Within the first few minutes of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor,” it’s clear that we are watching a different version of the show. It begins with a montage not unlike the one at the beginning of Pixar’s “Up,” describing Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner’s old life with his now-deceased high school sweetheart, Toni. She unexpectedly passed away only weeks after the two of them bought their dream retirement home together. It is only now, six years later, that Gerry (aged 72) is ready to dive back into the dating scene and try to find love again. And of course, what better way for him to do so than on a nationally-broadcasted reality TV show featuring 22 beautiful women for him to date simultaneously?
Herein lies the conundrum of “The Golden Bachelor.” On the one hand, the show is deeply sad and permeated by grief—many of the contestants are also widows, and all express their trepidation at trying to find love again at an age where they don’t have the luxury of unlimited fresh starts. However, “The Golden Bachelor” is also just as petty and superficial as previous seasons of “The Bachelor.” The women, all of whom are between the ages 60 and 75, look and dress like women decades younger. This is not a bad thing in and of itself—and I do appreciate how they shut down stereotypes about how the older generation is supposed to behave—but their attractiveness is constantly mentioned by the contestants themselves and played up by the producers. One woman even enters the mansion with a fake wig, walker and hunch, throwing all three off to reveal a toned aerobics champion underneath. Sure, Leslie Fhima (64) might be an old woman, but she’s not that kind of old woman.
“The Golden Bachelor” also features its fair share of drama between the contestants. Kathy Swarts (70) tells Theresa Nist (70) to “zip it” when she shares with the other women how well her date with Gerry went. In one hilarious moment, April Kirkwood (65) fakes a wipeout and subsequent ankle injury on the pickleball court to get closer to Gerry. “Actually, I am totally fine,” she says, winking at the camera, before the producers cut back to her swooning in Gerry’s arms. A particularly hard-to-watch scene reveals that Sandra Mason (75) is missing her daughter’s wedding to be on the show. Their antics, while normally fun, can quickly turn annoying, especially coming from a group of women who should be more mature than the typical 20-something year old “The Bachelor” contestants.
However, the true pitfall of the show’s emotional depth is, unexpectedly, Gerry himself. The jolly, soft-spoken grandfather may have the demeanor of Santa Claus, but he is also just as much of a player as previous Bachelors have been. “By the time the second and third nights rolled around, I feel like I kissed about every woman there,” Gerry said in an interview with the New York Post. Worse than that, a clip from the upcoming finale reveals another questionable quote from Gerry, who is crying over having to decide between the finalists: “The only time I’ve ever felt worse in my whole life is when my wife passed away.” I’m not sure that the two situations are comparable, and I wonder what his deceased wife would think about him saying that.
Although “The Golden Bachelor” can be cringeworthy at times, and struggles tonally with the balance of its serious and more lighthearted moments, there is no doubt that it makes for good television. If you enjoy reality TV, or just messiness in general, I would highly recommend that you check it out.
The final three episodes of “The Golden Bachelor” air Thursday nights on ABC and are available the next day to stream on Hulu.