Are You Watching?: The Bachelor Pad

Over the years I have watched the Bachelor franchise on and off.  I like to see the fantasy locations and shamefully revel at the tear-filled heartbreaks so I was intrigued at the idea of a spin off game show. The premise of the show is that they take 9 guys and 11 girls and put them in a house where they share a dorm-like room filled with bunk bed.  Each week there is a competition where the winner or winners get to pick 3 people of the opposite sex to go out on a date. The competition winner then hands out a rose. The rose holder and the competition winner are safe from the elimination. Houseguests are eliminated by a vote - boys vote out girls; girls vote out guys.

The series changed dramatically between the first and second episodes. The first episode was fun, flirty and everyone got along. Second episode- the claws came out and people realized it is a game. Strategy talks replaced pillow talk and one "couple" already broke up because guy thought being single would be better for his game play.  Being a Survivor fan, it's pretty funny watching these co-eds try to figure out a good strategy. The major issue I have with the show is that at least 10 of the people had relationships with each other before entering the house. So they formed an easy alliance that left everyone else scrambling. I think the show would have been a lot more interesting if everyone had been on a level planning field entering the game or some of the folks with previous relationship had entered halfway through.

The show is still working on the kinks. The competitions have been uninspired  - Twister and a pie eating contest. I'll probably watch for a couple more episodes. If you were having trouble getting your fill of 20-30 somethings frollicking in their bathing suits since the Bachelorette went off the air, then this will easily fill the void.