ABC & Bachelor Love Ratings; Hate Happiness/Melissa
Quick show of hands: how many people’s parents met when their father started dating 25 women simultaneously and while going on a series of romantic “dream dates” that involved things like magic carpet rides and eating blackberries at the mouth of an active volcano?
None? Surprising, since it seems like the cultural juggernaut that is ABC’s The Bachelor/Bachelorette has a strong track record of setting up relationships built on a foundation of mutual interests, love of attention, and a high tolerance for humiliation.
Here is the shorthand on this season:
- Jason Mesnick, a single dad who hates wearing shirts, is searching for love.
- 25 single women vie for his attention, including one lady who believes that they should be together because her “vision boards” say they should. (A vision board is a series of magazine clippings that are pasted onto a giant piece of paper and provide inspiration — but just end up looking like a ransom note you send to yourself.)
- The show comes down to Molly — the spunky midwesterner who wears entirely too much eye makeup — and Melissa — a Texan whose parents refused to meet Jason because they think The Bachelor is ridiculous.
Anyway, last night Jason picked Melissa and they were happy for about 45 minutes until The Bachelor: After the Final Rose came on immediately after and Jason dumped Melissa for Molly.
But wait, is it all a setup to generate buzz for the show? Reality Steve seems to think so, claiming that ABC made Jason choose Melissa just so that he could dump her and create DRAAAA-MAAA.
Did it work?
Yes, it was a ratings bonanza, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Trista and Ryan tied the knot on TV. Plus, there are currently more than 2 million tweets about The Bachelor and Jason. And, a bit of anecdotal evidence: 27 of my Facebook friends currently have Bachelor-related status updates.
Face facts, sometimes there is a tragedy so great that it brings everybody in the entire world together.
— Andrew
