Published: June 05, 2009 10:17 am      

‘Realty’ TV needs a good dose of common sense

Earlier this week, my co-worker Angie Bicker wrote about reality TV shows. I would have to agree with her assessment; giving up on the genre would probably be best.

However, I do have one “reality” show that I can’t seem to give up, even though I probably should.

After the last season of “The Bachelor” ended, I was ready to give up on the show. In fact, the finales of the past several seasons have gotten progressively more and more pathetic.

If you haven’t seen “The Bachelor,” don’t bother. It’s a “match-making” show in which the bachelor, or bachelorette, starts out dating 25 women, or men, from which he or she will supposedly find a fiancé. Each week, the number is thinned at the rose ceremony, when those not receiving roses must immediately go home.

The downhill turn started with the 11th bachelor, Brad Womack, who rejected both of the final women, opting to leave single rather than propose.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’d rather see a guy leave single than profess his love and not mean it. But that move set off a chain reaction in “Bachelor” land.

Lots of viewers were outraged with Brad, so ABC made one of the rejected women, DeAnna Pappas, the next bachelorette. But DeAnna ended up being worse than Brad when she rejected Jason Mesnick mid-proposal, as he was down on one knee during the finale. She picked the other guy instead and later regretted it.

Yet again viewers were mad, this time that favored Jason was dumped.

So he became the next bachelor. His season tops them all on the pathetic scale.

When it came time to go from the final three women to the final two, Jason dumped fan favorite, Jillian Harris, and we could all see where this was going. On the finale, he dumped runner-up Molly Malaney and proposed to Melissa Rycroft, who excitedly accepted.

Less than five minutes later in TV time, ABC aired the “After the Final Rose” segment of the show. During that segment, Jason broke up with Melissa and then got together with Molly, who welcomed him back with a kiss.

Well, it’s clear that ABC likes to recycle rejects because this season features Jillian Harris (big surprise) as “The Bachelorette.” And after a sad history of returning rejects doing stupid things, I didn’t have much hope for this season.

By the way, Melissa came back as a “star” on this past season of “Dancing with the Stars.” If ABC can’t make you “The Bachelorette,” they’ll make you something else.

I ended up making the mistake of watching the premiere of “The Bachelorette,” foolishly thinking I was just going to watch it and then forget about the series. But once again, the show is sucking me in. I was back in front of the tube, watching the past several episodes, analyzing the bachelors and picking favorites.

So, what is it about this show that makes me, or anyone else for that matter, want to keep watching?

There isn’t anything remotely realistic about one girl dating over a dozen different guys at the same time.

I’m sure everyone has their own reasons for watching. In a strange, slightly sickening way, the conflicts, the relationships, the competition and the “what’s-going-to-happen factor” suck me in every week.

Who’s going to blow it; who’s going to get her attention; who will get a rose; and who’s going home?

I get about a million questions in my head as I watch the teaser before each week’s episode, and therefore have to get answers. Thus, I end up watching the whole show, again.

I’m hoping this season will have a happy ending for Jillian and redeem the show after the past several fails, but we shall see. Any guesses on which reject will be brought back for an upcoming season?



Elise Loyola is a staff writer for the Clinton Herald. She has been here since November 2008 and she can be reached at eliseloyola@clintonherald.com.