Congratulations Jillian and Ed !

Jillian finally made her choice tonight with the somewhat surprising pick of Ed Swiderski, the slightly overweight Chicagoan, in what some might describe as the most scripted and dull season in Bachelorette history.

In an effort to keep the viewers awake throughout the entire two hour show, ABC brought back previously jilted Reid for an encore performance. Reid, who will go down in Bachelorette history as the only guy to be dumped twice in the same month in the same state by the same woman, can only look back at this as a "learning experience". Hey, at least he got two free trips to Hawaii.

And then there was Kip the drip...poor guy thought he had the final rose in the bag. Hell, after looking at the competition, wouldn't you ? But little did Kip know that his previous history as being the "dumper" and never the "dumpie" would come back to haunt him. Jillian obviously got her panties wet at the thought of seeing Kip in his bare nudeness, but figured at some point he would dump her as well. So she beat Kip to the punch and gave him some of his own medicine when she dumped Kip shortly after he told her he loved her. Be that a lesson for all gigolos who flaunt their eight pack stomach muscles.

As for Ed and Jillian...I truly hope this thing works out. But I can't see how it can given the fact that there are so many things working against them. Sure, Jillian and Ed like each other, and I'm sure they have chemistry. But lets look at reality...

Ed lives in Chicago, while Jillian lives in another country.

Ed is very tall, while Jillian is a midget.

Ed couldn't get it up during their first overnight date while Jillian rubbed him bra-less.

Ed might be gay.

Ed already broke Jil's heart once when he quit the show, and might break her heart again.

The bottom line is this.... Ed and Jillian have everything working against them because now they have to face the reality that the show is over and they are stuck with each other. No more free trips in first class to Spain, no more free trips to Hawaii, no more exotic dinners, no more overnight fantasy suite orgies with rose pedals scattered on the floor. From now on its Ed the overweight Cubs fan who likes hot dogs and beer. And if at some point they live together in Chicago, will Jillian be happy ? Especially after she has lived in beautiful Vancouver. Let me tell ya, I've been to both of those cities, and Chicago ain't no Vancouver. And what about the citizenship situation ? Will Jillian become a US citizen just to appease Ed ? Will Jillian really become a Cubs fan ? Would Ed really put her through that type of trauma ?

On the flip side, what if Jillian requests that Ed move to Canada ? Would Ed leave America just for her ? And would Ed really be happy with the Canadian health care system ? These are just little details that can make or break a relationship. If I were a betting man, I'd give Jillian's and Ed's relationship a 1 in 10 chance of lasting more than a year. But I'm hoping I'm wrong.

Finally, bravo to the ABC producers for scripting another make believe reality TV love story. We know you couldn't top Jason/Molly/Melissa, but you gave it your best try anyway. Problem was, Wes broke the sacred bond among contestants....as he told the truth about how corny and phony most of the show really is.

I can hardly wait for the next Bachelor show...

Tonight's the night...

Sorry, I haven't been able to do much blogging the last few weeks...had a serious health issue that needed immediate attention and wasn't able to concern myself with much of anything else. Things are looking better now, and I promise to write a review of the big finale. I just hope Jillian follows her heart and not her hormones when choosing from Ed, Kip, and Reid.

Stay tuned...

Reid will be back.....

Stay tuned for more on this developing situation...

An interview with a former Bachelor producer...

The following interview was conducted a few years ago with a one time producer of the Bachelor and NPR (National Public Radio). After reading this interview, there should be no doubt in your minds on how the show is created.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2008/04/the_bachelor_1.html


Question: Describe your role or duties as a producer on 'The Bachelor.'

Answer: I was involved in every aspect of the production; I was heavily involved with casting, interviewing the cast, and following/driving story.

Q: How does the production on a reality television program vary from scripted or more traditional forms?

A: We shoot 100% of the time and air 1% of what we shot. With that said, we roll on a lot of boring sh*t but as soon as you set the camera down is when the good stuff happens, therefore we only stop when they are sleeping and even then there is somebody on standby just in case. Reality TV is known as being down and dirty and on the cheap, so it is very different from scripted [TV] in that one of my roles was to try to get everything for free -- if you see us at a resort in Bermuda it is because that said resort is looking for PR and they gave us the whole date for trade out.
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Q: Do you feel like the contestants on 'The Bachelor' (and the Bachelor himself) are actually there to find love? Or do they see it as a way of furthering their careers, entering show-biz, or getting their 15 minutes of fame?

