ABC’s ‘Celebrity Dating Game’ brings laughs, music and potential romance – KABC-TV

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES — We first saw “The Dating Game” on TV back in 1965. Among the “future” stars who appeared on the show: Tom Selleck, Don Johnson, Sally Field, Bob Saget, and the late John Ritter and Farrah Fawcett.

There is now a new version of the program with the “star” factor built in. Joey Lawrence, Taye Diggs and Hannah Brown are just a few of the stars you’ll see on “The Celebrity Dating Game.”

Zooey Deschanel and Michael Bolton are the show’s hosts, guiding us through the romance and the comedy of it all.

“I’m trying to be weighed in, in how much I try to make something funnier than it is. It’s already pretty funny,” said Bolton. “There’s a lot of funny stuff going on.”

“Michael has a very dry sense of humor, so I think, everyone wanted him to show that side of him,” said Deschanel.

And let’s say you “don’t want to miss a thing” when he sings to the stars.

“You kind of have to unlearn the song to deliver the parodies. Otherwise, you’re going to sing the lyrics you’ve been singing for 30, 40 years,” said Bolton.

The visual inspiration for this celebrity take on “The Dating Game” comes from the colorful, far-out look from the original version of the show.

“When I looked at the old episodes on YouTube, the set is really memorable, like the flowers. And our set really mimics that, it really calls that back, but in a modern way with LED lights and its changes color. So it’s fun!” said Deschanel.

“The Celebrity Dating Game” airs Monday nights on ABC following “The Bachelorette.”