Everything You Need to Know About the True Story of the ‘Dating Game Killer’ Who Inspired the New Netflix Movie ‘Woman of the Hour’

• The new Netflix film, “Mulher da Hora”, is based on a true story about serial killer Rodney Alcala.

• In real life, Alcala competed on “The Dating Game” and won a date with single Cheryl Bradshaw.

• Bradshaw refused to go on the date because he found Alcala scary.

The chilling true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala competing in (and winning) an episode of the reality show “The Dating Game” is the basis of the new Netflix film, “Woman of the Hour.”

“Woman of the Hour,” starring Anna Kendrick as Sheryl and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney, is a fictional retelling of Cheryl Bradshaw’s encounter with Alcala in an episode of the aforementioned ABC dating show.

The film is the latest to feed the public’s appetite for true crime and Netflix’s reputation as a hub for true-crime documentaries and dramas. Most recently, the streamer found success with Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story,” which topped Luminate’s weekly original streaming viewership rankings with 2.7 billion minutes watched during its first full week on Netflix.

“Mulher da Hora”, which is also Kendrick’s directorial debut, changes some details of the story, but the premise is quite similar to the real encounter.

Here’s what happened to the real Bradshaw and how she narrowly escaped being one of Alcala’s victims.

Alcala met Bradshaw on ‘The Dating Game’ after he had already been arrested twice and was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

On September 13, 1978, Bradshaw and Alcala appeared on “The Dating Game”, a show in which a single woman asks three eligible bachelors a series of questions before choosing one to date. As part of the game, a partition separates the woman from the contestants until the winner is chosen, so she cannot base her decision on appearance.

At the time of his appearance on the show, Alcala had already murdered five women, attempted to murder an 8-year-old girl named Tali Shapiro, and was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. He also served 34 months for Shapiro’s child molestation and then spent two and a half years in prison for giving drugs to a 13-year-old girl.

But “The Dating Game” didn’t do a background check and Alcala appeared on national television. He later earned the nickname “The Dating Game Killer”.

During an interview with ABC News for an episode of “20/20,” Michael Metzger, executive producer of “The Dating Game,” said he was not in favor of Alcala being on the show.

“I noticed he had a very strange personality,” Metzger said.

But Ellen Metzger, program coordinator and Metzger’s wife, found Alcala attractive and thought women would love him.

Alcala ended up being a hit with the public. He appeared as Bachelor #1 and was described as a “successful photographer” who enjoyed skydiving and motorcycling in his spare time.

Bradshaw, a drama teacher, asked the men open-ended questions that might elicit sassy responses — and Alcala passed with flying colors.

At one point, Bradshaw asked, “What’s your finest hour?”

“The best time is at night,” Alcala responded, adding that night is “when it really gets good.”

Bradshaw later asked, “I’m serving you for dinner. What’s your name and what do you look like?”

In response, Alcala said softly, “I’m called ‘The Banana’ and I’m doing great.”

When Bradshaw asked him to be more descriptive, he said, “Peel me.”

In retrospect, Alcala’s responses were even scarier considering the crimes he committed.

Bradshaw never went out with Alcala, which ended up saving his life.

When it came time to pick a winner, Bradshaw chose Alcala. The pair were due to take tennis lessons as part of the date, followed by a trip to Magic Mountain, the Six Flags amusement park in California.

But Bradshaw had a hunch about Alcala and backed out of the date.

“I started to feel bad. He was acting very scary,” Bradshaw told The Sunday Telegraph in 2012. “I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.”

Contestant coordinator Ellen Metzger told “20/20” that the day after appearing on “The Dating Game,” Bradshaw called the office and told her, “I can’t date this guy. . He is very strange. I’m not comfortable.

“And, of course, I said no,” said Ellen.

Bradshaw wasn’t the only one who found Alcala scary. Jed Mills, who competed as Bachelor No. 2, said he quickly noticed Alcala’s strangeness.

“In the green room, he comes in and says, ‘I always get my girl,’” Mills said, adding that he “immediately didn’t like this guy.”

Bradshaw’s suspicion of Alcala saved her from being his next target. Since appearing on “The Dating Game”, Bradshaw has kept a low profile and little is known about where she ended up.

A title card at the end of “Woman of the Hour” says that Bradshaw “left California to live a private life and raise a family.”

Alcala died of natural causes on July 24, 2021.

Two years after his appearance on “The Dating Game,” Alcala was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe.

He was placed on death row at San Quentin State Prison, but the verdict was overturned by the California Supreme Court. At the 1986 retrial, Alcala was again found guilty and sentenced to death. But the decision was annulled in 2001.

During his third trial in 2010, Alcala represented himself. He was convicted of the murders of Samsoe, Jill Barcomb, Georgia Wixted, Charlotte Lamb and Jill Parenteau. Alcala was sentenced to death and later convicted of two additional murders that occurred in New York.

California imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019, and Alcala remained in Corcoran State Prison until his death from natural causes in July 2021. Alcala was 77 years old. According to the Associated Press, authorities estimated that Alcala may have killed 130 people in the United States. , but the true number is unknown.

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