History Main / DatingServiceDisaster

* Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" is about a pair of bored lovers who secretly arrange to date other people via newspaper ads; to their surprise, they discover that they're cheating on each other ''with'' each other. The various violations of conventional morality, not to mention simple logic, implied in this song were heavily deconstructed in [[http://www.mst3kinfo.com/ward_e/Bit421b.html a particularly memorable sketch]] on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Note that this eventually [[LifeImitatesArt happened in real life]]. Unlike the song, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome both spouses sued each other for infidelity]].

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' used this trope twice (possibly three times) with Ted. The first time Ted went to a matchmaking agency with a 100% success rate, it turns out they literally have ''no'' women compatible with Ted. The second time the same agency gets back to him with a perfect match, but he passes up the date for another shot at the WillTheyOrWontThey relationship with Robin. The third time Ted meets a woman online who turns out so far into the crazy end of the Hot-Crazy Scale; in a twist at the end, it's revealed that she and Ted "met online" while playing ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

* Another OlderThanTheyThink example: Multiple variants of the trope in ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' (1970) - although the "computer" in this case is a very impressive wall of tape reels and blinking lights ... behind which is the Sophie Bliss with a card index. The main plot is that she intentionally sets up Bertram Muffet, a rather hapless customer with her "husband" Sidney's bit on the side, Esme Crowfoot.

* In an issue of ''Weapon X'', there are hints that Victor Creed, aka {{ComicBook/Sabretooth}}, has a dating profile. The guy used to be a serial killer, cannibal, and possibly rapist, during his evil days. He's been inverted into a good guy, but he's still very feral and still seems to like eating live prey. ComicBook/OldManLogan mentions being able to smell lies. He asks if Creed has a dating profile. Creed claims he knows nothing about dating profiles and tells Logan to shut up. Logan once again mentions smelling his lies.

* ''Series/{{Ghosts}}'': Jay first learns about what Trevor looks like when his sister accidentally matches with the late stockbroker.

If you meet a love interest over the internet by chance rather than through a dating agency, the results will be similar, especially if the producers want to drop the NewMediaAreEvil {{anvil|icious}}. This trope was particularly prevalent in TheNineties when the Internet started making its way into everyday life, but few people online had pictures of themselves because digital cameras were expensive and not yet a standard feature on cell phones, and not everyone had access to a scanner for paper photos. Nowadays, someone not having a clear photo of their face is a blatant sign that they're hiding something. But as shown earlier, even a picture can be misleading or BlatantLies, and doesn't reveal the person's true intentions or personality.

* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' WesternAnimation, [[{{Series}} TV Series]], and ComicBooks.): [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] and [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]] with You+Me=LOVE! that both Danny and Tucker sign up for.

* ''Series/{{MADtv}}''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Another OlderThanTheyThink example: Multiple variants of the trope in ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' (1970) -- although the "computer" in this case is a very impressive wall of tape reels and blinking lights ... behind which is the manager's wife with a card index. The main plot is that she intentionally sets up the first hapless customer with her husband's girlfriend.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' has the episode "2 Shy", in which a serial killer is finding his victims/food via dating sites.

* ''Series/Ghosts'': Jay first learns about what Trevor looks like when his sister accidentally matches with the late stockbroker.

* Raven and Eddie are matched up on ''Series/ThatsSoRaven''.

* ''Film/YouveGotMail'' is based on the much older film ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'', which was released in 1940, in which two anonymous pen pals fall in love with each other without realizing that they hate each other in real life.
* ''Film/TheShopAroundTheCorner'' was first remade as ''Film/InTheGoodOldSummertime'' with Judy Garland and Van Johnson.

* In the ''Series/AdamTwelve'' episode "Northwest Division," a computer dating service pairs a woman who self-describes as shy and retiring with a man who says he works as a test pilot. They learn the truth about each other when she loudly and angrily pickets the grocery store where he works as a manager.

* [[{{Catfishing}} Someone whose profile picture shows them as very attractive]], but when you meet them in person, [[{{Gonk}} they are anything but]]. The photo may be from when they were significantly [[IWasQuiteALooker younger]] and/or [[FormerlyFit thinner]][[note]]Because TechnologyMarchesOn, you can sometimes tell when a photo is older by the lower resolution[[/note]], professionally taken, or that one flattering selfie out of dozens. In some cases, it's not even them in the photo, but a prettier relative, friend, or even a model gleaned off the internet.

* A joke about a young woman putting in an ad for a boyfriend, listing all her qualities. She asks her mother whether anyone answered, and she replies "Just one, your father!".

