Speedie Date: Romantic Dramedy In 5 Minutes Or Less

Speed dating seems to be one of the cruelest exercises that a single person can put themselves through, but even the most content single guy or gal can’t deny that there’s some appeal to the concept. After all, if the search for true love comes down to trying to find the right person, then meeting a whole bunch of people at once should be the easiest solution. Right?

Well, the creators of Speedie Date must think that’s not the case, because great comedy — or drama — depends on the path not being quite so smooth. The new Strike.TV series, launching this week, promises 10 episodes of awkward conversation between odd characters, running weekly until February. The premise is a great framework for a low-budget, one-location shoot, making good production value easy to achieve and putting the show’s emphasis on its acting, writing and directing.

And fortunately Speedie Date has some quality talent in front of and behind the camera — As per the Strike.TV mandate to bring pro writers to the web, director Kristiina Hackel and writer Lorin Wertheimer are both industry vets with a handful of credits. Wertheimer, in particular, has years of experience as a writer for both soap operas and primetime, and the script for Episode 1 is polished to a high gloss. Mike (Phil Abrams), an accountant who knows the ropes, immediately starts to list his basic life stats with Heather (Rebecca Lowman), a newbie to the speed-dating world, who doesn’t hesitate to share what she thinks of the experience. It amounts to a well-written two-hander — the sort of small-scale drama that plays nicely in small screens. It helps that Hackel’s direction focuses on actor close-ups, maintaining the short as a literal tête-à-tête.

Future episodes will feature new couples trying to make a connection — and, according to Hackel via email, a second season would show what happens in the next round of dates: “So you’d get to see how all the characters we’ve introduced fare with each other throughout the night.” This may present a difficulty for viewers: As most ongoing shows find their narrative drive in a central protagonist, by Episode 3 or 4 Speedie Date as a series could begin to feel disconnected. But the promise of its format, the quality of its execution, and the guarantee of more episodes (which is not something you can always say about a Strike.TV series) — makes it one to watch.