ABC will launch The Golden Bachelor—a new addition to The Bachelor franchise in which a senior man will date a house full of women—this fall, as the network pushes to fill more time slots with reality television amid a writers’ strike with no end in sight.
"The Bachelor" season 17 stars Sean, right, and Catherine Lowe, center right, attend the ProFlowers ... [+]
Since its start in 2002, The Bachelor—and its various spinoffs—has cast men and women in their 20s and 30s, with each season seeming to have a younger cast, but the franchise is now working to help those in their golden years find “a partner with whom to share the sunset years of life,” a press release from ABC said.
A version of the popular reality show starring people later in their lives has been in the works at ABC for years, with the first casting calls for seniors airing during Season 24 of The Bachelor in 2020 and airing on and off since then, spurring rumors of when the show would happen, if at all.
Neither the man who will lead the series nor the women he will pursue have been announced yet.
ABC’s announcement comes in the third week of a Writers Guild of America strike that has put a halt to a number of television shows and caused networks to switch up their lineups for the summer and fall.
The Golden Bachelor will air alongside Bachelor In Paradise, per ABC’s fall schedule, which allows the network to fill two weeknight spots with unscripted shows during the current writers’ strike, which started May 2. The strike is expected to delay production for many scripted dramas and comedies that would’ve aired on network TV in the fall if writers remain off the job into the summer—and some industry experts expect a lengthy standoff. The only scripted show on ABC’s fall schedule is Abbott Elementary, but reruns–not new episodes–are on the schedule. The Bachelor franchise has proven successful for ABC over the years, producing 46 seasons of its two main dating shows, along with a number of spinoffs with varying levels of success. The next season of The Bachelorette is set to air this summer.
The show will air from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. eastern time on Mondays, breaking from the franchise’s tendency of having two- to three-hour episodes. There is no premiere date yet.
'The Golden Bachelor': ABC Announces New Dating Series for the Golden Years | Entertainment Tonight (Entertainment Tonight)
The Golden Bachelor Picked Up To Series At ABC For Fall Premiere – Deadline (Deadline)