CBS is getting back in the dating game.

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The network has announced it has ordered 3, a new reality dating series that will chronicle three women's attempt to find love, for broadcast this summer.

An American adaptation of Shalosh, an Israeli reality series which drew big ratings in the Middle Eastern country last summer, 3 will star three women who have never previously met and come from different ages, life experiences and backgrounds. 

However all three women will share the same goal -- to find "true love" -- and bond and emotionally support each other throughout the show's dating and decision-making process.

3 will differ significantly from established reality dating franchises like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, according CBS reality chief Jennifer Bresnan.

"3 is a relationship show that won't perpetuate a fairy tale myth about dating," Bresnan said in a statement.

"Without any typical game play, it intimately documents the search for love and the reality of dating -- the anticipation, the excitement, the rejection. Along the way, we'll see personalities who are real, and flawed and simply human."

3 is being co-produced by veteran reality producers Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth's Magical Elves production company, film producer Chris Columbus' 1492 Television production company, and Keshet Broadcasting -- which created the format overseas. 

Lipsitz, Cutforth and Columbus will serve as 3's executive producers along with Keshet Broadcasting's Avi Nir and Ami Glam.

According to CBS, Shalosh ranked as the No. 1 program in the Israeli television ratings among all shows for five of the eight weeks it aired in Israel last summer.  In addition to delivering Israel's biggest reality show launch in four years when it premiered, Shalosh's season finale also finished as the highest-rated non-live reality program since Israeli television ratings began in 1999.

Assuming it actually makes it to air, 3 will be CBS' first reality dating series since it aired Cupid nine years ago.  Produced by Simon Cowell and broadcast in Summer 2003, Cupid represented the reality titan's first attempt to cash in on his then-newfound American Idol popularity and create his own reality series.

A cross between American Idol and The Bachelor, Cupid featured bachelorette Lisa Shannon and two of her best friends attempting to find the man of Shannon's dreams.

After holding Idol-style nationwide auditions and callbacks in which interested men attempted to convince Shannon and her friends to select them as one of Shannon's 10 suitors, Cupid's bachelors were narrowed via weekly home viewer voting until only one man -- Hank Stepleton -- remained.

Shannon and Stepleton were then given the opportunity to wed immediately and receive a million-dollar "dowry" if they remained married for a year, however they declined, stating they didn't want to tie the knot instantly in a made-for-TV ceremony. 

While Cupid delivered respectful ratings-- the finale averaged 9.5 million viewers -- CBS did not renew the series for a second season.

In 2009, CBS announced it had ordered Arranged Marriage -- a reality series which would follow three couples that had wed after being matched by their friends and family -- however the series was never broadcast. 

Ironically, Arranged Marriage was also produced by Magical Elves and executive produced by Lipsitz and Cutforth.
About The Author: Steven Rogers

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