The great horror star shows up for a Halloween edition of the creepy romance themed game show.
I think we’ll all aware that Vincent Price would do pretty much anything if you waved enough money at him – from a plethora of commercials to strange occult records, he’s the gift that keeps on giving. But his appearance on The Dating Game must count as one of his odder jobs. Now, we should point out that Vincent wasn’t a contestant on the show, as delicious a thought as that is. No, he was a special guest on the 1972 Halloween edition of the show, partly to promote Dr Phibes Rises Again and partly, we assume, because he enjoyed the sheer ludicrousness of it all.
Here, Price stands in for Miss X, who has to question three eligible bachelors – a class president, an insiprational athlete and wannabe DJ, and a young Republican. You didn’t get this quality of contestant on Blind Date, it must be said, though of course, all three seem creepier than anything you’d ever find in one of Price’s horror movies.
Price, dressed in Phibesian robes, asks various questions of these three while revealing perhaps too much of his private life (“when my wife holds me in just the right way, I giggle”), and of course it’s as painful and cringeworthy as any of these shows ever are. Miss X turns out to be actress Janet Baldwin, fresh from Prime Cut and just about to appear in Badlands, and she doesn’t seem overly excitied by the winning bachelor, though the prospect of a date at Hollywood’s Magic Castle seems to perk her up. Sadly, there seems little chance that the happy couple continued to date, which is a shame. Surely that would be a story to tell the kids:
“Mom, dad, how did you first meet?”
“Well, son, I stood offstage while Vincent Price chatted up your dad, who he couldn’t see.”
Well, at least they got some nice luggage out of it. Sadly, Vincent didn’t get to advertise the board game based on the show, which would’ve been just glorious. But you can’t have everything.
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