Jake and Vienna (and Kasey and Vienna for good measure). Brad and Emily.
And now, Ali and Roberto.
For all of The Bachelor/Bachelorette's misty and gauzy production values, and Chris Harrison's promises of fantastical romantic connections made real before an audience of millions, the long term success rate of those couples who have gotten engaged (which is all of them save Brad's first go round, if I'm not mistaken) is downright pathetic.
As our friend Andy Dehnart at reality blurred points out, with Bachelorette Season Six couple Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez breaking up, " that leaves two couples still together from seven seasons of The Bachelorette, and no couples of the 15 who met on The Bachelor: two out of 22."
Two for 22. Convert that to baseball terms and you're talking a batting average of .090. Which means that unless you're throwing fastballs like Pedro Martinez in his prime, you're going to get the equivalent request as when Don Draper asked Pete Campbell to find a cardboard box… so that he can put his things in it.
This begs the question: why is it expected that The Bachelor or Bachelorette will become engaged by season's end? Getting engaged is in theory supposed to be an important and serious event in one's life. Therefore, cramming it into the artificial confines of reality television has always given what can at times be a pretty enjoyable show (yes, the soapy and train wreck-y bits can often make it a gas) a ludicrous veneer.
Why not just award the winners a gift, such as cash or a vacation… or the means for the couple to visit each other post-show regularly? The long distance relationship that must endure the real world after the cameras stop rolling is as much a factor in the breakups as anything else, I'd wager.
In any event, I'm looking forward to the next edition of Bachelor Pad, where former Bachelor/Bachelorette cast members feel far freer to act like themselves and the stakes (read = money) provoke the scheming and conniving and backstabbing and hooking up that is the stuff of truly great train wreck reality TV.
Update: One could argue that Jason and Molly technically technically "count" as a successful couple, which would up the batting average to a whopping .136!
