The Dating Game episode with the real Rodney Alcala has resurfaced and it’s terrifying

Woman of the Hour has to be one of the most unsettling Netflix films to ever be released, but watching a fictional Rodney Alcala is nowhere near as scary as watching the real thing. The original episode of The Dating Game from 1978 has resurfaced online and the real Rodney Alcala is uncomfortable enough to have me hiding behind my screen.

Where did the resurfaced footage come from?

While directing the show, Anna Kendrick revealed they had to improvise a lot of the film because “the episode in its entirety appears to have been lost to time,” however just three days ago a YouTube video of the full episode was uploaded. The user who posted the video wrote in its caption: “Anna Kendrick said the full clip of this was ‘lost to time’ so they created their own version. I still had it on my drive [as I] used to use it for class, so I figured I’d upload it.”

The owner of the video wrote in a comment that he taught a “deviant behaviour class” and “wanted to show that serial killers can use charm as a tactic.”

The real episode of The Dating Game

via YouTube

The real life stage and setup of the show was extremely accurate to the Netflix version. The groovy flowery background, the men’s suave suits and even that annoying voice the host puts on are all copied to absolute perfection. The producers of the film need a serious pay rise!

Rodney Alcala was TERRIFYING

via YouTube

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In the resurfaced footage, Rodney Alcala was bachelor number one on The Dating Game. His answers were a lot less chivalrous than in the Netflix adaptation, and there’s something about his creepy serial killer smile that gives me shivers.

What was the real Cheryl Bradshaw like?

via YouTube / Netflix

Anna Kendrick really nailed that uncomfortable smile, because the real Cheryl Bradshaw looks just as awkward about being on the show. In Anna Kendrick’s version, she went off-script and started asking some hard-hitting questions to the bachelors that threw everybody off. However, Cheryl Bradshaw seemed to have stuck to her script and ended up asking some pretty ridiculous questions like “I am serving you for dinner. What are you called and what do you look like?”

Watch the full episode of The Dating Game on YouTube here:

Woman of the Hour is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

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