reality television fraud

Not that I should have had any faith in (or even be WATCHING) all this crap reality television that is saturating televisions across America these days, but once again, I have watched each week of this season's The Bachelorette (the spinoff from The Bachelor). For the most part, I have been watched because my lovely girlfriend has always been very into the show, but I would be less than honest if I said I wasn't at least a bit curious as to what was going to happen each week. If for no other reason that to mock the actors (reality TV contestants) and the crappy host Chris Harrison (who says the SAME FREAKING THING EACH WEEK!!!!). So the final episode has been on in a 3-hour marathon tonight on ABC....the first hour being the final dates and Jerry and John Paul's final pleas for love....the second hour leading up to the two proposals and the Bachelorette's choice of men....the THIRD hour (which just ended) was AFFTER THE FINAL ROSE, in which the Bachelorette, Jen Schefft was going to give the "chosen" Bachelor her answer to his proposal.....

So this show (5 or 6 seasons worth) has always ended in some sort of proposal or promise of an attempt at a relationship. Imagine the audience's reaction tonight when on the LIVE show, Jen tells the man she had chosen on the final night of the show, that she CANNOT accept his proposal and they are better off as friends. So a couple months ago, when the show finished taping, Jen made her decision. She chose heartthrob Jerry over stable John Paul. She REJECTED John Paul's proposal on the spot (and he was pissed) and gave Jerry a lukewarm, "I am committed to making this work" as she interrupted HIS proposal. He was a bit flustered, and rightly so, as it was sort of rude in a way. But of course we figure this is all part of the show and of course she is going to accept the proposal on the live show this evening during the final hour. After giving John Paul closure and answering some of his questions, it was Jerry's turn. Jen and Jerry reunite on the show and he pulls out the ring and weirdly asks, "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" Jen proceeds to tell him that she things that they are probably better off as friends. Jerry seems flustered (again) though doesn't really seem TOO surprised or TOO upset. Not sure that is a NORMAL reaction....Jen proceeds to explain that since the final rose ceremony where her and Jerry choose each other, that they have tried to make it work, but she doesn't see it working. Granted, since the show has been over for months, their "meetings" together have been few and far between, leading up until tonight, so who knows what all transpired over those meetings and the last couple months (mostly being apart) and all the phone calls. One would think that since they haven't been able to spend much time together in order to keep the decision a secret, that they were sort of putting this all on hold until they started their relationship OFF the camera. WRONG! Jen had made the decision already before arriving tonight, and her answers as to why felt less than honest or complete. How she came to this decision already I think the audience, the host, and msot of all JERRY is still reeling over.

Why am I writing all this? Because SHE PISSES ME OFF. We the audience have devoted not one, but TWO seasons of this show too Jen. The first was when she was a contestant on The Bachelor and was chosen in the end by Andrew Firestone, and in which he proposed and she accepted. Months down the road, they announced (or US magazine announced) that the relationship had ended. The reasons why? Sort of blurred still to this day. So ABC gives Jen a NEW chance to be on TV again and gain her exposure being the new Bachelorette and allowing HER to make the decisions. It seemed a bit contrived and forced, but what the heck, let's give the girl another chance. She gets to work her way through 25 new guys in order to pick the right one for her, and we get to sort of cheer her on. After 6 or 7 weeks of this season's show, and the audience (including myself) being invested in the show, the LEAST she could have done was act like things were okay and TRY to work on the relationship with the person she chose for a month, a week, heck, even give us a DAY of smiles and THEN decided to call it off due to differences. But don't come out and tell us that you have worked on the relationship and decided that it's not going to work before it's actually even started!!!! Go off the cameras for a bit and attempt to work on a relationship before giving it up! Lordy....I'm not saying that she HAD to find love on the show or that the show can't have a twist like this, but at least attempt to make a relationship work out of this. Granted, this is not a normal "relationship" situation and it is only dating for 6 weeks, but hey, date for another couple weeks OFF the camera and then make a decision. I don't think we even would have minded if Jen had rejected BOTH proposals right at the last taping of the show and made her decision right there. But leading us (and Jerry) on by saying that she is COMMITTED (committed?!) to making this work and then saying it's not going to work after not honestly trying to make it work is wrong. The point is, America gave Jen a second chance (as it seems that SHE is the one that ended the relationship with Firestone) and she led us on for weeks making us think that she was in love with one, if not TWO guys throughout the show. And then she comes out and says, haha, I lied. I'm not picking either. Leaving one guy heartbroken, and another shocked and heartbroken.

Jerry's response (or lack therof) was a bit surprising as he didn't seem to have too many questions for her. He seemed to jsut go with the flow and thank her for opening up his heart to love again. We can probably contribute this response to him being shocked, flusted and hurt by what is going on, but hee didn't seem to defend himself at all.

So after alll this, what? I give up on reality TV. Maybe not ALL of it, but at the very least, I am done with the Bachelor/Bachelorette series on ABC. I am sure as hell not going to invest my time in the NEW season of The Bachelor which starts on March 28, in which the previews tonight look like a VERY bad episode of Elimidate....New Bachelor, Charlie O'Connell (brother of Jerry O'Connell?) Wait, don't answer that. I don't care. I'm not watching. (Ok, I might) Ok, no really, I'm not going to. Not going to be deceived again by this fake reality television. After so many seasons of a reality television show, the contestants on the show all have seen the process before and know they are in a game. They also know that they PROBABLY won't get picked, but by all means want to get their 15 minutes of fame. Who wouldn't right? People like Jen Schefft using this show and the audience to gain exposure for herself. Now she can go write a book, release a music CD, go on the cover of US magazine, release a cookbook, release her memoirs and make a ton of money off people that buy this pap. Because that's why she REALLLY went on the show, right? She should go back to her soft porn bondage films....This is no longer reality television. This is fraud.

Out....