Jennifer Flannery to appear on TLC’s “A Dating Story” at the end of the month.
By Crystal Luong
Staff Writer
The military-gray SF-260 fighter planes soar parallel in the blue sky toward each other. The distance between them diminishes within seconds as the pilots prepare for a quick maneuver. It’s time for a dogfight, complete with all the thrills and aerobatics. There are strategies, spins, sharp turns, drops and circles.
Does it sound like a scene from “Top Gun?”
On the contrary, it’s a scene from The Learning Channel’s (TLC) “A Dating Story.”
This episode of “A Dating Story” features Pepperdine senior Jennifer Flannery and Joel Beckman, a student at Moorpark College, on a date at Air Combat USA in Fullerton, Calif.
Philadelphia-based TLC came to Pepperdine in search of a female marine biology major for the show. Dr. Karen Martin referred Flannery, a biology major with a marine biology emphasis, and, after some convincing by family and friends, Flannery agreed to take up the blind date offer.
“I’m not the type of person who would like to have my life filmed, especially this aspect of dating,” said Flannery, who is the photo editor of the Graphic. “However, it was a really good learning experiencing. I think I really lucked out because Joel is an awesome guy.”
In the days preceding the big date, local camera crews documented Flannery’s life on campus.
“We wanted to depict who she was and what she was about,” said Andrea Levine, associate producer of Banyan Productions.
“We’re The Learning Channel,” she continued. “We want to learn about real people. We’re not looking for actors and actresses. It’s reality television at its best.”
Cameras captured shots of Flannery in class, in her lab coat, as a photographer for the Graphic and as a girl just hanging out with her friends.
By the time the actual date came around, Flannery was accustomed to the cameras following her around.
“You’re on the date, but you’re also getting to know the person off camera,” Flannery said. “The crew moves the sets and cameras around a lot. You do the date when you’re on camera, but then they say cut and then you’re sitting around with the guy and just chatting. It’s a date cut into pieces.”
Flannery got ready for her date on the morning of Sept. 29.
“I spent a lot of time thinking,” she said. “Before the date my friend Shannon and I went to the beach and just relaxed and talked about the date to get in the mood so I wouldn’t be nervous.
“I didn’t have extremely high expectations,” Flannery continued. “I didn’t want to be disappointed, but he met my expectations. He was a good guy and had goals and passions that were very similar to mine.”
The date began at a coffee shop in Fullerton.
“We weren’t allowed to see each other until the moment that we met on camera,” Flannery said. “Joel was very gentleman-like, very good looking, the perfect height for me and we could talk really easily with each other.”
To get the conversations rolling, TLC provided Flannery and Beckman with dog tags containing interesting facts about each other.
“One said, ‘Get to know Jennifer,’ ” Flannery said. “The other one said, ‘Get to know Joel.’ There were different facts we were supposed to ask each other, which was fun. His said that he loves Rosie, a baboon that he works with through his exotic animals program, and he has a teeth fetish. It also said that he’d lived as a beach bum for awhile in San Diego.”
Following the get-to-know each other session, the couple headed to Air Combat USA where they suited up in pilot gear and underwent training to fly fighter jets. In the air, Flannery and Beckman controlled the aircraft with a co-pilot who oversaw the operations. For the most part, they completed all the maneuvers on their own.
“It’s really intense,” Flannery said. “We were flying up and down and in circles. The view was amazing. We flew over Knotts Berry Farm, Long Beach and then over ocean where it was just gorgeous.
“It was a lot of fun to watch Joel and his plane,” she continued. “He did a lot of flips. Joel won two of the dogfighting games and I won one. The flying was the highlight of the date. It was definitely a bonding experience. When we came down, just talking and laughing about it was cool.”
Now in its fourth season, each episode of “A Dating Story” seeks to introduce people of different occupations and lifestyles, according to Levine. Couples are typically matched by the show’s staff and booked by phone.
“What makes this show different from the other dating shows out there is that it’s true reality TV,” Levine said. “It’s G-family rated and in documentary style. We don’t try to create situations or put anyone in an uncomfortable situation.”
Flannery and Beckman’s date was planned a month ahead of time and took about two weeks for producers to put together. Flying out to the West Coast to film this episode, the producers sought to create a unique, atypical date.
Dogfighting was certainly something Flannery said she wouldn’t have tried if it were not for TLC.
So what normally results from the show’s dates?
“We try to make good matches and we’ve had success,” Levine said. “We’ve had couples that have been together five to six months already.”
Updates of each couple are posted online at TLC’s Web site www.tlc.discovery.com.
For Flannery and Beckman, the date ended with a hug and an exchange of phone numbers. So what’s next for these two?
“A second date,” Flannery confirms with a smile.
The show airs weekdays at 1 and 1:30 p.m. on TLC.
Flannery’s episode is scheduled for late October.
October 03, 2002
