First Posted: 3/17/2015
Double trouble.
That’s probably what you could call the idea of ABC having two bachelorettes duke it out for love when the show premieres Monday, May 18, on ABC.
Season 11 brings news that two women will be handing out roses and vying for the attention and affections of 25 men.
Can you say catfight?
They say two is better than one, but does that ring true when it comes to bachelorettes?
Britt Nilsson and Kaitlyn Bristowe, former castoffs of farmer bachelor Chris Soules, have been named the first bachelorettes plural as opposed to bachelorette singular.
ABC has set a two-night special to kick off the season 11 premiere of “The Bachelorette,” beginning at 9 p.m. on Monday, May 18, and 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 19.
Host Chris Harrison revealed at the end of the “After the Rose” special following “The Bachelor” finale last month that this would make “Bachelorette” history. He said the decision was made because the public and the powers-that-be couldn’t decide who the bachelorette should be. He said Bachelor Nation, which is the fan base of the franchise shows, was divided on the two girls.
Well, guess what, Bachelor Nation is now really, really divided.
Both Britt and Kaitlyn will go on dates with all of the guys and then it will be up to the men to decide who they prefer, with eventually only one woman left handing out the final rose.
Sound confusing? Well, even to the two contestants it is. Both appeared on the “After the Rose” special and seemed confused and even a little competitive about finding true love on TV.
Kaitlyn, who came in third place in Chris Soules’ season of “The Bachelor” after Britt had been let go earlier in the show, admitted that her first thought was “well, that’s not ideal.”
No, it isn’t and it even isn’t really new.
The show has tried something like this before: In the Season 6 premiere of “The Bachelor,” the female contestants chose between two rose-giving suitors, Byron and Jay. One was a pro bass fisherman, the other, a respectable business man. The tables were turned and after meeting both of the men, the women now had the say in who they’d like to date. It was the bass fisherman Byron that was chosen by the women to continue in the process.
Do you remember him? Do you even want to? He ended up with Mary, who was later arrested for assaulting him while drunk. Ah, true love, takes a dark turn sometimes.
This latest twist comes after last season’s final episode with Andi Dorfman hit all-time finale lows in live plus same day ratings numbers, receiving 1.9/6 and 7.5 million viewers.
That could be the problem. In trying to infuse the franchise with some new twists, the show is still falling flat. Perhaps, they should rethink taking “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” castoffs and giving them their own show and just start fresh with a brand new contestant.
This may bring in some new viewers (like myself) who may not tune in regularly and then be discouraged at doing so by feeling that you will miss something by not knowing these contestants.
And I think it’s wrong to pit two women against each other and hope for tears and fights and possibly physical altercations. Meow!
And while we’re at it, why the same cookie cutter looking contestants each year? They all look like beauty queen wannabes. And they’re typecast as the villain, the virgin, the stalker and the ditsy one.
Real love knows no sizes, colors or looks. So, why can’t we see more diversity, without making it a big deal?
Maybe that’s the problem. Can we really find real love on TV? Or just the notion of it?
Probably not. But the fantasy is that we hope so which is why we keep tuning in. But producers of “The Bachelorette,” you have to work harder to give us a reason to want to see who gets that rose.
Because right now, some of us viewers feel we are getting thorns instead.
Bachelor Nation is becoming pretty unanimous about that.
