PAGE 2 • TV
THE BULLETIN • JUNE 10 - 16, 2021
BY JAY BOBBIN
Michael Bolton co-hosts “The
Celebrity Dating Game,”
premiering Monday on ABC.
Michael Bolton sings
a different tune with
‘The Celebrity Dating Game’
If you think Michael Bolton will co-host “The Celebrity Dating
Game” without crooning to the contestants, forget it.
The long-popular, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter starts
a new chapter by joining “New Girl” alum Zooey Deschanel
to host ABC’s new take on a classic game show premiering
Monday, June 14. The idea is the same, with someone choosing
between three contenders ... who won’t know the identity of their
question-asker unless, or until, they can guess it from musical
clues supplied by Bolton. First up to do the picking: former
“Bachelorette” Hannah Brown and actress-comedian Nicole Byer.
Also an executive producer of the show, Bolton explains he
wants to “connect the dots” between music and other kinds of
entertainment now. “That was part of this offer, then the music
became front-and-center. And I realized, as I was doing it, that
I was accepting an invitation to bring bits and pieces of songs
I’ve loved my whole life – and of a couple that I’ve written and
produced, ones that were hits for me. It was a lot of fun doing it,
with a lot of talented people to work with.”
Citing Deschanel as one of those people, Bolton is grateful
for her participation: “I know she has a beautiful voice and loves
music, but in a way, she’s doing the heavy lifting here. To stand
in front of my own audience is fun and easy, but speaking to
an audience that hasn’t been holding tickets waiting to see me
for six months to a year, it’s a matter of keeping them engaged.
Zooey is so good and so comfortable with that; She’s adorable and
she lights up a stage, and it would be so much work for me to
introduce the contestants and make it feel like I wasn’t reading.”
Celebrities have sampled the “Dating Game” premise before,
though they weren’t necessarily stars at the time. John Ritter,
Farrah Fawcett, Ron Howard, Sally Field and (twice) Tom Selleck
were on the original 1965-73 ABC version of the show hosted by
Jim Lange.
With a catalog of enduring hits ranging from “How Am I
Supposed to Live Without You?” to “Love Is a Wonderful Thing,”
Bolton – who has been working on a new album – is following
television-series guest shots (“Two and a Half Men,” “Glee”) and
appearances in commercials with “The Celebrity Dating Game.”
“Being backstage for this was one of the first times I’ve felt
comfortable in a year,” he attests, having been off the concert
circuit because of the coronavirus pandemic. “The most difficult
thing about this was forgetting the songs I know (for the show’s
parody versions). I was unlearning things I’ve known for 30 or 40
years.”
Guide to the TV grids
TV Ratings:
‘G’: General audience
‘Y’: Young children
‘7’: Children over 7
‘14’: Children over 14
‘PG’: Parental guidance
‘M’: Mature audience only
PA: Parental advisory
DVS: Descriptive video service
EI: Educational/instructional
D: Dialogue
L: Language
S: Sexual situations
V: Violence
Common symbols :
HD scheduling, please
note:
’:I n stereo
Å: Closed captioning
iTV: Interactive TV program
N: Program is new
Schedules are based on standard-
definition (SD) channels. High-
definition (HD) channels may vary
by three hours when a West Coast
programming feed is not available to
your TV provider. Please refer to your
provider’s interactive TV guide for
detailed HD channel schedules.
For a list of cable and over-the-air
channels by zip code, as well
up-to-the-minute TV programming,
please visit www.bendbulletin.
com/tv. For questions or feedback
please call The Bulletin Circulation
Department at 541-385-5800.