Let's Get Married

Let’s Get Married! / Давай поженимся!

Published: February 21, 2017

Let’s Get Married! (Давай поженимся!) is a Russian talk matchmaker show—kind of like the American Dating Game, but slightly more family-friendly.

The show has been around since 2008, but it feels like it’s been much longer. Indeed, there have been more than 1,500 episodes. It doesn’t seem to have good critical reviews, or even good viewer ratings, but it appears to attract a large viewership anyway. It’s not easy to find data on how many couples have actually gotten married through the show, though—but at least one wedding of former participants was shown on the air.

On each episode of Let’s Get Married, one man or woman has the chance to choose between three potential spouses. S/he goes on dates with each of them in turn, and then chooses one at the end. The bride/groom (as they’re called) gets help choosing from their family and friends. The current hosts are Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation Larisa Guzeeva (Лариса Гузеева), astrologist Vasilia Volodina (Василиса Володина), and professional matchmaker Roza Syabitova (Роза Сябитова).

The show takes it matchmaking very seriously. In order to take part on the show, you have to fill out a very long survey—but before that is the following warning: “The choice that the brides and grooms make in the studio is not a joke. We only invite to take part in this program those who really long to find their better half. These are adult, established people ready to make the biggest decision of their lives.”

 

Producer: Ilya Krivitskiy (Илья Кривицкий)
Hosts: Larisa Guzeeva (Лариса Гузеева), Vasilia Volodina (Василиса Володина), Roza Syabitova (Роза Сябитова)
Production company: Studiya spetsproektov Pervogo kanala (Студия спецпроектов Первого канала) and Krasniy Kvadrat (Красный квадрат)
TV channel: Perviy Kanal (Первый канал)

 

The show’s official website.

 

A recent episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95V3h–xYg

About the author

Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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