By Jamie Ruby

Tomorrow, Fox will premiere it's new reality series, Take Me Out, hosted by George Lopez. The new dating show, based on the international version, features thirty single woman, who will see several bachelors who one by one will try to make their best first impressions. The show consists of four rounds. The women will listen to the men and if they decide they are uninterested, turn their light out, which could result in a blackout. Then the bachelor will turn the women's lights off who he is not interested in, until he is down to two. He will then ask a final question and make his choice. The couple will be sent on a romantic fantasy date and report back after. Another woman is added to the twenty-nine and the group will continue to stay throughout the series, trying to find "Mr. Right."

The actor and comedian talked to the digital media about the new dating show and how the series is unique.

FOX Conference Call
Take Me Out
George Lopez

May 23, 2012
11:00 a.m. PDT

SCIFI VISION: In the press video, you said that there are four different segments to the show. Can you explain how that works and the structure of the show?

GEORGE LOPEZ: Well, I come out and then I introduce the Flirty 30, all 30 women, and they make a huge entrance walking down the stairs, which is an amazing feat in itself that they don't go down like dominos. It's impressive. It's a very powerful opening to a show. Then 15 get on one side and 15 get on the other, and in the middle is what they call the Love Lift, where the bachelor will come down and make his first appearance. They won't see this guy until he comes out of the Love Lift.

Then he greets one side and greets the other and at that point, they're looking at everything. They're looking at his shoes. You can see these—I stand back and look at what they look at. They're looking at his hair. I don't even think they know the expressions on their face, like they're like a little bit like, what, the shoes and they're critiquing this guy. Then he comes to the center, introduces himself, says, "I'm George. I'm from Los Angeles," and that's all he says.

I say, "Okay, on first impressions if you're not turned on, turn off." If he loses some people, he's lost them on first impressions, and then I go and ask the girls, "Why did you turn your light off?" Then they'll tell you what they like or dislike about that particular guy.

They do it four times in the show, so there are four bachelors, four opportunities for girls to get a date. They're quite honest and I've tried to figure it out. It becomes very psychological, because I try to figure out what they're thinking, because I know the girls and the guys don't, but I also see the guys in rehearsal. So I try to match them and play a little game within the game myself. I can't even figure it out.

SCIFI VISION: But you do interview the males and the females, right?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I do, yes, I do, so their first impressions, then you go talk to them and then you come back and you tell the guy, "Hey, man, you're doing great. You got 25 lights on," but how many lights will he have on after round two. Then round two they reveal a little bit about them personally; what they do for a living, what they like to do, what their hobbies are. Then you judge how many lights are on then.

All they need to do is keep one light on, and then there's a third round, where it's a little bit more maybe a talent or maybe something that they're interested in as a hobby. Then girls can decide while their package is being played to turn off, so it makes a sound like beuwww, so if a guy says, "The love of my life is my seven year old daughter," you'll just hear beuwww, beuwww, beuwww, and you go and talk and they'll say, "I want a guy that doesn't have a child. I want to be the most important person in his life," and you'll get to hear honestly what turns them off.

QUESTION: What would a girl like me have to do to get a date with you?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I would say you have a sense of humor, not take yourself too seriously, be honest, pick up after yourself, love to stay at home and not do much. I really don't go out a lot. So if I was playing the game myself, I know that I would probably be blacked out, which is when all the lights go out, because I don't do much in real life. I think a girl would probably say, "I need a guy that's more exciting."

QUESTION: What are some of your turnoffs?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I don't like people that are messy for one, or that are insecure. I've had an interesting life, so I'm very confident, and I don't like people who are a little bit timid and unsure. I like somebody to be sure.

QUESTION: I know you have a daughter. What would a guy have to do to impress your daughter since you mentioned a first impression is important earlier?

GEORGE LOPEZ: He would have till I'm dead to take her out, because I don't want to be alive while she's dating, so as soon as he found out that I passed, he could find his way over to the house.

One of the most difficult things, listen, one of the things that's great about Take Me Out is it's already a proven success in Europe. It's a little cheeky as they say back then it's cute. So the game comes to America and it takes a completely different format and style; same format, same game, but the answers are a little more honest, because we're a different culture in the United States. Even though the girls are very exotic and multi-cultural, they're all really looking for the same thing, but when they see it, they back away from it.

It's really very interesting to see. They'll say, "I want a guy that works out. I want a guy that's independent. I want a guy that has his own business." You'll bring that guy out and they'll say, "Well, he works too much. He won't have time for me. I want a guy that is a little bit, doesn't work out as much. When are you going to find time to fit me in?" After they had already said this is what I want. So it's great to watch, because you can watch someone say what they want and then turn their light off when you deliver that guy.

The great part is in the eight weeks, you'll see when a girl gets a date, she's gone from the show and then she get replaced, but the girls that don't get a date stay and then you get to learn more about them. So you become familiar with them and see that a guy will come down and go, "Oh, this guy is perfect for Vanessa," and then Vanessa will turn her light off. You'll say, "Why would you turn your light off?" Maybe the guy likes to skateboard or the guy does—there was a guy they didn't get a date because he lived next door to his mother. Then the girls didn't realize that he actually owned the building.

It's almost like a detective. You have to try to piece this guy together and see if you fit into each other's lives. I don't think it started out being that. I think it started out being just a show where it's fun and the guy tries to get a date, but it's very psychological as well.

QUESTION: In your role as the host/matchmaker of Take Me Out, what's your opinion on what things should a guy keep secret and what stuff should he reveal about himself when he's trying to impress a woman?

GEORGE LOPEZ: That's difficult because I see these guys walk out, the one thing that all the women have in common is, they like a guy who walks with some confidence or swagger as they say now, but there's a fine line between being arrogant. There was a guy that actually got a date that referred to himself in the third person, which was interesting, because he'd be the third wheel at his own date. So he talks about himself in the third person, which I thought would be a turnoff to everybody, but he ended up getting a date.

