Wednesday, Sept. 18 was a glorious day for the fans and followers of “The Bachelor” franchise. Calling themselves “Bachelor Nation,” many settled around their televisions for another season of the bizarre, melodramatic and sometimes rom-com-esque reality dating franchise. But this time, it was a new spinoff for viewers to enjoy!
For those unfamiliar with “The Bachelor” franchise, the premise is simple: one person will be dating a whole house full of individuals of the opposite gender with the hope of eventually falling in love, getting engaged to and marrying one of those contestants. The show started with “The Bachelor”—one man dating a house full of women—in 2002, with the first season of “The Bachelorette,” where the contestant’s gender is reversed, in 2003.
Though the series normally shows the experiences of a handful of young adults and early professionals, a new spin-off started in 2023 called “The Golden Bachelor,” where the main love interest and all of the contestants were in their golden years, which generally considers people aged 65 and older.
The first season of “The Golden Bachelor” was overall a success with old and young fans alike due to the wholesome characteristics of its older contestants, though still containing enough melodrama to make it work as reality TV. As a result, even if Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner’s love story didn’t pan out, the show still resonated with viewers—one of the many reasons why the franchise returned with its newest incarnation, “The Golden Bachelorette.” Its main star, or Bachelorette, is Joan Vassos, a school administrator who was previously a contestant on “The Golden Bachelor.”
The show started very normally, especially comparing it to the previous “The Bachelor” season, with a long period of silence and B-Roll, which thankfully only lasted for 16 painful seconds before a song started to play. In this first “scene” of the show came an overwhelmingly emotional sequence as Joan discusses her love story with her late husband, recounting their love story up until he tragically died from cancer
This theme of coping with the loss of a significant other is an idea that permeated through the entire episode. Many of the contestants who received an extended introduction greatly detailed both their partner’s death and the grieving processes. However, the show also touched on stories of coping with what many consider to be disenfranchised grief: Mourning that may go unacknowledged or validated by society. For example, contestants spoke about their grief when they lost a partner to addiction or even through the divorce process. The fact that the producers of the show took an extended amount of time to have the contestants speak about their grieving and recovery processes was an unexpected highlight of the show.
While I applaud the producers for normalizing this aspect of aging, I do question the medium that this is done in: reality television. Very rarely, if ever, do consumers of media watch reality TV to see accurate depictions of real life. We come for the overdramatic fights and tear-filled arguments. Depicting something so real, I worry, could be interpreted by many viewers as being disingenuous, further stigmatizing much of what the contestants speak openly about.
Speaking of contestants, host Jesse Palmer noted they had assembled “The most qualified golden bachelors.” In this regard, they did not disappoint, with the contestants including a Navy Capital in full dress, a retired university vice president, a retired UN Agency Director and many individuals in the financial services industry. And even if all the contests are older than those in previous seasons, the same Bachelor antics were visible in the mansion. From someone entering on horseback to frankly awkward introduction stunts and making fun of another contestant’s French accent, the goofiness and pitiful nature of the franchise prevailed, though with a much more civilized tone. One contestant, Jack Lencioni, even made Joan a meal during the first episode. Another showed her photos from his home garden.
As is customary with every first episode, the producers had to introduce some meaningless drama that makes absolutely no sense, in this case showing someone getting out of the limo who was a much younger woman before immediately going to a commercial break. Far from the first “Bi Bachelor” season, this woman was the winner of the previous Bachelor season and made a brief appearance to introduce her father as the last contestant. The way this was handled—by creating fake drama through aggravated cutting to a commercial break and the use of a shock factor I felt was beyond unnecessary—struck a nerve with me for just being unnecessary and stupid.
Much like the previous seasons, the first episode was a quick 90 minutes, and most footage of the contestants came as they were stepping out of the limousine. This episode, like all others, featured both a first impression rose and a final rose ceremony. But as a new addition, there was a clip where everyone gathered around the TV to watch videos filmed by their loved ones back home, encouraging them as they were on the show. This illuminates the tough balance of “The Golden Bachelorette”: How can the show be both a drama-worthy sequel to an otherwise crazy franchise as well as paint the stories of these successful individuals with the dignity they deserve? Luckily, most of the time, the episode struck that balance well.
In all, my view of “The Golden Bachelorette” does not differ from that of any other “The Bachelor” franchise show. I love watching it in the company of friends or when I’m doing something tedious as background noise. I would not approach it for any sense of meaningful interaction, even if this season may be more wholesome than others. However, I would also encourage viewers to enjoy the wholesome nature of the show as a refreshing break from the rest of the franchise.
Students who live on campus can watch the Golden Bachelorette live through SpectrumU, on the ABC channel—Channel 5—on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. If students miss it, as do most Observer contributors, they can watch it on demand, either through the ABC website with the same SpectrumU login or the Hulu streaming service.