There is no question that The Bachelor franchise has had a difficult few years, so fans were thrilled when The Golden Bachelor was announced. The new series had the potential to really become something great, and has already managed to do that after only two episodes.
The Golden Bachelor received much better ratings than The Bachelor Season 27, and had many more people tuning in to watch. This could potentially be a problem for the franchise, however, as it is important the original show also stays strong.
Why Is The Golden Bachelor So Much Better?
The Golden Bachelor has one thing that The Bachelor has lacked for years—authenticity. It is clear that each and every one of the women on The Golden Bachelor is actually there to find love. On The Bachelor, however, a recurring theme is numerous women not being there for the right reasons each season.
Another thing The Golden Bachelor nailed was casting for the lead. Gerry Turner is just the kind of guy everyone instantly likes, and it is easy to root for him on his journey to find love again. Recent seasons of The Bachelor, on the other hand, have really let fans down when it came to the leads.
Bachelor Nation was annoyed when Clayton Echard was announced as the Season 26 lead, as no one really knew who he was. Once Clayton began his journey on The Bachelor, he made a lot of poor decisions and viewers were fed up with him by the end. Season 27 lead Zach Shallcross was not much better, and his season was nothing short of a snooze fest.
Why Is This A Problem For ABC?
While it is great that The Golden Bachelor did so well, ABC probably did not anticipate it doing better than the original series. It is uncertain whether the network planned for The Golden Bachelor to be a reoccurring series, or just a one time thing.
The Bachelor, on the other hand, will soon be a whopping 28 seasons in. The original show will not be going anywhere anytime soon, so ABC should work on getting that back on track as well. The Golden Bachelor is a fun addition to the franchise, but it would be odd if it became the main face of it.
How Can ABC Benefit From The Golden Bachelor’s Success?
There are several ways that the franchise can use The Golden Bachelor’s success to create more content fans want to see. Many viewers have already demanded that there be a Golden Bachelorette, featuring one of the women from The Golden Bachelor as the lead. An interesting choice for this could be Patty James, the mother of former Bachelor Matt James, who Gerry sent home night one.
If a Golden Bachelorette were to happen, it is possible that there could be a similar version of Bachelor in Paradise for the golden folk. Perhaps not on the beaches of Mexico, but it would be interesting to see these contestants mingle with one another as well.
How Can The Franchise Improve The Bachelor?
While The Golden Bachelor takes off, it is important that ABC also works efficiently to get the original show back on track. They are already taking steps in the right direction, after casting Joey Graziadei as the Season 28 lead. Joey was a fan favorite on The Bachelorette Season 20, led by Charity Lawson, so fans are happy to finally see someone they like as the lead.
Speaking of Charity, her season was also one of the more popular recent Bachelorette seasons. Charity was beloved by fans on Zach’s season, as she was genuinely there to find her person. Viewers were happy to see her get engaged to Dotun Olubeko, since the two really seemed to be genuinely in love.
The success rate of recent Bachelor Nation seasons has also been a problem, as most of the couples from recent seasons have since broken up. Charity and Dotun give fans hope that the franchise may finally be getting back to a higher success rate, since they are just inseparable! If Joey’s season continues the good streak, there will be a lot more hope for the original series.
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