I don't know how the date went yet, but I think they've gone on a date, but a guy has to have some confidence, and they love a great smile. They go from posture, to confidence, to hairstyle, to clothes, to his belt, so I would say a guy would have to try to be as real as he could be, but then also confident. If he's lacking a little bit in it, they're going to find out, so he's got to be a little confident.

QUESTION: Do you have any memorable first date stories yourself, and are you hoping to pick up any dating tips as the show progresses?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I'll tell you what when I was dating, I was the king of the first date. I think I revealed too much about myself too soon, which is also a turnoff and a pet peeve to a lot of the girls, which you find out. Talking too much about oneself, or being negative when you talk, or revealing too much too soon or becoming too attached to soon, which is also one of my traits that didn't work out.

QUESTION: How do you think guys really feel about powerful, secure, fierce women? Do you think they find that it emasculates them, or do they feel like, "Wow, check me out, I got her?"

GEORGE LOPEZ: I would like to think that most guys would be "Check me out, I got her," a strong independent own voice structurally sound in her life. I believe a guy would be confident enough to be secure with that. Unfortunately, I don't believe that's the case.

I think guys are threatened by a woman with a strong opinion, and/or that it instead of flourishing with a woman like that where you say, "I have an equal that challenges me," I think a lot of guys would wilt under that personality. So unfortunately, even competitively if a guy bowls with a girl and the girl is good, the guy wants to win and get to say when he loses where he really should say, "Listen, I think it's great that we competed and you beat me. That we can go out and have a good time, and I don't have to be the winner every time."

QUESTION: What describes something really fun - what's a fun date? What was your most memorable fun date, whether it turned out to be a good laugh, or "we're never doing this again," but it was funny?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I went to the Renaissance Fair one time; that was interesting. I think I ate one of those huge turkey legs, got sick and then I had to go to Ye, everything was Ye, Ye Medical Center or something like that. Yes, but I didn't feel comfortable in modern times. I really didn't feel comfortable in the Renaissance era.

I believe the girl got jealous because there was so much cleavage, because back then everything was tied down that she was a little bit jealous of the fact that I was looking at women from that era and their dresses.

QUESTION: If you're on a date and she says, "I want to go to the amusement park, and I want to do bumper cars, and I want to go go-carting." What's your first take on it, take her out or never mind ...?

GEORGE LOPEZ: I would take her out.

QUESTION: There's a bunch of new dating shows starting up this summer, and as we all know, the longtime running Bachelor and Bachelorette series has started again. How important do you think it is for shows to differ from this sort of same old pattern of one girl or one man picking from a huge crop of people? How important do you think it is to differ from that sort of stereotype that's been set out?

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes, those shows, I've watched The Bachelor this season. I'm a friend of the creator. I had gotten away from it a little bit, but when I was at ABC, I watched it a lot. That was a whole season of revelations and revealing a little bit about somebody, and who you like, and who you don't like in through 24 weeks or so.

Take Me Out is four individually wrapped guys in one hour, so you don't have to stay involved or connected the whole season when in an hour, you can see four different guys and four types of guys. Then maybe a guy will get a date, and maybe a guy will get blacked out, which is when all the lights go off. The guy has to then leave walking up the stairs the girls had just walked down while the whole audience, 500+ and 30 girls, sing "All By Myself" waving their arms.

So a lot of those other shows don't have something like that, but it tells you, because there are so many cooking shows and people eat and they survive, hundreds of them. Dating as well, everybody is trying to find the right match; whether it's on the Internet, or dating services, or learning something from dating shows, or seeing something that's familiar to you, or unfamiliar. I think Take Me Out can be a little bit of a tutorial on how to make an impression the first time somebody sees you.

QUESTION: What kind of contestants can we expect to see on the show? Are there any characters we can look forward to?

GEORGE LOPEZ: Yes, there's a few characters. There's some that are very tall. There's some that are short that are really hard on guys for their appearance and they don't look like they'll ever get a date. Then there's some surprises where girls you don't think would get picked would get picked.

For me doing the show, it didn't happen in all the dates, but when a guy is honest and the girl is honest, and they make an initial connection if they look at each other, the guy will say I noticed her noticing me from the start. I stand in the middle of the guy and the girl and you can actually feel the chemistry between the two people. It's wild, because you can't see it, but I can feel the connection between two people.

SCIFI VISION: To clarify, whenever the girls are choosing to turn the lights on or off, can the man see who does and their reactions, or can they not see each other?

GEORGE LOPEZ: Oh no, the guys can. Yes, the guys can, because the guys are standing in front of them the whole time. While their packages are playing where they're revealing themselves about their life, the girls are standing in front of them, and they can actually see the lights go off or stay on.

SCIFI VISION: Are we going to get to see the date in the same episode, or will you have to wait to find out what happens?

GEORGE LOPEZ: You don't see the date in the same episode, but you will see it in the next episode because they get picked, then they go on a date. I think maybe the way that we shot it, because we've already finished the A episodes and they've already gone on dates. I believe the first show will have parts of the actual dates of the contestants in it, which is nice to see. It's a little bit of what made Love Connection so great, but on a larger scale.

SCIFI VISION: How do they pick the actual dates? Is that something the show does, or do the couple decide where they're going? How does that work?

GEORGE LOPEZ: No, there's a thing called the Take Me Out resort that I don't think I'm able to say where it is, but it's a resort that's in California that's very romantic and has great restaurants and pools and a night club action and a little bit of recreational stuff. They can go hiking and they can golf and they can play tennis all at the same place. Then in one day, they follow them through the day.