* In ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' a filing error in the personal ads department resulted in a [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_328.php kangaroo rat and a kangaroo going out]]. Things worked out pretty well for them, as they're the parents of a major character (and his seven siblings), but probably not so well for the kiwi and Komodo dragon.

* In the ''Webcomic/{{Insecticomics}}'', Bombshell sets up 'Dr. Shell's Love Connection", mostly for kicks. He hooks up Vector Prime with Hotshot (who Vector Prime hates)...and Vector Prime later goes on about how wonderful the evening was. [[spoiler: He's lying, though.]]

* Websites exist to chronicle RealLife examples of this sort of thing. Like ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'', they tend to thrive on user submissions. Examples include ''[[http://www.abadcaseofthedates.com/ A Bad Case of the Dates]]'' and ''[[http://www.datingfails.com/ Dating Fails]]''.

OlderThanTheyThink, with pre-Internet computer dating and video dating services, as well as newspaper "lonely hearts" sections, [[UsefulNotes/NineHundredNumber 1-900 premium rate]] dating phone lines, and old brick-and-mortar dating services providing examples for this trope. The assumption delivered by these tropes--that normal people can find dates just fine; only weirdos, creeps, lunatics, and other folks with insurmountable character derangements would need to resort to "artificial" ways of meeting people--also fed neatly with the perception that everyone on the Internet is a weirdo creep lunatic to begin with, allowing an even wider range of absurdity. Today, the stigma surrounding online dating isn't quite as strong as before, especially among LGBT people with more limited options than straights. Current stories invoking this trope are less "Beware the anonymous" and more "If it looks and sounds too good to be true, it probably is" or "If you look at everything through rose-colored glasses, those red flags look like ordinary flags." For those who still want a dose of uninformed dating calamity to infuse into their tales, the BlindDate trope is as strong as ever.

* [[{{Catfishing}} Someone whose profile picture shows them as very attractive]], but when you meet them in person, [[{{Gonk}} they are anything but]]. The photo may be from when they were significantly [[IWasQuiteALooker younger]] and/or [[FormerlyFit thinner]][[note]]Because TechnologyMarchesOn, you can sometimes tell when a photo is older by the lower resolution[[/note]], professionally taken, or that one flattering selfie out of dozens. In some cases it's not even them in the photo, but a prettier relative, friend, or even a model gleaned off the internet.

If you meet a love interest over the internet by chance rather than through a dating agency, the results will be similar, especially if the producers want to drop the NewMediaAreEvil {{anvil|icious}}. This trope was particularly prevalent in TheNineties when the Internet started making its way into everyday life, but few people online had pictures of themselves because digital cameras were expensive and not yet standard feature on cell phones, and not everyone had access to a scanner for paper photos. Nowadays, someone not having a clear photo of their face is a blatant sign that they're hiding something. But as shown earlier, even a picture can be misleading or BlatantLies, and doesn't reveal the person's true intentions or personality.

* In ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures: Avengers'' Hawkeye signs on to a dating service online, but finds filling out all the personal info too much work, so he decides to upload his personal info from the Avengers' database instead. However, he succeeds in uploading ''everyone's'' personal info, and the Avengers are swamped with people who claim to have dates with them. The owner is an ex-supervillain (Batroc) who delightfully refuses to take down the info unless they comply, since it is good PR for his site to have celebrities using it.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel: In ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' Beast breaks up with Storm, fearing that Xavier is messing with her mind so that she loves him, and so he stays at the school. He seeks some new girlfriend on the internet, and starts chatting with "Mutantchick", a mutant model wannabe. Actually, it's the Blob, from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, who loves playing those pranks in his free time. But when Beast shares the secret that Xavier did not kill Magneto, that he's alive and brainwashed... it's finally the time to arrange a date.

** Played straight with Tucker who gets paired up with mean, unattractive or just plain weird girls as a RunningGag.

* Exploited by the movie ''Film/{{Sneakers}}''. To infiltrate a secure facility, the team finds an employee who's been looking for love online and sends the protagonist's ex-girlfriend to go on a date with him so she can steal his ID card and record a voice sample to access the guy's room. He gets suspicious, takes her to his office and alerts the villain. She tries to talk her way out of it and seems to have succeeded. As the villain walks away, she humphs that this is the last computer date ''she's'' ever going on. At which point he stops, turns round and says, "A computer matched ''her'' with ''him''? I don't think so..." and ''knows'' something's up...

* ''Film/OtherHalves'' is about the creation of a dating app the unleashes the user's id, for good or for ill.

