After ABC’s new ‘Bachelor’ takes flight tonight, stay tuned for a dating show that really keeps things moving. Literally. Premiering at 10/9c, ‘Conveyor Belt of Love’ parades 30 eligible gents in front of a panel of hot-to-date females. Sliding out one by one, each guy has 60 seconds to catch a lady’s eye. If so, he gets set aside; if not, he moves right along… on a giant conveyor belt. Fancast invited Emmy-winning executive producer Tom Shelly (’Survivor’) to share the secrets behind this far-out one-time special.
‘Conveyor Belt of Love‘ – really?
Yeah, ‘Conveyor Belt of Love’ is exactly what the title says. We thought about doing ‘Trap Door of Love,’ but…. No, I’m kidding.
Actually, you totally stole my idea! I Tweeted that the next logical step would seem to be a show called ‘Shallow Guys, Judgy Women and a Trap Door in the Floor.’
What’s great about our show is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. And seeing the power shift from guys going up and asking women on dates to women getting to sit back and watch these guys roll out one at a time and deciding whether they’re interested is just a fun twist on speed dating.
OK, burning question No. 1: Is it an actual conveyor belt?
It’s an actual conveyor belt. In fact, one of the first production issues was, “Where do we find a conveyor belt that’s big enough to carry guys on and off the stage?” Luckily, we found one.
Can it run at treadmill-like speeds in case, say, the show is running long?
It can, but we wanted to be safe with the guys. [Laughs] But we do zip them on and off. It’s a fast-moving show.
Burning question No. 2: Is there anything a guy is not allowed to do during his 60-second showcase?
We don’t want them doing anything crude or anything, but other than that we pretty much leave it up to their imagination. We’ve got everything from guys singing to reading poetry to doing magic…. It’s pretty funny to see what they come up with under this pressure of having 60 seconds to impress these beautiful girls.
If two women want the same guy, he gets to choose the one he goes with. Do the ladies then get to do anything to make their own case?
The guy can question the girls, if he wants to. Similarly, if a girl picks a guy and sets him off to the side and a “better” guy comes along and she chooses him, that first guy can speak up and say, “Wait a minute! Why did you change your mind?”
As absurd as this all sounds, one reality TV vet I spoke to said ‘Conveyor Belt of Love’ actually isn’t that far off from the likes of ‘The Dating Game’ or ‘Love Connection.’
Like I said, what’s fun about this is it transfers the power to the women, and it’s a fun way to present these guys. It’s like a sushi bar, where the sushi comes down the little belt and you get to pick.
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