The Brilliance of ABC's The Bachelor

The Bachelor debuted in 2002, at a time when the rise of reality TV in popular culture was starting to accelerate. This was two years after Survivor first aired. The Bachelor would go on to a few spinoffs, including The Bachelorette. Two years later, Singapore's Mediacorp followed with its own Bachelorette, named Eye For A Guy. What makes The Bachelor brilliant? In modern society, it is normal for men to chase attractive women. And some women have a reputation for being difficult to chase, especially the attractive ones. So the game of men chasing women, is normal. Now what would take an attractive woman, or a demanding woman, from a developed society, to be so attracted to a guy, it is her who initiates the chase? Answer: The guy must be an eligible bachelor. And the producers of The Bachelor probably understood this. Which is probably why they did not start with The Bachelorette. Men chasing attractive women is an everyday scenario. And once The Bachelor gains an audience, The Bachelorette was produced. Eye For A Guy misses this point. Mediacorp probably thought: Singapore is a traditional patriarchial society, and it is the men who must chase the women. New seasons of The Bachelor are still airing as I write. Previous bachelors and winning contestants are still tabloid fodder. Testaments to the cotinued interest in the show.