--- 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  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. Mary Carter, wherever you are, I hope you and your feet are happy with your choices. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/"},"headline":"Watch a Young Jon Hamm Get Brutally Rejected on '90s Dating Show","datePublished":"2014-04-04T18:48:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:30.969Z","description":"Even though he promised her an \"evening of total fabulosity.\"","url":"https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Dating","Sex","Mad Men","Jon Hamm"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/50108/jon-hamm-1990s-big-date-rejected/","name":"Watch a Young Jon Hamm Get Brutally Rejected on '90s Dating Show"}}]}] ```