Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s thriller film ‘Woman of the Hour’ opens a window into the ambitions of Sheryl, an aspiring actress who tries her best to find her footing in Hollywood. After failing to secure a significant acting role since moving to Los Angeles, she appears in the game show ‘The Dating Game’ as a participant seeking a bachelor to date. Unfortunately for Sheryl, the man she chooses turns out to be a serial killer named Rodney Alcala, who is known as the Dating Game Killer. The encounter severely affects the aspiring woman, motivating her to make life-altering decisions concerning her career and future. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Sheryl is a Partially Fictionalized Version of Cheryl Bradshaw
Sheryl is a character Ian McDonald, the screenwriter of ‘Woman of the Hour,’ created based on Cheryl Bradshaw. Like the former, Cheryl was also an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. In 1978, the year she appeared in ‘The Dating Game,’ she was also working as a drama teacher. The serial killer, Rodney Alcala, was one of the three bachelors presented before her, the “bachelorette.” As the film depicts, she had to ask questions to all three of them and choose one as her potential date. In the crime film, Sheryl deviates from the generic scripts given to her by the creative heads of the show and comes up with a set of her own questions, which are far more interesting and intelligent.
In reality, Cheryl didn’t change the game show’s scripts. Her questions were simple and typical. When she asked Rodney what his “best time” was, he replied that it was the night, further adding that “nighttime is when it really gets good.” She also asked him what he would be called and what he would look like if he were a meal. The serial killer answered, seemingly provocatively, “I’m called ‘The banana,’ and I look really good. Peel me.” The game ended with Cheryl choosing Rodney as the eligible bachelor she wanted to date. They won tennis lessons and a trip to the Magic Mountain theme park for being part of the game show.
Cheryl Bradshaw Did Not Go on a Date With Rodney Alcala
In the crime thriller, Sheryl and Rodney Alcala go on a date after the taping of the game show concludes. They end up in a restaurant that is nearly empty. Gradually, the bachelor’s behavior and words unsettle the bachelorette, making her give him her fake phone number. When Rodney realizes what just happened, he expresses his wish to kill her. Sheryl escapes from him only because a few people show up in their vicinity. This tense and scary scene didn’t happen in reality. It is a fictional development conceived seemingly to highlight the dangerous position Cheryl Bradshaw was in.
In reality, Cheryl decided against meeting Rodney. She reached out to Ellen Metzger, the contestant coordinator of ‘The Dating Game,’ and clarified that she was uncomfortable being with her selection. “She [Cheryl] said, ‘Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy. There [are] weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?’” Metzger said while appearing on ABC’s ‘20/20.’ Understandably, the contestant coordinator responded that there wasn’t any problem if Cheryl didn’t want to move forward with dating Rodney. From what we understand, she never met the serial killer after their encounter at the game show’s taping.
Cheryl met Rodney while the murderer’s killing spree was ongoing. After their meeting and her rejection in 1978, he went on to kill the 21-year-old Jill Marie Parenteau and the 12-year-old Robin Christine Samsoe in 1979. The latter was also beaten and raped. Pat Brown, a criminal profiler, observed that Cheryl’s rejection might have provoked the serial killer. “One wonders what that did in his mind. That is something he would not take too well. They don’t understand the rejection. They think that something is wrong with that girl: ‘She played me. She played hard to get,’” Brown told CNN.
Cheryl Bradshaw Passed Away While Leading a Private Life
After her appearance in ‘The Dating Game,’ Cheryl Bradshaw didn’t remain in Los Angeles for a long while. She eventually decided against pursuing her acting career and moved out of California to lead a private life and raise a family. Even when Rodney Alcala became infamous as a serial killer across the country after the authorities captured him, Cheryl remained away from the spotlight and the media. Possibly, the only time she talked to the press was in 2012.
“I started to feel ill. He [Rodney] was acting really creepy. I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again,” Cheryl told The Sunday Telegraph, a tabloid newspaper based in Sydney, Australia. According to Anna Kendrick, the director and lead actress of ‘Woman of the Hour,’ the real-life counterpart of her character, Sheryl, is “no longer with us.” Considering the crimes Rodney committed after his appearance in ‘The Dating Game,’ it is safe to say that Cheryl avoided her possible untimely death by rejecting the serial killer and choosing not to remain in touch with him.
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