15 TV shows you forgot about (and some you wish you could)

Singled Out

Before Chris Hardwick was a pop culture expert, talking his way through all the prestige TV for AMC, he was a host on this MTV dating show. Teamed up with a way-more-energetic-than-now Jenny McCarthy, the two made lonely singles embarrass themselves as a way to get a date. It sounds like every other dating show airing currently, but it was one of a kind when it aired in the mid ’90s.

It featured 50 contestants competing for the attention of one main player, and was busier and louder than anything since – mostly thanks to McCarthy’s dizzying energy and tireless performance. The main player, the “Picker” had to go through several ridiculous rounds to narrow the 50 to one, and the two were then sent on some extravagant date that usually included a trip.

McCarthy left the show to star in her ill-fated sitcom, Jenny, and Carmen Electra headed in to take her place. Unlike its distant descendants like The Bachelor, Singled Out never took itself too seriously. There was far less “drama” and nobody pretended these contestants were going to stay together after they came home from their trip. It was a much simpler time in TV-dating-competition shows.