--- title: Watch: Jon Hamm Gets Rejected On Dating Show 'The Big Date' In 1996 description: Even though he promised her an "evening of total fabulosity." canonical: https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-04T18:48:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:30.969Z og:title: 25-Year Old Jon Hamm Gets Cruelly Rejected on '90s Dating Show og:description: Even though he promised her an "evening of total fabulosity." og:url: https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 25-Year Old Jon Hamm Gets Cruelly Rejected on '90s Dating Show twitter:description: Even though he promised her an "evening of total fabulosity." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch a Young Jon Hamm Get Brutally Rejected on '90s Dating Show > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 4, 2014 6:48 PM UTC  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 4, 2014 6:48 PM UTC Once upon a time, 25-year-old Jon Hamm got brutally rejected by some fool named Mary Carter on a cheesy 1996 dating show. The doe-eyed future Mad Men star got his heart broken on _The Big Date_, hosted by a guy named Mark Walberg (no relation) who says he was “born to be a matchmaker.” The lovely damsel Mary Carter said she needs a “sexy hot man” who “knows how to give a good foot massage” because she “has a foot fetish.” The first guy was too creepy. He told Mary he was a stunt man, “so I have to take her home later and show her my flexibility. ” The second guy was too touchy-feely. He had frosted tips, and told Mary he wanted to “squeeze her like a little teddy bear.” Jon Hamm was just right. He said he would take her on a date that would “start off with some fabulous food, add a little fabulous conversation, and end it with a fabulous foot massage for an evening of total fabulosity.” But Mary Carter chose the stunt man guy, because he shook her hand when he met her. Choosing a handshake over a fabulous foot massage from Jon Hamm is a real rookie mistake. 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