* ''Series/{{The Odd Couple|1970}}'': before the internet -- before PC's even -- there was computer dating, [[OlderThanTheyThink believe it or not]]. In a episode which aired circa 1971, Oscar signs up with a computer dating service and embellishes his bio. He winds up matched with Felix's ex-wife.

* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'': Drew meets a woman online and engages with cybersex with her, only to discover later it's his archnemesis, Mimi. Drew comforts Mimi (in real life) after her mysterious beau ditches her and disappears.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' used this trope twice (possibly three times) with Ted. The first time Ted went to a matchmaking agency with a 100% success rate, but it turns out they literally have ''no'' women compatible with Ted. The second time the same agency gets back to him with a perfect match, but he passes up the date for another shot at the WillTheyOrWontThey relationship with Robin. The third time Ted meets a woman online who turns out so far into the crazy end of the Hot-Crazy Scale; in a twist at the end it's revealed that she and Ted "met online" while playing ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

* ''Series/TheNakedCity'' in another pre-internet example, has an episode in which a woman uses a lonely hearts dating service that didn't do a good job of checking its applicants backgrounds and sets her up with a philandering married man.
* Before the Internet, and [=PCs=] and computer dating, there were dating services. In ''Series/GeorgeAndTheDragon'', both George and Gabriella (Dragon), while not enemies, at least opposites, use a dating service to meet someone else. When they go to meet their dates, they find out they've been matched with some nice dates. However those dates walk out with each other, leaving only George and Gabriella.

* The whole point of the documentary ''Film/{{Catfish}}'' and the [[Series/CatfishTheTVShow TV series]] it was made into is about deceptive online relationships. While the movie doesn't fit this trope, the show does. The show features people who are in long-term online relationships with people they've never met or seen in person. In some cases they've never even talked on the phone. Usually the person is revealed to be a lot uglier or a different gender than their profile pictures. Also, often the person being profiled by the show is stupid enough to give gifts to this person they've never met, in some cases even paying for expensive plane tickets or paying bills for this person.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' has an episode where [=McGee=] found his idea woman online while [=DiNozzo=] eggs him on about how she's not real or really a man. When [=McGee=] asks to meet her in real life, she never shows up and makes an excuse about not being able to meet. It turns out that the woman is actually [=DiNozzo=] trolling [=McGee=] (revealed to Ziva by [=DiNozzo=]) and kept on egging him, but begins to feel guilty because [=McGee=] refuses to give up on his mystery online perfect woman until at the end of the episode, he begins to act nice to [=McGee=] and returns money that he owes him which he never intended to return. It turns out that [=McGee=] knew all along and kept up the loyalty to troll [=DiNozzo=] back.

* On ''Series/TheMindyProject'', Mindy makes eye contact with an attractive guy on the subway (or as Peter put it, she "eye banged" him). The next day she sees a personal ad from the guy, named Andy. She begins e-mailing Andy back and forth. Turns out that it's Danny, who she has had a WillTheyOrWontThey relationship with, pretending to be the guy she saw on the subway. He briefly ends up in a TwoPersonLoveTriangle when Mindy decides that she should give up on him and pursue "Andy". This causes him to chicken out on meeting her like he planned. When Mindy confronts "Andy" on the subway, Danny is forced to reveal that it was him sending the e-mails. Things end up working out for them in the end.

* In the ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' episode [[Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS05E05TheWaitressIsGettingMarried "The Waitress Is Getting Married,"]] Mac and Dennis create a Match.com profile for [[CloudCuckoolander Charlie]]. Although he uses [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/itsalwayssunny/images/6/6f/Third.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110903203241 this]] as his avatar and gives nonsensical answers for his profile (favorite food: "milksteak," hobby: "magnets," likes: "little green ghouls"), he somehow manages to get a date with a lawyer. At the restaurant, he eats an entire block of cheese before the date, sweats profusely through his shirt, is bleeding all over his face due to hornet stings, attempts to lie that he's a philanthropist but mispronounces it as "full-on rapist," and then grabs his date's breasts when instructed to "make a move." Needless to say, the date doesn't go well.

* In the ''Series/MannAndMachine'' episode "The Dating Game," Eve signs up for a video dating service because three of its female users have been murdered. Before she finds the culprit, the prime suspect tries to rape her. She easily fights him off, but is still shaken by the experience.
* At least one killer on ''Series/CriminalMinds'' used a dating site to select his victims. Specifically, a "discrete" dating site catering to married people who want to cheat on their spouses. Yes, such sites are TruthInTelevision, and no, if you were wondering, he wasn't a moral enforcer. He was married himself.
* ''Series/{{Vera}}'': In "Darkwater", Vera discovers that the VictimOfTheWeek has been using to a local message board to catfish his bullies by thinking they were communicating with a HotTeacher. This suddenly changes the nature of the case, as Vera realises he was not only the victim, but also a perpetrator.

