Nick, Luke, Chase: None of the leading 'Bachelor' options could have saved season 21
Call it the golden handcuffs of successful reality TV, but The Bachelor has been in a bit of a bind over the last few seasons.
The problem? A rigid format that, by all accounts, has worked for 36 seasons of ABC's flagship dating show and its various spinoffs, until it hasn't. Selecting the new star of the show from the last batch of contestants, or farm in Bachelor parlance, is a tradition almost as old as the show. Trista Sutter, then Rehn, was the runner up on the first season of The Bachelor and became the first Bachelorette. She married the sensitive firefighter Ryan Sutter in front of an estimated 17 million viewers in an event that cost a reported $4 million. And with that ceremony -- coated in 30,000 roses and 5,000 yards of pink ribbon -- the bar was set for how a happy ending could and would occur in the Bachelor world.
Start with a heartbroken contestant viewers already know, build viewer sentimentality around another shot at love, and play out the ultimate redemption story that *fingers crossed* results in a lavish wedding on live TV.
There's a reason the show marked the 20th season with Jade Roper walking down a canopy-covered aisle adorned with hundreds of flowers towards husband Tanner Tolbert. It works, and it's enjoyable TV.
But what happens when the pool of contestants becomes so homogenized that viewers can barely tell them apart, let alone connect on the emotional level needed for the show to remain a Monday night must-watch?
You wind up with Nick Viall.
The two-time runner up was announced as the new Bachelor for season 21 of the show Tuesday night, and he's bringing a whole lot of baggage to the Bachelor Mansion.
It will mark his fourth role on the show since 2014. Though only two years in real life, on a show that turns strangers into couples in six weeks, time is better thought of in dog years. Meaning Viall has been with the franchise for an eternity and has the battle scars to prove it.
In his first go-round with Andi Dorfman, he outed the former assistant district attorney for sleeping with him during their stay in the fantasy suite, a big no-no on the show that likes to keep up certain pretenses about sex. He found himself in a similar situation with Kaitlyn Bristowe, though this time, all involved received some positive feedback for showing a more accurate depiction of modern romance, which sometimes involves sex outside of marriage while other romantic partners may be in the picture.
All of which is to say, he's not the clean underdog who is easy for fans to rally behind. Bachelor Nation had mixed reactions to the announcement, with a large contingent saying they were already tired of watching him on the show.
But the old adage of bad press typically applies to The Bachelor -- no buzz is bad buzz. The controversial choice has a chance to work in the show's favor. If Viall continues to be open about sex, it could interest viewers who are tired of the faux Puritanical norms. And if he does propose to a woman at the end of the season, and follows through with a marriage, it could be one of the best redemption stories in franchise history.
The potential pitfall, however, is that Viall is the definition of more of the same.
It was a foregone conclusion that the next season of The Bachelor wouldn't do anything for the show's bad track record on diversity. No men of color made it far enough in the last two seasons to be serious contenders -- JoJo Fletcher's final four looked like quadruplets and were so boring that it's not much of a surprise none were cast. And Viall has shown attraction to a similar type of woman -- Saviano, Bristowe and Dorfman share that brunette, girl-next-door vibe, which is lovely but over represented on the show. So realistically, will execs cast contestants that will simultaneously break that mold and have the real potential to be a soul mate for Viall?
"One of the biggest changes that we need to do is, we need to increase the pool of diverse candidates in the beginning, because part of what ends up happening as we go along is there just aren’t as many candidates to ultimately end up in the role of the next Bachelor or Bachelorette," ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey said at the Television Critics Association press tour in early August. "So that is something we really want to put some effort and energy towards."
It's an important acknowledgement.
One of the main appeals of the show and reasons for its initial success, which executive producer Mike Fleiss noted in an interview with The Cut, is the ability for a Bachelor to encapsulate the country's ideal of a desirable husband. While explaining how Alex Michel was cast as the first Bachelor, Fleiss credits then ABC executive Andrea Wong for helping select the tall, dark, handsome Harvard and Stanford educated businessman.
"In her mind’s eye, the most eligible man in America, the most desirable single man — marriage material — should be a highly educated guy. So that’s how [Michel] got the job over guys that I think were probably more like the guys we cast now.”
It's that kind of pedigree, gravitas and freshness that the show could use an infusion of, that will hopefully lead to the most diverse and dramatic season ever.
(Read more on Nick and the new season here.)