Celebritypipeline
The marriage of the first ‘Golden Bachelor’ didn’t glitter long
Q: I was surprised to hear about the breakup of Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist of “The Golden Bachelor” so soon after they got married. Will that affect whether the show continues? – Jill Lange, via e-mail
A: That’s highly unlikely, for several reasons. If one looks at the history of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” the length of the relationships they have yielded — whether short or long — hasn’t influenced whether ABC continued with those shows, which the network clearly has. The same is sure to apply to “The Golden Bachelor,” and maybe even more so, given the extra emotional stakes that are involved with senior citizens being the participants.
Even more pragmatically, “The Golden Bachelor” was a giant ratings hit for ABC, proving there is an audience ready to watch people in their twilight years make bids to find love again. To that end, the first edition of “The Golden Bachelorette” is already being planned for this fall, and “The Golden Bachelor” is certain to get future seasons. The biggest question for the network may be where they’ll schedule all the variations of the franchise, since the original “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” shows will be back, too. (Past “Bachelor” contestant Jenn Tran will be this summer’s new “Bachelorette.”)
Q: Why did CBS change its mind, again, in deciding not to cancel “S.W.A.T.” and bring it back for another season? – Tom Cole, via e-mail
A: The police drama reboot’s ratings (from streaming as well as its weekly broadcasts) surely were an enormous factor in the surprise re-renewal, which came after the series had also been saved last year following a cancellation notice. The licensing fee was an issue then, but ultimately, a reduced number of episodes was agreed upon and made the economics workable for the show to continue.
In the case of the forthcoming Season 8, a full 22-episode round of the Shemar Moore-starring “S.W.A.T.” is expected, as opposed to the 13 that have made up Season 7. With the upcoming stories, the current “S.W.A.T.” will have lasted four times as long as the original version that had a twoseason run on ABC in the mid-1970s.