In March of 2002, the reality television show The Bachelor debuted. The show is currently on season 28, and multiple spin-offs have been created. The Bachelorette came along in early 2003. On The Bachelor one man dates a large group of women and each week he eliminates a few until he is left with the one he wants to propose to. The roles are reversed on The Bachelorette where one woman dates a bunch of men until she finds the one. 

Another very popular spin-off is Bachelor in Paradise. It was released in 2014 and is in its ninth season. This show consists of previous Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants who were unable to find love. They are all put in a resort on a beach together for a few weeks with the hopes of leaving engaged. 

The newest spin-off is The Golden Bachelor. The first season of the show is currently airing. The only difference with this show is that the bachelor is 72 years old. The pool of women are also 65 and older. The show has done surprisingly well because the first golden bachelor is widely loved. He is a very vulnerable, sweet man who has stolen the hearts of many fans. His story and many of the women’s stories are all very sad and have Bachelor nation in tears every week. 

All of these shows have been a big hit, but they face a lot of criticism. Majority of reality television shows are accused of being scripted, and the Bachelor franchise is not an exception. Many people can’t understand how someone can fall in love on camera in such a short amount of time. 

There is not a very high success rate with these shows. Between The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, there is only around a 19% success rate. Time has not been kind to most of the couples. 

The typical season films for around six to nine weeks, which for most people seems like not enough time to get engaged to someone. The contestants are also forced to put their careers and lives on hold while they are on the show. They “fall in love” with each other as they are living in a mansion with no real-life problems to face. This usually causes the transition from the show to everyday life to be very challenging and lead to the end of many relationships.

However, even though the franchise is heavily hated on, it has been around for over 20 years and is likely not going anywhere. Reality television and dating shows have always faced heat from the majority of people, but many of those same people tune in every week for the new episode. I am one of those people. Whenever I am asked what my guilty pleasure is I always answer: “Watching every single season of The Bachelor franchise.”