A: I am a bit of a hopeless romantic, so without sounding too cheesy I really believe that at our core most of us are looking for true love. Now, why would some go to match.com, a bar, or a reality TV show? The decision to go on TV is telling of their personalities and their motivations are almost never pure for these reality types. They usually want to leverage something. I don't know if it is always a career in acting more than it is fame, recognizability, covers of US Weekly, never having to wait in line at a club, for some it is about hometown celebrity status. Like take the realtor or the banker for example, after bearing all on a reality romance show they are inevitably viewed as an alpha type person and because of this their lives are exponentially better having made themselves a household name. Not to mention that over 50% of the cast, having not found love on TV end up finding it in their real lives immediately after going on the show -- somehow the people in their lives see them differently, more attractive even, having done something so ballsy.

Q: Does the editing process do justice to the contestants or is there a vast difference between what happened during the taping and what appears on the broadcast? In other words, does the editing carve out a story line or play up certain personalities in order to make it more interesting? I think this is the general assumption that the audience has.

A: TOTALLY! Everyone always ask if what we see on TV is really what happened and for the most part it is but, going back to the film 100% and air 1%, the viewer is only getting to see the really good stuff and, even still, if the stories are many we are going to edit them down to the most compelling bits, therefore leaving out (often times) how somebody goes from seemingly normal to totally coo coo pants. We have even gone so far as to "frankenbite," where you take somebody saying, "of course I'd like to say that I love him" and cutting the bite together to say "of course I love him," cutting out the very important "I'd like to say." [It's] definitely very misleading to the viewer and unfair to the cast member, but they sign up for this, fully knowing the reputation of the reality world.

Q: Was there ever an intelligent or reasonably cool Bachelor or contestant?

A: Yes. Intelligent -- absolutely most of them are college graduated and some of them prestigious schools like Harvard. But does that make them "cool", no. Were some cool? Absolutely, but I guess that is all in who you ask. Take an associate of mine, if you asked her she would say that none of them were cool. Me, I am a sucker for the human experience, no matter if it is up my alley or not. I liked some of the Bachelors/Bachelorettes but others of them I hated (and I really have to try hard to be moved to hatred.) There are a couple of them that I genuinely care about. Would people like hanging out with these celebrated love seekers? Probably not -- unless you take Meredith she actually was one of the more "normal/cool" cast members that we had. Bob was cool by most people's standards, fun loving, kind hearted, a karaoke machine, and now the host of "Trick My Trucker" who wouldn't want to hang out with that type?

Q: What tricks or strategies does the show employ to amp up the drama and tension during the taping of the show?

A: Well, in the private one on one interviews with a producer (like me) it is the producers job to get the sh*t talking started, like "tell me honestly what you think of Sally" -- if the interviewee does not want to respond in a catty way then the producer will usually go to the next level, like "well I personally think she is a self absorbed, attention starved skank," and then see if the person will take the bait. Once you start learning who in the house is not well liked it is easy to start seeding conversations and gossip. Also, if the conversations linger too long on favorite movies and stuff the producers will step in a say, "ok we all know we signed up for a TV show -- so if you don't start talking about something more topical then you can't have the sushi you requested tonight." The smarter cast members start to realize that everything can be bartered. Like, "I will give you a good one-on-one interview about Sally, IF you let me listen to my iPod for the rest of the day."

Q: Do you feel like 'The Bachelor' already has his lady picked out early on but has to appear undecided due to the nature of the show?

A: Sometimes yes and sometimes no -- really, every hero cast member is different; sometimes there is an undeniable chemistry and that has to be well masked throughout the show, as not to give away the ending. But other times they don't "know" until the very last minute.

Q: What is the interview process like to be a contestant on 'The Bachelor', or to be The Bachelor himself?

A: It is pretty crazy, there are several phone interviews first, then they fly him out with others for a competitive casting sessions where they are all put on camera, taken to dinner, interviewed some more, etc. When the execs finally have a cast member that they'd like to work with they meet with the head of ABC to get his blessing. Sometimes it takes awhile, as they are some real douche bags out there.

