‘The Golden Bachelor’ Burning Questions: ABC Boss on Casting, Hometowns, Fantasy Suites and Why ‘All of America Will Be Talking’
variety.comElizabeth Wagmeister Chief Correspondent Last week, “The Golden Bachelor” premiered, launching a new twist on an old franchise that has everyone talking.
The show premiered to strong ratings, with 7.7 million viewers watching on ABC, in delayed viewing and streaming on Hulu, delivering the strongest debut performance from a “Bachelor” series in three years.
The spinoff has been long in the making, and wouldn’t have been greenlit had ABC not found its perfect leading man — which it did in Gerry Turner, a 72-year-old grandfather and widower from Indiana, who will be dating numerous women at the same time on national TV for seven more episodes.
Turner’s journey to find love again will air Thursday nights as a marquee show of the strike-affected broadcast season. “The Golden Bachelor” marks a new era not only for the franchise, but also a new day in reality dating competitions, which historically have focused mostly on 20-and-30-something contestants looking for fame and Instagram followers.
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