Ummmmm Dallas, we have a problem. For those that aren’t aware, the Dallas-Ft Worth area is having our worst winter storm in probably 10 years. I’ve been here 14 1/2 years myself and the only time I can remember worse than this was the week of the Steelers/Packers Super Bowl held here. That was a disaster. We definitely have our cold winters. And February is always our coldest month. We’ll dip into the 20s and sometimes in the teens. And maybe we’ll have a few snow days a year. But very rarely does it stay cold enough for the snow to stick very long. That’s not what’s happening now. Got about 4 inches of snow Sunday, and we’re not supposed to get out of the 20s til Thursday, with more snow coming tmrw. We’re in the 50s by the weekend, but we def have endure a few more days than this. And since everyone in the city has their heat on, well, rolling blackouts are a thing. My house had at least 8 power outages throughout the day yesterday, and I never had power for more than an hour at a time. And on top of that, my heater broke so my house was an ice box at 50 degrees most of the day. Yeah, not the most fun of times I tell ya. It’s currently 0 degrees as I type this.
So what does that mean for today? Well for starters, I saw maybe 20 min of the show last night. I read what happened, and yes, Abigail ended up getting sent home 8th, not 5th as I reported. Again, something to where I was told a spoiler but not the exact details of it, which was that Abigail got to the episode before hometowns and just missed getting one. Weird that she got the first impression yet never got a 1 on 1 date. That’s definitely never happened that I can remember and I almost feel like now Matt giving her that almost felt like a pity rose. He continually told her all season he was into her. They even had their thing where they were gonna signal each other that they were thinking of the other one. But I’m sorry, if Abigail didn’t get a 1 on 1, that means that Matt was never serious about her. Bc producers know exactly who he’s into at all times. For her to never even get the time for a 1 on 1, and Serena P got two? Yeah, sucks for her, but Matt did her dirty. It really makes no sense unless they really were playing up the sympathy card for her leading into Bachelorette.
Everything in this franchise has been turned upsized down since last week. What I reported to you after the WTA taping 2 weeks ago, when checking back with it this weekend, I was told the same thing: Katie was going to be the “Bachelorette.” Now, I don’t see that happening. Hell, we don’t even know if there WILL be a “Bachelorette” season. Maybe they delay it past BIP. There are so many questions right now, and unfortunately, I know you all want answers, but we just don’t have them all at this time. Like:
-Who will be “Bachelorette?”
-When will that announcement be made?
-Is production delayed at all? (I’ve heard it’s been pushed back a week)
-Where are they filming it?
-Is Chris Harrison gonna be the host?
We’ll touch on the Chris aspect of this in a little bit. But I don’t think anyone knows right now really what the hell is happening. We just don’t know. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if the season got pushed back a bit. It’s probably unlikely, but if it does film, the whole aspect of who’s hosting it becomes a big question. And I think ABC will have to answer to rather shortly. If “Bachelorette” does film as scheduled, filming would start in about a month. That may seem like plenty of time, but that’s if everything was running smooth in the franchise. Which it isn’t. At all.
This franchise is at a major crossroads right now, something unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. Their own contestants are rebelling against the powers that be after 18 years. I mean, I never thought we’d see the day where this became a reality, but we’re here. And the masses who aren’t part of the franchise are really starting to make their voices heard. IG accounts like @BachDiversity are starting campaigns for an overhaul of the franchise, and quite frankly, they’re right. It’s time. The show doesn’t necessarily need to be canceled, but there needs to be some major changes in the operations and how things are run. Because continuing doing what they’re doing is turning viewers off. Just check social media. This show is getting destroyed. And not just by the Chris stuff. That’s just the starting point that got everything going. Chris saying what he did in that interview with Rachel last week did nothing but bring to light underlying issues this show has had for years, but ones that most weren’t willing to talk about. They are now. And ABCs response to it is what people are really waiting for.