Q: How does the crew of 'The Bachelor' deal with the craziness and general stupidity of what they are witnessing?

A: Most of the time the crew gets pretty into it! Reality TV is such a grind for the crew, long hours with little pay that they actually look forward to the crazy bits, it helps to pass the time and the executives get so excited that the vibe is felt throughout. The camera man that has been shooting for 12 straight hours of mani/pedis is like, 'I know this shit I am filming is actually gonna make it to air.' It is pretty satisfying to watch the kids go to crazy town especially for those of us that sold out on any hope of a real life ourselves. Also it makes you happy of any drama free life you may be living.

Q: Why is there never any acknowledgment that the contestants are on television? Aside from the one-on-one interview with the camera, I always wonder why people don't talk about how strange the process is, or admit to the surreal nature of the program during their involvement. Is this edited out or do they truly forget the cameras are there?

A: Definitely edited out. Whenever anyone is talking about the cameras they get scolded and told to resume more TV friendly chitchat. They are told up front that they have to ignore the cameras and after awhile they really do go away, or if they don't you usually don't last long because if you aren't being "yourself", or at least being emotional and effusive then you won't last long on the show; you will be overshadowed by the ones that can get past the cameras. If you don't bring your personality to the show then you end up looking like a cold stone bitch and the producers make sure of that.

A Brady Commentary on Wes....

After listening to Wes's radio interviews this week, I've decided to devote a special thread to voice my opinion on the matter. Make no mistake, this isn't an endorsement of Wes, as I'm still not buying his act 100%. Having said that, by now it should be obvious to Bachelorette viewers that much of what Wes has stated about the "scripting" of the show is accurate.

Those of you who are faithful viewers need to remember an important fact. The Bachelor/Bachelorette series is produced for one reason - to make money. And to make money the show needs to get decent ratings. So in the eyes of ABC and the producers, its all about ratings and revenue. Basically, the Bachelor/Bachelorette series is no different than any other network programming. Those of you who are under the impression that ABC cares about a real love story that ends in marriage need to understand what I just stated about ratings and revenue. If the final rose ceremony ends with a real marriage, as with Trista and Ryan, great. If it ends with the final couples breaking up shortly thereafter, well that's fine as well. The simple truth is, ABC doesn't care one way or the other about love or marriage, as long as the ratings are good. But here's the catch - the ratings for the Bachelor/Bachelorette have increased as the show has become more and more scripted....thats why we've seen the drama with Brad Womack and Deanna, the scripted nonsense between Jason and Melissa, and now the extremely obvious scripting of Wes as the "villain".

Regarding Wes, he's made some serious charges against the producers of the show. Wes claims that ABC edited his own words and took them out of context with the goal of making Wes look bad. Furthermore, Wes claims that during the nearly two months he was involved with the show, he spent only four hours alone with Jillian. Wes claims that he requested more "alone" time with Jillian, yet the producers denied him his request each time. So my question to all of you is this....if the goal of the show is about Jillian meeting her true love, how could she do so when the producers denied her access to Wes? And how could any couple be expected to fall in love if they've been with each other for only four hours over a two month time frame ?

In conclusion, even though I'm not a big fan of Wes's act, I'd probably trust him more than I'd trust the people at ABC. So, I'm going to give Wes the benefit of the doubt on this and send him off into the sunset with one final curtain call...here's his latest single...

Weekly review # 8....07/06/09

I want to start by stating that I'm very unhappy with the events that took place this week. I watch this goofy little show with the anticipation that at some point during the season the Bachelorette, in this case Jillian, will hop in the sack with multiple partners during Fantasy suite week. Nothing like a trollop swapping spit (and potential diseases) on the pretense that its all about love. So what did Jillian do ? She destroyed what little entertainment value this show holds for me when she got prudish at the last minute by rejecting all the guys.... What happened to the Jillian we all know and love ? You know, the Jillian that jumped in the hot tub with Jason last year ? Or the Jillian who french kissed dozens of guys earlier this year ? That's the Jillian we want to see, not this prudish girl with morals. But more on that later...lets get to the review...

