What happened to Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala from “Dating Game”?

• The new Netflix film “Woman of the Hour” is based on a true story about serial killer Rodney Alcala.
• In real life, Alcala competed in “The Dating Game” and won a date with bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw.
• Bradshaw turned down the date because she found Alcala scary.

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

Starring Anna Kendrick as Sheryl and Daniel Zovatto as Rodney, “Woman of the Hour” 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 whet the public's appetite for true crime, cementing Netflix's reputation as a hub for documentaries and dramas inspired by true crime. The streamer most recently 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 in its first full week on Netflix.

“Woman of the Hour,” which is also Kendrick’s directorial debut, changes some details of the story, but the premise is largely similar to the real-life encounter.

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

Alcala met Bradshaw in “The Dating Game” after he had already been in prison twice and was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

On September 13, 1978, Bradshaw and Alcala both appeared on “The Dating Game,” a show in which a bachelorette 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 a winner is chosen, so she cannot base her decision on looks.

At the time of his appearance on the show, Alcala had already murdered five women, attempted to murder an eight-year-old girl named Tali Shapiro, and was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He had also served 34 months for child molestation against Shapiro 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 run a background check and Alcala made it onto national television. He was later nicknamed “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.

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But Ellen Metzger, the show's competition coordinator and Metzger's wife, found Alcala attractive and thought women would love him.

Alcala proved to be a hit with audiences. He appeared as Bachelor No. 1 and was described as a “successful photographer” who enjoyed skydiving and motorcycling in his free time.

Bradshaw, a drama teacher, asked the men open-ended questions that could lead to suggestive answers – and Alcala passed the test with flying colors.

At one point, Bradshaw asked, “What’s your best time?”

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

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

In response, Alcala replied softly, “I'm called 'The Banana' and I'm really good looking.”

When Bradshaw asked him to describe it in more detail, he said, “Peel me.”

Looking back, Alcala's answers were even more sinister given the crimes he had committed.

Bradshaw never went on a date with Alcala, which ultimately saved her life.

When it came to choosing a winner, Bradshaw chose Alcala. The couple was scheduled to take tennis lessons as part of their date and then take 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 felt sick. He was acting really creepy,” Bradshaw told The Sunday Telegraph in 2012. “I declined his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.”

Attendee coordinator Ellen Metzger told “20/20” that the day after his appearance on “The Dating Game,” Bradshaw called the office and told her, “I can't date this guy.” He has strange vibrations.” . He is very strange. I don't feel well.

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

Bradshaw wasn't the only one who found Alcala scary. Jed Mills, who competed as Bachelor No. 2, said he quickly recognized Alcala's craziness.

“In the green room, he jumps in and says, 'I always get my girl,'” Mills said, adding that he “immediately disliked this guy.”

Bradshaw's hunch about Alcala saved her from becoming his next target. Since her appearance 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” states that Bradshaw “left California to pursue a private life and raise a family.”

Alcala died of natural causes on July 24, 2021.

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

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

At 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 in New York.

California imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019 and Alcala remained in Corcoran State Prison until he died of 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.