Every Monday night at 8 p.m. during ABC’s Bachelor or Bachelorette seasons, you’ll find me glued to my television waiting to see the drama unfold. The Bachelor/Bachelorette show centers around the lead, one eligible Bachelor or Bachelorette who are presented with 25-30 members of the opposite sex to, simply put, fall in love.
Throughout the 3-month duration of the show, the cast travels across the world to destinations ranging from New Zealand to New York City. The lead has a series of fantasy dates each week with the contestants in a one-on-one, two-on-one and group date format to ensure they see their potential partners in many different settings. At the beginning of each season, the drama is often quite heated between the contestants, but as the group dwindles down, the show truly becomes focused on the love story plot.
Personally, one of the most engaging factors about the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise is the friendships that emerge from each season. Since the contestants have so much free time to spend with one another, the true love story often becomes the friendships that are built between contestants throughout the season.
The Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise is an amazing opportunity to watch a real-life fantasy love story unfold. Although it doesn’t present very many realistic struggles of a couple, it is an extremely engaging watch for a viewer such as myself.
Ever since the show was released in 2020, Netflix’s “Love is Blind” has done a superb job at capturing the attention of young viewership and generating buzz on social media. The show places a large group of men and women in a 12-day experience known as the pods. Within the pods, men and women are given the opportunity to date through a wall, unable to see each other.
The goal of the show is for couples to fall in love and get engaged “sight unseen,” only able to see one another once already engaged. In the producer’s eyes, it is a test of whether or not love can be truly blind. After exiting the pods, the couples are taken on a romantic vacation, and soon after placed in the real world with their weddings taking place at the end of the TV show.
I am extremely fascinated by the premise of the TV show, however as it’s gained more popularity, the couples’ success rate has plummeted. From my perspective, individuals have begun going on the show to gain a social media following rather than falling in love, which often defeats the true purpose of the show.
Overall, however, “Love is Blind” is an extremely entertaining watch. With important dramatic moments to romantic relationships, the show portrays extremely realistic sides of real-world relationships.
Despite not being my personal favorite, Netflix’s “The Ultimatum” quickly gained popularity following the release of its first season in 2022. The premise of the show is to help couples decide whether it’s time for them to go their separate ways or get engaged.
Coming into the show, each couple has one partner who is ready to get engaged and presents the other partner with an ultimatum. Throughout the show, each couple splits up for two weeks, getting the opportunity to begin a temporary live-in relationship with a different cast member. Following that two week period, the couples return to their original partners to experience life together once again.
Following the four week period, the couple is brought to the final engagement day where they choose to get engaged or walk away from one another.
I found the show quite interesting, giving couples opportunities to meet different people. Oftentimes, reality shows are focused around a consistent love story, but this show took a different approach. I enjoyed how effective it was at helping couples decide if their relationships still suited them and I’d recommend it to a realist-viewer.