This week Jillian dates each of the final four guys with the goal of getting to know them in a more normal environment. So where does Jillian take them?...Spain...where else. The first guy up is Kip the Drip....(man this guy is boring, every time ABC starts the show with this guy I fall asleep, but fortunately this week I was loaded with caffeine so I made it through). There were only a few things worth remembering about the Jillian/Kip date. The first was the hilarious flamenco dancing where Kip looked like an unemployed mariachi singer one would see on the streets of Tijuana. (I was almost waiting for Kip to bring out the donkey.) Another thing worth remembering from this date was Kip telling Jillian that he “ thinks a proposal seems far off at this point in time”. Either Kip is getting smart, or he has already made the determination that he doesn't see Jillian in his long term future. Lets just hope that if Kip gets booted by Jillian, he doesn't become the next Bachelor - because if he does, ABC's ratings will drop like lead. But the big event to be remembered from this date is when Jillian refuses Kip's invitation to hop in the sack for the overnight fantasy suite spit swap. Tell you the truth, Kip didn't seem that upset when she rejected him...

Up next its Reid's turn with Jillian. I'll give Reid credit for one thing...unlike Kip, at least Reid attempts to show a personality. The date starts in the grocery store where Jillian and Reid try to communicate in Espanol, yet come across as two idiot gringos. Moving on to later in the date, Jillian and Reid do small talk with Reid telling Jillian why he likes her. Reid tells Jil that she has a great personality, good sense of humor, smells nice, looks good in red, has pretty eyes,...blah, blah, blah...it seemed as if Reid was running out of "canned" compliments. I just wish he had come out and said what he really was feeling, which was that he wanted to see her naked in the fantasy suite. Speaking of the fantasy suite - as with Kip, Reid was rejected. But unlike Kip, Reid seemed to be pissed for not getting his chance to see Jil's cute little ass and pert boobies in the raw.....Oh come on people, you KNOW that's all most of these guys are thinking, get real.

The third victim in this passion play is Ed. Personally, I don't know why these two get along, but there must be some sort of chemistry between them. After all, why would Ed, who's an extremely tall lookalike of Greg Brady, want to be with Jillian, who is barely five feet tall in heels ? And what the hell is Ed doing here anyway ? Didn't he leave the show because his job was on the line ? Now Ed's back, yet the viewers haven't been told how he got back on the show, or what happened with his job in Chicago. Speaking of Chicago, Ed gave the clear implication that if he is chosen, Jillian might want to start packing her bags for a move to the windy city. When Jillian asks Ed if she would like Chicago, Ed says the city is all about food and restaurants. And if she's lucky, Ed might even take her to a Cubs game...but wait, Jillian doesn't know anything about baseball...that's alright, Ed will buy her hot dogs at the game to keep her entertained. Fun guy. As with Kip and Reid, Ed gets rejected for the fantasy suite nude love fest, but unlike Kip and Reid, Ed gets to stay with Jil in the suite with his clothes on. I'll give Ed some credit...while on the fantasy suite bed, I saw Ed move his hands on Jillian's butt...at least his mind was in the right place. LOL

The final date of this episode it between Jillian and Wes...or what I call the end of the "Wes Side Story". This is what ABC producers have been promoting for weeks now...the tension filled romance between Jil and Wes...basically this is ABC's "money shot". Unfortunately, the money shot missed its mark, as Wes couldn't pull off the act any longer. During the date, we witness Jil and Wes at a restaurant, yet very little food was eaten. Instead, Jillian drills Wes on all sorts of issues, including Wes's alleged girlfriend. Wes seems distant to Jillian, Jillian seems distant to Wes, and the food was getting cold. Suddenly, the waiter shows up with the fantasy suite invitation...Jil reads it, Wes insincerely says, "yea, we should do it".(At this point Jillian should get an Oscar for continuing this farce as long as she has.) Shortly thereafter, the dinner date ends, Jil and Wes walk outside, Wes gets into the cab, and Jillian is relieved that she no longer has to pretend that she didn't know Wes was a plant by ABC the entire season.

Moving on the the rose ceremony....

