The well-known quote, “this is the final rose tonight, (insert name), whenever you are ready,” is known by everyone as the saying by Chris Harrison on the hit television show The Bachelor, and the spin-off, The Bachelorette. This hit show airs on Monday nights at 7 o’clock for a dramatic and humorous hour on the ABC network. The show is made in order for a person to have the option of twenty-five different men or women in order to find their true love. This reality television show is not a successful dating series because it takes place in a short time frame, the contestants are secluded from the real world, the setting is unrealistic, it is very competitive, and the surroundings make them fall in lust, rather than love.
The ABC series the Bachelor is not a realistic reality dating show since the amount of time they are given is not enough to form a genuine relationship. Once the first night is over there are five contestants to be sent home, and after the first night two contestants are sent home each week until only four remain. On the fourth date they are sent home with the Bachelor or Bachelorette in order to see how they fit in with each of the contestants family. This reality show gives the contestants who are trying to fall in love an unrealistic time period of two months. Not very many people can fall in love and want to spend forever with someone in such a short time period. At the end of the show; however, the person is expected to get down on one knee and propose to the chosen contestant, even if one isn’t ready to take it to the next step. If a contestant decides they aren’t ready to propose like the Bachelor Brad Womack chose to do, the media attacks them as tags them as the worst Bachelor ever, “I am about to be the biggest jerk in America,” (Deutsch) stated Brad Womack right before he rejected both of the women at the end of his season.
As the show begins to air, the contestants are thrown into a house, forced to share bedrooms with their competition. The men and women on the show are sheltered from the media, the real world, friends and family. Melissa from season 13 of the Bachelor states, “they wouldn’t even let us know who won the 2009 election, we had to find out from the producers the day after” (20/20). They are taken away from their homes and their daily lives, along with their jobs in the hopes of finding true love. All the contestants’ main focus is forming new relationships with the other contestants, getting use to their home away from home, and meeting the very good looking bachelor or bachelorette, while also trying to impress them. All the stresses of living away from their loved ones, and having to compete for the same person may cause a lot of tension for the contestants. There are many different personalities chosen to be in the house, they include the shy one, the promiscuous one, the motherly character, and the one who likes to cause all the drama. The contestants don’t all get along because some aren’t completely honest with their reasons for coming on the show, and many have different agendas for why they came on the show. All the tension creates drama, which causes the ratings to spike, which in return makes for a good television series.
On the episodes of the television series, the contestants go on dates in helicopter rides around California, they bungee jump from bridges, model in magazine photo shoots, performing in comedy acts at universal studios, they can drive in old-fashioned cars; have private concerts and travel all around the world. For most real-life dating scenarios, most people don’t get to ever experience any one of these while dating. They don’t get to just experience one but many of these depending on how long they stay on the show. After the episode airs where they meet the families of the contestants, they are whisked away to paradise where they get to experience fantasy dates in exotic locations, such as Saint Lucia in the most recent season aired of The Bachelor (ABC.com). They go on tropical picnics, snorkeling, sailing and fishing on a yacht.
The contestants who are put into the house are kept away from their family, friends without any television or phones to use. They only are able to communicate with other contestants who are all obsessing over the same person. When living in a house with twenty other contestants, the want to find love turns into a competition of who can win instead. In the end, whoever wins the heart of the bachelor or bachelorette gets engaged, and ABC offers to pay for a televised million-dollar wedding. For example, Bachelorette Trista married Ryan in a televised wedding that cost the network three million dollars. For the weddings, the brides are able to choose dresses designed by famous designers, as well as wearing jewelry that is worth thousands of dollars. Many times the bachelor will pay for the bachelor and bachelorette party, the rehearsal dinner, the reception, a famous guest singer, the wedding planner and the place in where the wedding takes place. For many that are on the show this is a fabulous offer. Many women as well as men like the publicity the show brings, so many go on the show for the wrong reasons, such as Wes from Jillian’s season of The Bachelorette. Rumors had it that Wes was on the show trying to premiere his band, while also being on the show with a girlfriend back home.
Out of the nineteen different seasons that the combination of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette has aired their have only been few successes. ABC has aired two weddings, has discussed one engagement, and has one long-term relationship to show for the television series. The show’s concept is good for television ratings, but it doesn’t allow the contestants to fall in love in a normal setting. Instead of falling in love, they lust and obsess over that one person. But to have a successful marriage many people need to have a lot of time forming a relationship with that one person before committing for a lifetime.
Work Cited
"Official Site of the ABC Network - ABC.com." Official Site of the ABC Network - ABC.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.
Scott, Andrew. "'The Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette': Where Are They Now?." AOL Television . N.p., 27 July 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.
Behind the Scenes of ‘The Bachelor’ 20/20. ABC News:20/20. N.p., 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2010. < http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Bachelor/bachelor-scenes-secrets-casting-grooming/story?id=10042211>
Deutsch, Gail. "Inside the Bachelor: Brad Womack's Harsh exit." ABC News:20/20. N.p., 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.
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