Somewhere between Blind Date and NEXT on the hierarchy of trashy early aughts dating shows you’ll find ElimiDATE. The syndicated reality show in which a contestant goes on a date with four potential suitors at the same time before selecting a match premiered in September 2001 and ran until May 2006.
Over that nearly five-year run, the series aired more than 850 episodes. Initially, ElimiDATE shot all its episodes in the expected cities of New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Soon, the show expanded its shooting locations to other markets, including a batch of episodes that were filmed right here in Milwaukee and featured a pool of locally-sourced contestants/suitors.
Though we’ll admit that we watched ElimiDATE from time to time during its heyday, we honestly had no memory of any episodes taking place in Milwaukee. Recently, a friend of the site shared a recollection from one of those ElimiDATE episodes. While we were unable to find the specific installment he had mentioned, we did find a bunch of other Milwaukee episodes…all of which we happily watched in their entirety.
If you so dare, take a trip back to early 2000s Milwaukee and marvel at the nightlife, the fashion, the poorly-aged trash talk, the varying thickness of Wisconsin accents, and the alcohol/testosterone-fueled competition that took place in these seven salacious and downright crazy ElimiDATE episodes. We’ve included each below along with some episode highlights and points of local interest. And if you were on any of these episodes, reach out! We’d love to hear about the experience.
Summerfest
Tina (who sells ads in the Yellow Pages by day and parties hard at night) isn’t looking for Mr. Right. She just wants Mr. Right Now. She meets four guys at Summerfest for a day of drinking, carnival games, drinking, dancing, and drinking. One of the guys “macks for sport” and still calls kissing “frenching.” Another is a beer-pounding bartender at Joe’s K Ranch that’s repeatedly called “Cudahy” by a crotch rocket-riding “banker/bouncer” who makes out with Tina in front of a bunch of kids by the Summerfest fountain.
Fat Daddy’s / Riverwalk
Liz, a math major who can delete beers with the best of ’em, meets four fellas for drinks and some underwear sand volleyball at Fat Daddy’s. Later, she takes the remaining suitors for a stroll on the Riverwalk where kissing and dissing ensue. One of the guys jumps into the river in an effort to win Liz’s affection. It does not work.
SafeHouse
Jay is a bartender from Milwaukee and probably the most cringe-inducing ElimiDATE contestant we’ve ever seen. He meets four women at SafeHouse. Later, the date moves to Park Bar (“the hottest club in town”), where the self-described “Jedi piiiimp!” kisses every remaining girl (or, as he puts it, “tastes every flavor”) and enthusiastically licks the navel of a feisty forklift opperator before making his final decision. It’s honestly all so bad that one person even eliminates herself from the date.
Downtown / Henry’s
Joe is a landscaper with a pierced tongue. He meets four women with drastically different personalities for drinks and snacks at two long-gone downtown establishments (Rudy’s and Brew City Bar-B-Que). After an uncharacteristically kind elimination of one competitor, the remaining group rides the Milwaukee Trolly—which apparently existed at some point?—to the still-very-existent Henry’s for more flirting before the final two women get the invite to see Joe’s shot glass collection at his nearby apartment. This episode stands out because, beyond a few insults here and there, everyone seemed relatively nice, respectful, and reserved…at least by ElimiDATE standards.
Third Ward
Self-proclaimed “shot girl” Lisa meets an eclectic quartet of guys for beers and bro-ish behavior at Milwaukee Ale House, then goes to a restaurant called Sauce where she’s elevated, serenaded, and (sort of) kissed. Later, one guy gets naked in a hot tub and throws his clothes over the side of the building. Oh, and just be warned that there are some very dated/horrible things said in this episode.
Landmark Lanes / North Ave.
Dawn works hard for a bottled water company, but when she’s off the clock, she’s ready to party and show her wild side. She gets four dudes to join her at Landmark Lanes, where they sip beer and cocktails (and a wine cooler, in one instance) before they hit the lanes so Dawn can check out their butts. After the one guy with any semblance of personality—and yeah, very questionable facial hair—is dismissed, the date moves to the pre-burned-down Pizza Man where things get graphic with pizza sauce. Finally, the last two guys take turns kissing and dry-humping Dawn at pre-burned-down North Ave. bar Cush before she eventually picks the man who can best match her freak.
Bastille Days
Okay, this one is pretty tough to watch.
Bonus Clip (Riverwalk)
We can’t find this full episode, but if you need more Milwaukee-centric ElimiDATE in your life, here’s a short clip from a portion of an episode that was shot on the Riverwalk outside of Rock Bottom Brewery.