is available from the Canadian iTunes Store.[28] Seasons 1 and 2 are both available on the US version of Hulu.[29]

References

1. "Teletoon Unveils Teletoon at Night's Fall 2010 Programming Highlights". Channel Canada. 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
2. "Teletoon Canada Inc. | Teletoon At Night'S Original Series The Dating Guy Serves Up A Comedy Cocktail With A Provocative Twist". Newswire.ca. 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
3. "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02. Archived from the original on 2016-05-16.
4. "Dallas' HDNet debuts "The Dating Guy" | www.pegasusnews.com | Dallas/Fort Worth". www.pegasusnews.com. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
5. AWN | Animation World Network (2007-10-23). "Marblemedia Finds Blueprint for Dating | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
6. "marblemedia". marblemedia. 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
7. Emily Claire Afan (2010-10-15). "Teletoon kicks off new A18-34 block Sunday » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
8. "The Dating Guy | TELETOON at Night". Teletoon.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
9. Metro, Staff (2010-10-14). "Romance gets animated on The Dating Guy | Metro". Metronews.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
10. "Teletoon gets a date » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
11. "Blueprint, marblemedia go Dating » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
12. AWN | Animation World Network (2008-04-02). "Dating Guy To Hit Teletoon | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
13. Ramin Zahed (2009-03-31). "Executive Q&A: MIPTV 2009". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
14. Katie Bailey (2011-12-12). "Best of the Year: marblemedia » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
15. "datingguy.com". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
16. "Mark Dexler". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
17. "VJ Mendhi". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
18. "Woody Jenkins". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
19. "Sam Goldman". datingguy.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
20. "The Dating Guy - Episode Guide - Zap2it". Tvlistings.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
21. Avril Lavigne. "Sneak A Peek: The Dating Guy | Mike's Bloggity Blog | Canada's Entertainment Blog | Movies, Television, Music, Radio". Mikesbloggityblog.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
22. "The Dating Guy: Season 1 | DVD Reviews". Pressplus1.com. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
23. "Ryan Sohmer wants you to help make an LICD cartoon a reality!". The Webcomic Overlook. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
24. "Teletoon responds to the LICD discussion". The Webcomic Overlook. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
25. http://www.academy.ca/About-the-Academy/Awards-Database?flow=titleYear&step=2&bys-award-v=2&bys-winners-v=False&bys-show-v=26&byty-award-v=2&byty-winners-v=False&byty-title-v=DatingGuy.com&byty-year-v=0
26. "Dating Guy - Season 1 / Célibataire cherche - Saison 1 Bilingual: Amazon.ca: Fab Filippo, Sean Francis, Lauren Ash: DVD". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
27. comiXology. "The Dating Guy: Season 1, Episode 1 "Bonnie & Mark": Amazon Video". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
28. "iTunes - TV Shows - The Dating Guy, Season 1". Itunes.apple.com. 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
29. "Hulu - TV Shows - The Dating Guy". Hulu.com. Retrieved 2016-01-05.