MANILA, Philippines?Most of the time, the dating game show ?Take Me Out? fields 30 young women and a male ?prize catch? per outing, with the lucky guy eventually choosing a similarly lucky girl for his special date.

A few weeks ago, however, the show temporarily turned its format around and had 30 guys vying to be chosen by the searcher for the day, an especially lissome young lady.

We tuned in to see how the key shift affected the program?s ebb and flow.

Right off the bat, the first perceived difference was the sharp jolt of testosterone that made the proceedings less sweetly equable and definitely more competitive than when it was the male searcher who did the choosing.

When the lovely female searcher was introduced, the male contenders expressed their attraction to or being turned on by her in no uncertain terms.

Another big change was the greater range of ways that the male contenders used to attract the prized female searcher.

Most of the women were attracted to handsome hunks who were physically superior, so when they finally paired up, they were excellently matched.

It was like the female searchers were especially on the lookout for hunks who would ?partner? them well and show their own beauty off to greater advantage?thus making them seem to be even more beautiful due to the effective ?packaging.?

The sole exception was the female foreigner who passed up all of the handsome hunks who were going crazy over her, in favor of an amiable ?nerdy? type.

So, why did she choose him? Because he shared her love for nature and the simpler, albeit less photogenic, things in life.

That was nice and touching, but it definitely was the exception that proved the game show?s more physically pluperfect norm.

After a week of the gender switcheroo, the show reverted back to its original format, and it?s once again fielding 30 girls gunning for the nod of a generally hunky single guy.

As in the past, the guys are almost always muscled and handsome, so the girls have a really fun time flirting with them. No testosterone surge, but the female equivalent thereof is all too evident.

Host Jay-R still needs to work on his stilted and ?sticky? Tagalog. To help compensate for that drawback, the show now has a cohost?it used to be Janna Dominguez; now it?s Gladys Guevara.

The addition of a comedienne to the show?s mix helps enliven things a bit, but not all that much?and, not enough.

Jay-R really needs to lick his Tagalog problem so he can ad-lib comfortably in the language and infuse the show with his hopefully unique personality and verve, instead of just reading spiels awkwardly and dutifully following instructions on where to stand. There?s more to TV dating show hosting than that.