Theme Song: There are a couple of original songs in here I didn’t digitize because it took me several attempts to get through this tape due to various technical issues and real-life problems. I apologize if I have failed you.
Social Context: The burgeoning home video market and the 80s dating boom resulted in a lot of singles-related video content. Plentiful were things like softcore “What do men like?” videos for women, self-help videos for men, or actual phone or video dating services for singles.
Summary: The Guaranteed Way to Pick Up Single Women taps into the self-help dating advice market with a knowing wink. Though there’s an extensive questionnaire with full metrics and results, it’s all done somewhat tongue-in-cheek. If you think that sounds exciting, it is not.
To the point that the whole thing ends up pretty boring. There are almost 50 multiple-choice questions read on screen, with non-humorous clips interjected throughout. They go on and on with the metrics about what each score means!
Finally, in the latter half, there’s a bit more of the self-help-oriented content in which they teach you things like how to listen, how to be polite, and how to not tell racist or sexist jokes. You know, 80s single-man problems.
Worth Mentioning:
– There’s a disturbing amount of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen jokes in this movie.
– Our single male host, “Ed,” is surprisingly charming. This seems to be the only credit for Canadian actor Allan Katz, who plays Ed and also co-wrote.
Poster and Box Art: The box is not that exciting. oddly it makes the claim of being a “Comedy Feature Film” which is not true.
Glad you’re back in ’24.
Every new review is a gift.
Keep it up!