And right now, we have no idea what the f*** ABC is doing. They’re in complete scramble mode. But here’s the thing. They HAVE to say something. Which really falls on the shoulders of one guy: Robert Mills. Chris obviously can’t speak for the show or the network, because last time he did, he stuck a full sized boot in his mouth. Fleiss? Please. That guy has nothing to do with the day to day operations of the show. Mills is the only show mouthpiece left, and people want answers. He’s gonna have to be the guy to not only answer for what the plan is formatically going forward, but also what they are doing to basically turn the whole show around to where everyone doesn’t think it’s tone deaf, racist, and doesn’t minimize contestants that are BIPOC. Do they take a season off and do a full reboot of the show? Do they continue with “Bachelorette” in a month, new host and all, and try to fix things on the fly? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d say these next few weeks will probably be the most important weeks in this shows history. They need to have an exec come out publicly and give a detailed explanation as to HOW they are going to change going forward. Because as @Bachelordata showed us last week, casting the most diverse cast ever doesn’t mean shit when you don’t show them.
feck
February 16, 2021 at 11:19 AM
Being a person of color, I don’t find any wrong with what Chris said. And I don’t really care about what someone said in their past let alone highschool/young adult life. Also being a POC as ppl call us, the biggest racists I know personally are other poc’s. This whole situation is stupid and dumb.
feck
February 16, 2021 at 11:20 AM
Steve you sound Racist AF, you associate POC with Black only it seems.
mgb970
February 16, 2021 at 11:37 AM
Ironic that Chris was asking folks to cool their jets before they tried Rachael in the court of public opinion… and it blew up into this. Yes, Chris said some stupid stuff like looking at 2018 vis-a-vis 2021.
But I guess, in 2021 no less, we cannot have a rational conversation without the professionally outraged leveraging scenarios to keep themselves relevant.
Rachel and Becca sure have turned into mean girls.
You know what, I had to Google, “Antebellum party”… I honesty had no idea what that even meant. I guess in 2021 America, that makes me a racist too?
crushonspivey
February 16, 2021 at 12:04 PM
Harrison came across really poorly in the interview. He was rude honestly. I had a problem with him talking over Rachel mostly and not listening as well as he could. He was more interested in making his point to basically defend Racheal than to listen and even to concede points. But he made a valid point about people needing to give Rachael a chance. The point still stands. But now for him as well.
But this ridiculousness to get him fired from his job? I’m not down with that, and that is where BachDiversity lost me. They are using this show to further their cause and platform politically, and don’t care who they take down to do it. To me, that is destructive behavior and I am not ok with that “ends justifies the means” tactics.
Also, who are they? Who are the people behind that Insta page, and Change.org petition? Now that they have called for the firing of an individual, show yourselves. It is one thing to advocate for a TV show to makes changes (which I agree with–and man, does this show thrive on misogyny this year perpetuated by the producers), it is another entirely to now try to get someone fired. So it is time for them to come forward and be known. No more anonymity for them, if they really care for that cause. Now step up and face the charge personally.
I really like Matt as a lead. Some say he is boring, but I think he is a gentleman. He has handled things well, especially during a season when the woman on woman fights and cattiness has been super high, and clearly ratcheted higher by uncaring producers (mostly women behind the scenes). It’s been pathetic. Last night episode–again–had some nastiness. I really do hope he has a success story, but based on how this season has gone, how this show is produced and the narratives they push for, the leads have almost no shot.
jordanav
February 16, 2021 at 12:24 PM
Haha, two non-black people commenting on this post to let you know their opinion. This is why this show pissed me off. They cater to this audience. The “but Chris did nothing wrong” crowd who are also the kind of people who pretend to be POC on the internet. Disgusting. Chris did everything wrong. As an actual black person I can tell you that is being an audience member is this stressful I can’t even imagine what being a black contestant must feel like. A bunch of people pissed at you for saying the confederacy and it’s defenders are bad. Just awful.
jordanav
February 16, 2021 at 12:27 PM
Lol if you aren’t black why are you commenting about whether or not racism regarding the confederate flag and slave plantations personally affects you?
Sincerely,
An actual black person who is upset with Chris Harrison.
elizabeth82
February 16, 2021 at 1:49 PM
New Englander here, but I’m confused why Texans are all losing power if as Steve says, he got only four inches of snow?
Steve: please explain why you think Katie would no longer be The Bachelorette?
Re the CH interview, the normalizing he did of the Old South Antebellum parties as something that was widespread in 2018–I guess he didn’t hear about how frats had been banned from doing that but went ahead and continued the tradition anyway.
justsaying
February 16, 2021 at 3:05 PM
I thought Matt was COLD towards Abigail. The nerve of him to ask her what’s wrong and why was she’s upset when they first sat down. Only to dump her a few sentences later. Eeek! Thumbs down!!
mgb970
February 16, 2021 at 4:44 PM
@jordanav
> The “but Chris did nothing wrong”
Nobody in here wrote that.
> Lol if you aren’t black why are you commenting about
> whether or not racism regarding the confederate flag
> and slave plantations personally affects you?
1. Nobody mentioned the confederate flag.
2. Nobody is pro-slave plantation.
3. People who aren’t black also have a right to comment.
Your reading comprehension sucks.
