Off the Shelf Media

When I was in college, I lived in a small sorority house. Every Monday, we would grab our overly sweet wines, gather our charcuterie boards, and cheers to another new episode of The Bachelor. 

What started off as an excuse to indulge on a Monday night with a few friends turned into a weekly tradition. Before long, we had swarms of people in our living room every week with drinks and snacks in tow. And it wasn’t only our sorority friends either. The lure of reality TV drama even drew in a handful of fraternity brothers in from time to time. 

A weekly tradition cut short by the pandemic, these nights become some of my most cherished memories of college. 

Though I still tune in each week to watch the latest episodes of The Bachelor, I find myself being less and less excited to watch each season – and it has nothing to do with the lack of fanfare I had grown to enjoy. 

A founding father of dating shows 

On Monday, January 27, 2025, ABC’s The Bachelor premiered its 29th season. It is one of the longest-running reality TV shows of all time, according to Yahoo!. It is also probably the longest-running dating show of all time. 

For those unfamiliar with the series, and its sister show – The Bachelorette – here’s a brief rundown of how it works: one lucky Bachelor is chosen to woo 20-30 eligible single women in order to find his wife-to-be. Oftentimes, they travel internationally, go on exuberant, once-in-a-lifetime dates, and indulge in all the finer things in life. Much like dating in the real world! 

Each week, the Bachelor gives his chosen ladies a single red rose to signify that he would like to continue pursuing them. If you do not receive a rose, you are sent home. Unless, of course, the producers see entertainment value in allowing the ‘dump-ees’ to return and wreak well-intentioned havoc for another week. Then you get to stay! At least until the Bachelor or Bachelorette sends you home, again. 

Given the show’s long-running success, it has sparked a number of spin-off series, including The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, The Golden Bachelor, and The Golden Bachelorette. You get the picture. 

Despite the success of the flagship show and its counterparts, a 2021 controversy almost became the show’s undoing when fans discovered the racially insensitive actions of one of the show’s leading contestants, which was later defended by the former host, Chris Harrison. This incident reopened years of critique against the show’s evident lack of diversity. In the end, Harrison departed from the show as production promised changes. 

Apart from this incident, The Bachelor remained a staple of cable television for decades and has even led to real marriages, families, and the like. Yet, in recent seasons, it’s more often resulted in relationship failures and public drama that devalues the premise entirely. Adding insult to injury, many of the show’s most recent contestants seemingly go on to seek full-time content creator careers, only further devaluing the show’s main premise and whether or not this ‘reality’ show involves any ‘reality’ at all. 

Too much of the same

Marketing each season as “the most dramatic season yet” has grown into less of a promise and more of a cliché that has to be said as much as “Will you accept this rose?”

Even the show’s meager attempts to keep things fresh, such as bringing back an ex or featuring surprise previous contestants a few weeks in, simply feels dull and overdone. Not to mention, it also feels incredibly forced each and every season. 

If you’ve watched this franchise enough times, the puppeteering of the producers begins to be too predictable, too weak, and simply too mean. If we are to believe that these are genuine relationships being formed, it’s a bit agitating to watch as a predetermined “villain” steals the Bachelor away, spreads rumors, and cries wolf every episode. 

I’m a proponent of the classic “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” methodology but the routine of The Bachelor has long been broken.  

A shallow premise in an increasingly deep pool 

As is the case for most people, The Bachelor kicked off my love and appreciation for reality dating shows. Though I spent most of my teens enjoying such classics as The Real World, Jersey Shore, and more, it wasn’t until college that I realized the appeal of dating shows. 

Since beginning my viewer’s journey with The Bachelor, I’ve become a fan of many streamable shows, including Love Island USA, Love Is Blind, Too Hot To Handle, and others. 

Each of these shows seems to accomplish one crucial aspect of dating that The Bachelor consistently fails in: individual growth. Again, at least it seems to be that way. 

The obstacles Islanders or Pod Mates encounter on their respective shows challenge them to seriously question what they want, what they’re looking for, and who they are in order to succeed in the relationships they seek. 

The Bachelor simply doesn’t come close to that type of introspective approach. 

The bigger issue with The Bachelor, and what becomes of most of these dating shows – even the good ones – is that the contestants seem to care less and less about finding love each season. 

To be clear, this is not a personal attack on any one contestant, producer, or Bachelor/ette. But a dating show that seems to end in more brand sponsorships than it does relationships is surely on an unsustainable path. 

Furthermore, these ‘content creators’ spawned from the show aren’t even GOOD at it. Most start sponsoring dieting supplements and become so-so models, if you can even call it that. I’m not trying to throw unnecessary hate at these contestants going after what they want, but it’s a large part of what I’ve grown to dislike about the show. The show has shifted away from finding love and shifted towards establishing your brand instead. 

If you’re attempting to take over my TV and my social media feed, at least give me something worth engaging with. 

If you did not receive a rose…

The last few seasons, keeping up with The Bachelor franchise as a whole has felt more like a chore than a pleasant way to spend what little free time I have on a Monday night. That said, I will continue to watch. Why? Well, I don’t really have a good answer for you!  

Cable (somehow) isn’t dead. Reality dating shows aren’t dead. But The Bachelor? I suppose only time will tell whether the rose petals have wilted beyond revival.