The last season of "The Bachelor" concluded last Monday and it was able to maintain the same number of audience from what it had in the previous year. How did "The Bachelor" maintain its success despite its failure to keep its participants' relationship intact?
According to Q13Fox, the "The Bachelor" finale last Monday earned 9.5 million viewers, exactly the same as the number of viewers it had in the previous year's "The Bachelor" finale. However, despite maintaining its rating, the show didn't really produce quality relationship among its participants.
In a report from the New York Times, an old statistic revealed that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, which CNN suggests was better than "The Bachelor's" performance.
According to the reports, "The Bachelor" produced 19 couples, 12 of which got engaged and two got married a contestant. Just Jared reported that in the 19 seasons of "The Bachelor" only Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici, and Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney got married.
In the "The Bachelor" Season 13 finale, Mesnick initially chose Melissa Rycroft. However, he seemed to have made the wrong choice because later on, he broke his engagement with Rycroft and proposed to the season's runner-up, Malaney. The pair eventually got married and is only one of the very few (two pairs) who made it.
The rest of the "The Bachelor" couples barely manage to sustain their relationship. In fact, some couples were no longer together when their season airs. Yet, "The Bachelor" remains to be the most popular show on ABC.
Per the reports, "The Bachelor's" formula is very well established. It's fantasy land where the participants travel to exotic places where two dozens of beautiful people of opposite sex relax and enjoy with the possibility of finding the next love of their lives.
Dave Willis, a pastor and writer, believes that the concept of "The Bachelor" is weak and that it was only intended to entertain. He said that the relationships were founded on feelings and compatibility, not commitment. Unfortunately, feelings change which makes relationship doomed.
"The Bachelor" is also criticized for being manipulative and scripted, but fans don't mind this. Ashley Elgin, 24, who has been watching the show since she was 19 is not bothered with this. "At the end of the day, it's a TV show," she said.
If the audiences of "The Bachelor" have this perspective, then that explains why they still enjoy the show even if its participants don't find their happy ever after in the person they chose in the show.
What do you of the concept of "The Bachelor?" Do you also enjoy the show? Share your thoughts below.
