“The Bachelor” franchise has been airing their various shows since its debut in 2002. Today, the franchise is comprised of “The Bachelor”, “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise.” However, over the past few years, ratings have been steadily dropping for each show.
For those, like myself, who have been watching for years, it’s pretty easy to tell why.
I have been a loyal fan of “The Bachelor” franchise since Chris Soules’ season back in 2015. I loved how the show was full of drama and romance, and it kept me coming back each episode and each season for more.
However, as the franchise has continued, fans have realized something — the show has not changed at all.
There are absolutely no differences between a season from 2016 and a season from 2022. And it’s getting old.
First and foremost, the recent leads, particularly those from “The Bachelor”, have been extremely run-of-the-mill and boring picks.
The titular “bachelor” is selected from the men who compete on the previous season of “The Bachelorette”. Even when “The Bachelorette” presents an amazing pool of men to pick from to be the next Bachelor, producers continue to pick men that made little impact on the season or the viewers.
Producers seem to pick men that fit the right “mold” instead of picking men that the viewers want to watch. And although each time this causes regular viewers to not come back and watch again, producers continue to make the same mistake.
In addition to this, the format of the show has not been adjusted at all. Producers reuse the same dates and storylines each season. Not only does it make the show boring, but the aspects of the show they reuse aren’t even particularly entertaining enough for them to be reused in the first place.
One of the biggest problems with the franchise is how heavily and obviously produced everything is. Of course, all reality TV shows are produced and scripted to some extent in order to assure there are interesting storylines. However, “The Bachelor” shows do a poor job of hiding it.
Contestants often later come out and expose the number of plots that were entirely designed or manipulated by producers. This just reminds viewers the “reality” TV they are watching that is meant to help people find love is more focused on causing drama, even if it’s at the expense of the people participating in the shows.
Nowadays, there are so many other great reality TV dating shows, such as “Love is Blind”, “Too Hot To Handle” and “Love Island”, all of which I find much more enjoyable to watch as their formats are more up-to-date and they give off the front of being somewhat less produced.
I’m within the target audience of watchers for “The Bachelor” shows, and if I’m losing interest, most others likely are as well.
If “The Bachelor” franchise wants to continue being successful and increase their viewership, they need to take notes from their competitors and stop doing the same things they’ve continued to do for the past 20 years. Otherwise, “The Bachelor” could be the next great TV empire to fall and become forgotten.