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March 2004
Reality TV Break Ups
By Andrea Haber
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Finding love in all the wrong places? That seems to be the case as all reality TV hook ups turn into reality TV break ups. Shows like "The Bachelor" and "Joe Millionaire," on which woman compete against one other to win the heart of a stranger and if they're lucky, a million dollar "bonus", have become increasingly popular in the ratings. Watching the first season of "The Bachelor," America fell in love with star Alex Michel. Ratings shot up as Alex went on lavish dates with different women. Each date felt the connection and thought she was the one he would choose. But of course in the end, Alex chose the one for him, or so he thought, Amanda Marsh, over the soon to be star of "The Bachelorette," Trista Rehn. After the show ended, Alex continued to pursue Trista and when Amanda found out the couple decided to break up.
Despite her previous reality relationship problems, Trista had no problem as the star of "The Bachelorette." After having 25 guys fight over her attention, at the end of the season, she had chosen Ryan Sutter and the two were well on their way to a TV special, "Ryan and Trista's Wedding." While this couple is still currently together, the one million dollars ABC paid them can't hurt. Only time will tell if the couple last.
Every bachelor and bachelorette has been the same. All are gorgeous, all want their 15 minutes of fame, and all receive it. Every season is just like the one before- the bachelor or bachelorette make every girl/boy think that she's/he's the one and then breaks their heart as she/he nicely tells them to leave. The girls cry and the guys say things such as "I never liked her anyway." But the networks don't have to worry about their feelings or that almost every couple from their shows has broken up, all they care about is the millions they are making from Americans feeding off the shows.
The best part is the shows are not even romantic. Viewers take bets on who is going to be kicked off next, not who is going to fall in love. Before these shows climbed the charts hopeless romantics would watch dramas such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Felicity" that included love triangles, romantic scenes, and true connections between the couples. Now viewers resort to reality TV.
The second season of "The Bachelor" has high ratings as well. But still there was no hope for Aaron Burge and fianc￩e Helene Eksterowicz. The two called the wedding off after the show ended and broke up. Andrew Firestone and Jen Schefft, the couple from the third season, also broke up when the show ended; it just seems that reality TV couples were not preprogrammed to last.
Other shows such as "Joe Millionaire" have had its share of break ups as well. The show had a little twist, in the show Evan Marriott, the bachelor, was not really a millionaire. The woman he picked, Zora Andrich wasn't in love and when the show ended the two received a million dollars and split up.
The networks keep airing more and more shows with the same premise, to fall in love with a stranger. Networks even stooped to a lower level creating the show "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fianc￩e."
As long as the ratings for the shows are going up, the couples will be breaking up. But viewers are still staying tuned to bet on who will fall in love as well as who will break up.
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Andrea Haber