Singles get acquainted at UTV-run 'dating game'

Lights, camera, action.

On Sunday night, UTV13 — Penn’s student-run TV station — held a Valentine’s Day kickoff event in The Late Night under 1920 Commons. The event comprised two rounds of a dating game and one round of a newlywed game.

“UTV has been kind of under the radar recently,” College senior and UTV13 Vice President of Public Relations Sarah Bloom said. “This is to say ‘Hey, we’re here!’”

From behind two turntables, College senior and UTV13 President Rico Moorer, with a pick in his afro, invited the 30-some students in attendance to take their seats for the first round of The Dating Game. Three Penn bachelors sat facing the crowd, answering questions posed by College senior Eliana Turner. “I’m single. It’s Valentine’s Day. I wanted to go on a date!” she said. The winning man received a gift certificate to City Tap House to share with Turner on a Valentine’s Day date.

The second round of the game reversed the gender roles. College junior and Punchbowl Co-Editor in Chief Sean Kelly asked some head-turning questions, such as “If you had a pony, how would you cook it?” The audience and the bachelorettes laughed, and there turned out to be a method to Kelly’s madness. “I chose whichever girl was least weirded out by my sense of humor,” he said.

For The Newlywed Game, one student of each of the three pairs was asked to leave while the remaining contestants were asked a series of questions. The missing partners returned to see how many answers they could replicate. College seniors Ali Huberlie and Matt Amalfitano won the game, going undefeated. Their successful response to the craziest place they’ve “made whoopie” drew a combination of gasps and laughter, but the couple asked their answer be kept off the record.

While many students were there to support their friends in UTV13, College junior Daniel Abrams was there “to support public television,” because he “worked at PBS over the summer.”

College sophomore Dylan Egan said that although he “didn’t know UTV existed” before attending, he would start to watch if he “knew what was on and if it was funny.”

“We’ve done more today than we’ve done in two and a half years, and I’m really happy about it.” Moorer said. “I’m proud of the UTV family.”

UTV13 had planned to stream the event online but had trouble getting internet access. Moorer said the footage from the event would be online within the week.

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