** Near the end of the series, Frasier accidentally finds himself at the door of a dating service called 'Charlotte's Web' (mistaking it for his office). He begrudgingly agrees to try the service. His dates include: a creationist, a horny lush, a wigged taxidermist, a pig-tailed woman wearing a loud tunic of plaid quilts, and a teenager with a fake ID. It turns out these are the only women the matchmaker Charlotte has to offer. But in a surprising turn, Frasier finds himself drawn to Charlotte instead.

* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Half of episode 2 is about Seli, Neneng and Rais trying out a dating app called [[BlandNameProduct Minder]]. Seli keeps getting matched up with someone pretending to be rich while Neneng and Rais get matched up with unattractive people using a fake, fancy name, including each other.

* In ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'', Lucas tries to use this, but he is repelled by the first photograph he sees (saying that it's hard not to judge a book from the cover when it's made of fur). Then, Zeke decides to play a practical joke on Lucas and sets him on a date with a girl that is slightly fat... but, in the end, she turns out to be a beautiful girl (she was wearing a fat-suit).

* Websites exists to chronicle RealLife examples of this sort of thing. Like ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'', they tend to thrive on user submissions. Examples include ''[[http://www.abadcaseofthedates.com/ A Bad Case of the Dates]]'' and ''[[http://www.datingfails.com/ Dating Fails]]''.

* WebVideo/DrewGooden parodies the concept of catfishing in one Vine, where he received a picture of [[Film/HighSchoolMusical Ryan Evans]], and was utterly disappointed to discover his date was actually an attractive woman.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' had an episode revolving around a dating service during the early days of the trend. The duo watch a Geraldo special on the concept, one of the guests being interviewed is shown blacked out and talking about great the service is because all he had to do was call the service and they'd "send him another victim". Ironically, Beavis and Buttheads attempt at using the service turns out great, Butthead's video (where he just talks about being a "sex machine") ends up intriguing a very attractive woman, and Beavis somehow manages to charm the ''service provider'', also rather attractive, who mistakes his aimless rambling for deep thoughts. Unfortunately, by the time they get back home they've forgotten the whole thing and end up blowing each others' chances.
* The ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' episode "[=BoJack=] Hates the Troops" has a subplot about [[WeirdnessMagnet Todd Chavez]] finding a pretty, charming Japanese girl named Ayako online. But it soon turns out that [[BitchInSheepsClothing she's really a]] [[ConArtist con woman working in an office full of them]] who only wants to drain all the money from his bank account - and she's disappointed that her take was so small for the amount of time she put into him.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has done several cutaway gags, most notably one about hooking up with someone over Craigslist (a dangerous proposition even in the best case scenario).
--> *a portly, slovenly man rings a doorbell and is met with an equally slovenly woman. Both speak simultaneously* "You don't look anything like the photo. Oh well, lets get this over with".

** Another episode had a cutaway about Brian on one of these. Turns out it was a disappointment on both sides. Brian was disappointed that his date was a rather dull-looking middle aged woman (she claimed the photo was old), and she was disappointed [[HypocriticalHumor that Brian wasn't a golden retriever]] (he stammers out that he's a mix breed).

* In a lighter version of the above (as seen to the right), [[InterspeciesRomance an animal]].

--> '''Groundskeeper Willie:''' Och! Back to the loch with you, Nessie!

* An [[MailerDaemon inhuman monster]], especially [[LiteralManeater one who'll literally eat your heart out]].

* The whole point of the documentary ''Film/{{Catfish}}'' and the [[Series/CatfishTheTVShow TV series]] it was made into is about deceptive online relationships. While the movie doesn't fit this trope, the show does. The show features people who are in long-term online relationships with people they've never met or seen in person. In some cases they've never even talked on the phone. Usually the person is revealed to be a lot uglier or a different gender than their profile pictures. Also, often the person being profiled by the show is [[WhatAnIdiot stupid enough]] to give gifts to this person they've never met, in some cases even paying for expensive plane tickets or paying bills for this person.

* ''Literature/NakedCity'' in another pre-internet example, has an episode in which a woman uses a lonely hearts dating service that didn't do a good job of checking its applicants backgrounds and sets her up with a philandering married man.