The Bachelor: A Flawed Concept

Okay, I admit it. I watch garbage TV. While I get my share of "60 Minutes" and "Charlie Rose", I find myself watching shows like "The Bachelor." It's like the accident on the highway that you can't help but look at as you drive by.

I never used to watch these shows until DVR came along. Now it's too easy to hit "record series" and catch an hour show in 35 minutes which for whatever reason seems like an efficient use of time. Never mind, the fact that I "spent" (wasted?) 35 minutes watching this garbage.

Now in it's 13th season (wow, it's been on for 13th seasons?), there must be a reason why "The Bachelor" is still on the air, right? But of the 12 completed seasons, 5 resulted in proposals, and apparently 2 are still engaged, but there have been no weddings. Interestingly, there have been 4 seasons of "The Bachelorette", all of which lead to proposals (granted, not all accepted proposals) and only one wedding. So despite the rating success of the show, a 6% marriage success rate (we'll see what happens with single Dad, Jason) seems pretty dismal. (BTW, thanks wikipedia for those stats because I never would've come up with them on my own!)

Taking a step back - WHY on earth would someone think this formula would actually lead to sucessful marriages? One guy gets to pick among 25 women, all vying for his affection. Sure the guy is usually good looking, successful, and they go on amazing dates, but why do these 25 women all want to marry THIS guy? They just wait around to be picked, hoping to get that final rose. This really doesn't seem that much different than a mail order bride. Sure, the Bachelor gets to know them and vice versa, but why does the Bachelor get to make all the decisions? The whole concept seems a bit absurd.