As much as I hate to admit it, my family and I have been avid fans of the “Bachelor” franchise for almost as long as I can remember. My mom says it’s for the filming locations; I say it’s for the drama; my dad pretends he’s just along for the ride. Whatever the case may be, the franchise had us hooked. Until it didn’t.
The premise of the show sis very simple. There is one main man or woman, also known as the Bachelor or Bachelorette, and around twenty contestants compete to win their hearts. Every week, there are one-on-one dates and a group date, and people are also sent home. Those who get a rose stay on, and the show even takes viewers to the final four’s hometowns where the Bachelor or Bachelorette get to meet their families. All of this culminates in a potential engagement in the finale with the now-iconic “Neil Lane Diamond Ring,” where the lead couple now has to leave their romantic bubble and go out into the real world.
Cracks in the foundation first came to light when the show was called out for its lack of diversity, whether that be in race or body size, and it culminated in long-time host Chris Harrison getting fired for making problematic comments that essentially excused historical institutional racism. Almost ironically, his comments aired during Matt James’s season, the franchise’s first black Bachelor after 25 seasons of running.
When COVID-19 hit, the producers could not rely on elaborate locations anymore to distract viewers from the fact that the show was struggling. The contestants they cast seemed all the same, and the drama was heavily manufactured. This led to last-ditch efforts to get ratings up like trying to do two bachelorette seasons in a row or most recently, having two bachelorettes in a singular season. Instead of focusing on the relationships, as they usually do, the producers drew from the drama of the two lead women comparing themselves and their relationships to each other, which is not what the primarily-female audience really wants to see.
This latest season is a prime example of over-production leading the franchise in the wrong direction. The long-awaited hometowns were rushed, and the “Men Tell All” was just a two-hour-long sponsored ad. Even worse, the “shocking” finale was broken up into two parts, and the second part was three hours long and kept unnecessarily switching back and forth from the engagement to “After the Final Rose” just to make viewers stay longer. The new Bachelor they picked for next season was a let-down, and after hearing fans complain about it, they tried to make amends by letting “America” give out the first impression rose, which was clearly rigged.
One of the major issues I personally saw is that because of all the new things the producers are adding, viewers do not really get to make a connection with the contestants. And because of that, there is no one to root for, which used to be the big nail-biter for the finale because you want your choice to be the one who ends up engaged. This is apparent in the success of “Bachelor In Paradise,” where selected contestants from previous seasons meet up and try to find love. Because we already know them from their time on another season, and we have had time to get to know them off-screen, we feel more connected to these characters and want to root for them more on their journey.
The show has tried to adapt by forcing memes and viral clips into existence, but it really is not working. What they need to realize is that if the show is likable and relatable, the fans will interact with it through memes and tweets by themselves. On behalf of Bachelor Nation, all producers really need to do right now is stop trying to make the show what it is not and start focusing on the people and relationships again.