Sincerely,
Every literate American regardless of skin color
mgb970
February 16, 2021 at 4:47 PM
> New Englander here, but I’m confused why Texans are all
> losing power if as Steve says, he got only four inches
> of snow?
Because a bunch of wind turbines froze up in the extreme clod and couldn’t spin. That’s 20% of Texas’ power. The grid cannot cope with increased demand in the face of 1/5th less capacity. So there are rolling blackouts to compensate and keep the grid from crashing.
kayakguy
February 16, 2021 at 4:59 PM
There sure are a lot of angry people out there. You are ruining the fun of watching one of the dumbest shows on television. No way would I want to watch Rachel host the “after” show in place of a Chris. He is the only reason why I watch it in the first place— love seeing him navigate and corral the bitter women dumped by the bachelor.
fishbelt
February 16, 2021 at 8:02 PM
Well, after all these years, Steve finally got his wish. I hope he’s happy with Chris’ downfall. Public opinion, on other websites, is stoically behind Chris. As the Bachelor goes, so goes this website. It will be reduced to podcasts that no one listens to. ABC will now ruin the Bachelor franchise just like they did with DWTS.
rob22
February 17, 2021 at 6:44 AM
I agree largely with @crushonspivey. I’d probably take it a little farther in that it’s pretty shocking that a face of the franchise guy like Chris would even do an interview like that. I honestly don’t know what he was thinking. And although I hate it when people come out with the pitchforks after people’s careers, Chris did that to himself & didn’t seem to get it enough to come up with a real apology. Also, unlike Rachael, he’s not 24 years old. Living in GA, I think those antebellum parties are horrible. And it’s hardly a secret that they’re controversial. And, I also see where younger kids don’t necessarily get it. I have two of my own, and I cannot swear that they never went to a similar party with their frats. (I don’t know, but they are pretty common, so it wouldn’t be a massive shock if they did). So I get what Rachael did. But Chris, you’re on your own buddy.
jlyoung
February 17, 2021 at 7:12 AM
Hi Steve. I’ll probably continue to come to this site because the Bachelor series is unwatchable without the spoilers. I’ll hate myself for doing it the whole time. YOU don’t get to tell me I’m a racist “no if’s and’s or but’s.” Who are you? Wow. People are allowed to have an opinion. Yes, some opinions are blatantly racist but most perspectives don’t need any particular label from you…or anyone. Your “labeling” is what keeps divisions going. You are a huge part of the problem. Since we’re in the spirit of labeling…mine for you is ARROGANT!
bachfan02
February 17, 2021 at 9:47 PM
WOW!!! Loving the screen time data you posted. Thank you, Steve! I’d missed it. Just confirmed what I already knew. I’ve been writing/saying for a while now producers gave Katie the best edit. It’s like they’d already decided she would be the next Bachelorette. Not one of Matt’s final four or any of the BIPOC women. So infuriating on a season that had cast so many. So they played up Katie’s parts. Of course fans are gonna want her. They feel they know her. Meanwhile, there were others, some of Matt’s ACTUAL frontrunners who didn’t get nearly as much time or attention. Who is to say one of them didn’t speak out against the bullying or say it wasn’t cool? Maybe they did or said other things that might have endeared them to the audience, but maybe it didn’t make the cut. And I’d already noticed the IG following growth disparity. As for Chris H., he put his foot in it. And he handled it like he had something to get off his chest, and he was disrespectful to Rachel Lindsay. He only has himself to blame for his “break” by making more of a mess of the situation. He’s supposed to be a pro. He could’ve said let’s wait and see what Racheal K. has to say about it all. And left it at that. Instead he went off the rails.
shellylite
February 20, 2021 at 12:00 AM
Way too much has been made of all of this. Probably 90% of America doesn’t care about this or this show at all. People have it on in the background of their lives and don’t pay that much attention to it. Yes Chris Harrison is annoying and sexist AF. I guess he’s racist now too and he may very well be, in part because he was trying his hardest to defend the woman who probably already won this season. He was probably trying to save the show. But Ms. Lindsey seems hell-bent on destroying this show, the host of the show, the relationships the contestants have with people who don’t live up to her standards (Garrett, who was always a jerk, but still, Becca picked him) and honestly who cares. This show has been a sexist problem since the beginning. I could write 20 pages on how it’s disgustingly sexist, but no one cares. All anyone cares about lately, seemingly, is what Rachel Lindsay thinks of everything and every one. And why is she famous again? Oh yeah, because Chris Harrison made her famous.