The show's existence was first noted in 2006; at the time, C.O.R.E. was slated to provide animation services. By 2007, a different animation studio was being sought, with the show then-scheduled to premiere in late 2008. Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto was the animation service. and later in March 2009. According to Frank Saperstein, the idea behind the show is based on the real-life dating experience of one of its creators. The influence of the founders of marblemedia, Matt Hornburg and Mark Bishop, on the show's premise has also been noted.
Characters
The show focuses on four main characters who constitute a group of friends, Mark, VJ, Woody, and Sam, and a number of recurring characters.
Main characters
Mark Dexler – Mark is a 25-year-old single man who works as a copywriter at an ad agency. He shares an apartment with his best friends VJ and Woody.
VJ Mendhi – Mark's Indian Canadian, virgin roommate. He works in IT at the same ad agency Mark works at. Despite sharing an apartment with his friends Mark and Woody, he does not pay rent. He is extremely perverted and has seen all the internet porn in the world. It is revealed in the episode 'Too Fast, Too Dexler', that VJ is short for Vagina.
Woodrow "Woody" Jenkins – the womanizing, Black Canadian bartender of the Hotel Ego bar, and lives with his Mark and VJ.
Samantha "Sam" Goldman – Mark's neighbor and friend, who is a concert promoter.
Recurring characters
Anderson Anderson – Sam's one-and-off-again boyfriend, from the US, who has multiple careers.
Celia – a country Mormon who is new to the city and works at te Hotel Ego bar with Woody.
Vince – a police officer who takes his job very seriously and his speech is vaguely similar to Al Pacino. He once dated Sam and remains a friend to her.
Irwin Chang – the leader of the Chinese mafia who is menacing, despite the fact that he rarely speaks and usually communicates through blowing smoke rings.
Rudolph - Irwin's accomplice and translator.
Jeff – an Arab who works at a falafel restaurant. He was killed by Cannabis in "Spanking the Monkey".
Randy – a common thief who steals anything he can get his hands on. He was killed by being frozen by liquid nitrogen in "24ish", but returns in the next episode "Perfect 10 Killer".
Brian Booyah – The CEO of Johnson and Booyah.
Denise Felcher – Mark and VJ's sex addicted boss.
Bryce – Mark's coworker who acts like his boss.
Ursula – A young coworker of Mark and VJ; whom the latter has a crush on.
A review of the show prior to its release on Teletoon praised it for its humour but criticized it for a perceived lack of polish. A review of the DVD rated it 2/5, praising the show's eccentricity and references to Canadian culture but criticizing its humour and storyline. The Dating Guy has also been criticized for allegedly being a ripoff of the webcomicLeast I Could Do, which was reportedly submitted to Teletoon to create an animated series that did not come to fruition. Teletoon has reportedly denied the accusation.
A DVD containing only Season 1 was released on April 26, 2011. The first season was also released for online viewing on the US version of Amazon Video. The entire show is available from the Canadian iTunes Store. Seasons 1 and 2 are both available on the US version of Hulu.
