What If Online Dating And Watching TV Were The Same Thing?

So you're obsessed with Scandal. Or Game of Thrones. Or Better Call Saul. And you know that you really should spend your evenings with real-life people instead of fictional characters who are fixated on dragons and sleeping with their siblings, but somehow dating always seems to take a back seat to your television habits.

If a new Kickstarter is successfully funded, you may not have to make a choice. The project is called My Show Mate (possibly a play on “soulmate?”) and the tagline is “Because TV is too good to watch alone.”

The concept is simple, which is probably for the best because you'll be using it in short bursts during commercial breaks. If anyone even has those anymore. There will be no 100-question dating profile to fill out, simply a place for basic information like username, location and, of course, your favorite shows. If you click with a compatible TV match, there will be a chat feature to share feelings about a pivotal moment – just beware of spoilers.

The woman behind the idea is entertainment journalist and self-professed "hopeless showmantic" Angela Manfredi. “While thinking of ways to meet a great guy with whom I have a common interest,” she writes on the Kickstarter page, “I pondered the general checklist of couples' activities. Alas, many did not pertain to me.” Hiking, biking, skiing – none of the more active activities held any appeal. But “sharing a bowl of popcorn and chocolate-covered raisins while watching the season finale of Homeland” garnered an enthusiastic yes.

“I started thinking that other singles probably feel just as strongly about their favorite shows,” she continues. “That's the inspiration for My Show Mate, which brings singles together based on similar tastes in on-screen entertainment (or as I like to call it, screentertainment.)”

Ignoring that “screentertainment” is a terrible portmanteau, it's hard not to be at least a little intrigued by the idea of getting a date without leaving the couch. The Netflix/Tinder mashup was bound to happen eventually. That being said, it's also bound to get its fair share of criticism if the project moves forward. Someone will call it lazy, or will deem users unhealthily television-obsessed.

Manfredi already has a response to them. “We have seen proof - and lived the fact ourselves - that there's a need to express our feelings about the shows we're watching,” she writes. “The challenge and mission of My Show Mate is to enable members to do so with like-minded singles via a simple, elegant process.” If the ultimate goal of online dating is to connect people, it's hard to imagine a more instant bond than a mutual love or hatred of Olivia Pope.