"The Bachelor" + One

The following is a link to an article by Bill Carter about this season of "The Bachelor": http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/arts/television/16bach.html?_r=1&ref=television

I think it's really interesting that the attribute an increase in ratings to the fact that Jason, the "Bachelor," has a kid, but I can kind of understand it. Jason does have a greater sense of maturity to him that I think straight women like, but I'm not sure that they can jump to the conclusion that he's more likely to stay with whoever he ends up with in the end, whether it be Melissa or Molly (since he got rid of Jillian last night - and I hate that I know that). The two girls won't even meet Ty (the kid) until the final episode, and it's from there that Jason determines who he wants to spend "the rest of his life with." Do I understand that he wanted to wait to let Ty meet them? Yes. But I also think that there's no way for him to determine how compatible they'll be as a family after one meeting. It is a HUGE decision that Jason has to make, and I don't think that a man with a kid should even be involved with this kind of show - he's putting too much at risk for his kid. Even though I sometimes watch these shows, I don't at all agree with how they depict the process of falling in love, and I don't at all believe that people can actually stay together after they end. It's easy to hang out with someone and have a great time when you've left reality (your job, your family, your life, basically), but it's a whole other thing to take that fantasy world and put it back in the real world. Love shows are not intended to find love for people, they're intended to provide entertainment for viewers, and the network is going to do whatever it can to get ratings up.