By Marjorie Raynaud Rouïl | Cinema and series, lifestyle journalist
Passionate about the small screen, she loves series above all for the emotions they give us. The Boys, House of the Dragon, Stranger Things… She can watch programs with very different universes, because the goal is simply to thrill! In life, our journalist also really likes sport, because ice cream in front of the TV is stylish, but you shouldn't overdo it.
Barely released on Netflix, the film A Woman at Play has climbed to first place on the streaming platform's top list. Inspired by a true story, it tells how a woman matched with a serial killer during a television dating show. Rodney Alcala's real passage is available on YouTube, and it's chilling.
Trailer for A Woman at Play on Netflix / Rodney Alcala's real TV appearance sends chills down your spine © Netflix
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Netflix recently released A woman at stakewith Anna Kendrick directing and starring. The thriller is inspired by the Rodney Alcala case, a serial killer incarcerated in 1979. Between 1968 and 1979, Rodney Alcala is said to have killed around 130 men, women and children. He was actually on the dating show The Dating Gameas can be seen in A woman at stake sur Netflix.
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By this time, in 1978, the serial killer had already committed at least four murders. This obviously did not prevent him from being selected by production, who did not find any compromising information about him. Images of his TV appearance are still circulating on YouTube, and they are blood-curdling.
Rodney Alcala even more terrifying during his real TV appearance in The Dating Game
Within The Dating GameCheryl must ask questions of the three men hidden behind the curtain. The first question asked of serial killer Rodney Alcala is the following: “What is your favorite moment?“. “My favorite time is at night“, he replies.
When Cheryl asks suitor number 1 what he would like for dessert, he declares it to be “a banana that looks very, very good“. “Can you be more explicit?“, said to the candidate. “Peel me“blurted Alcala, whose repartee greatly amused the audience.
When the presenter invites Cheryl to choose from the three men who came to meet her, she selects suitor number 1, “because she loves bananas.” The Dating Game then offers Rodney and Cheryl the opportunity to take part in several tennis lessons together, but also to spend time together at an amusement park.
Fortunately, after getting to know him a little behind the scenes, Cheryl notices that Rodney's attitude is strange. She then asks production to cancel their meetings, explaining that she never wants to see him again. A decision that certainly saved his life!
What happened to Rodney Alcala?
Rodney Alcala was definitively arrested in 1979. The serial killer received a life sentence at the age of 36. He was tried in both the State of California and that of New York, for the acts committed in these states respectively.
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In California, he was sentenced to death, but he ultimately died of natural causes in 2021 at the age of 77. Since 2006, executions have been suspended, as a procedure to verify the constitutionality of the execution methods is still underway. As for Cheryl Bradshaw, she reportedly moved to Arizona to become a theater teacher.