The suspense at this particular ceremony isn't so much based on who Jillian will choose, because we all know Wes was getting the boot. Instead, the suspense is caused by the absence of Chris Harrison. Where was Chris ? Did his plane crash over the Atlantic ? Did he get murdered by a mad flamenco dancer in Spain ? The viewers were left in the dark....poor Jillian was forced to handle the rose ceremony all by herself. Anyway, when Wes got the boot he drove away in a limo. My question is why did Wes get a limo ride home while much nicer guys like Robby were booted off in less luxurious wheels ? Based on Wes's actions, he deserved to be escorted out of town on a mule cart. But then again, limo transportation was probably part of the contract Wes signed when he was paid to be on the show. LOL

So the final three are Ed, Kip, and Reid. I can hardly wait to find out which one of these knuckleheads will need viagra next week in Hawaii.

Weekly review # 7...6/29/09

The show starts with Jillian going to the hometown's of Jesse, Reid, Wes, Michael, and Kip. Whenever I watch these "hometown" dates, I'm always intrigued by the family members who are willing to embarrass themselves on national television for the sake of their child, brother, or sister. Among this group of families, I found Jesse's family to be the most bizarre, followed closely by Wes's. Michael's family seemed semi-normal, as did Reid's, while Kip's mother seemed in need of a good lay. In comparison to previous season's families, this group wasn't much to write home about. Nor was the small talk between Jillian and the various family members...been there, done that.

The real story to report this week is the ABC scripted drama between Wes and Jake, as well as the re-emergence of Ed. Lets start with the fabricated love story between Ed and Jillian. If you recall, Ed left the show a few weeks ago with the excuse that his boss in Chicago was about to fire him unless he got back to work. This week Ed came back, claiming that he couldn't live with himself unless he saw Jillian again. As for Jillian, she looked surprised to see Ed come back (or as surprised as she could be considering ABC had the whole thing scripted). Ed told Jillian that all he wanted was another chance during the rose ceremony, Jillian agreed that she'd give him consideration, but also told Ed he had fallen behind in "quality time" compared to the rest of the guys. (So much for romance)

Now lets move on to the meat of the show....or what I call the "Wes Side Story". Apparently ABC thought it a good idea to use Wes as this year's villain, as Wes has been labeled a liar, a cheater, and a hustler - only concerned about his future in the music business. This week we witness the previously dumped Jake reemerge on the show, taking time off from his job as pilot for Euthanasia Airlines. Jake hooks up with Jillian and informs her that the villain Wes has a girlfriend. That's right, not only is Jake a pilot, but a snitch as well. When told of this horrible news about Wes and his alleged girlfriend, Jillian breaks down and starts to cry. Jake lets Jillian know that he's telling her because he cares too much for her and doesn't want to see her get hurt by Wes. (So instead, Jake hurts Jillian himself by telling her a story that might or might not be true.) As Jake leaves the hotel room, he says goodbye to Jillian and walks into the hallway, leans over what appears to be a balcony, and starts balling in a scene reminiscent of another wimp by the name of Jason Mesnick.

After regaining her composure after the tragic news from Jake, Jillian invites Wes to her hotel room. Jillian asks Wes if he is there for the right reasons...Wes gets defensive, Jillian presses Wes for more info, Wes tells her to ask him what is on her mind....Jillian does, Wes gets pissed...blah, blah, blah. ABC then figures it might be fun to bring Jake back into the room.(presumably after he stopped crying) Jake enters the room, Wes looks uncomfortable, Jake confronts Wes about his "other" girlfriend. Wes denies, denies, denies...Jake says Wes lies, lies, lies. Jake leaves, Wes stays, Jillian prays....you get the picture. Jillian says the dinner date must go on with Wes's family. Jillian and Wes arrive for the dinner, Wes tells the family about Jake, the family defends Wes, Jillian leaves the dinner a happy camper once again. Its seems as if nothing will deny Jillian what she truly desires, which is to satisfy the tingly sensation between her legs each and every time she sees Wes.

On to the rose ceremony...

All the usual suspects show up, with the addition of Ed, giving Jillian more stress as she tries to decide who will be her future hubby. No surprise that Kip, Wes, and Reid survive the cut, and that Jesse gets the boot. But I was somewhat surprised to see Ed stay, as he has the personality of a dead fish. And poor ole Michael finally got the boot this week, now he'll have to go back home and once again make love to his inflatable doll.