‘Bachelor Live’ aftershow is (of course) coming with Chris Harrison as host
The moment that it was revealed that “Castle” season 8 would not be premiering until Monday, February 1, it was pretty easy to figure out what was happening exactly: ABC was bringing “The Bachelor” to a live format in the same way that they did “Bachelor in Paradise” this summer.
ABC has confirmed that for the first four weeks of “The Bachelor” beginning with its January 4 premiere, they will be airing a “Bachelor Live” aftershow that is hosted by Chris Harrison. There will be a fixture of fans and famous folks who stop by, as they will all discuss the latest hijinks and happenings of Ben Higgins’ season of the show.
While the “Bachelor in Paradise” aftershow “After Paradise” did not necessarily set the world on fire this summer, it also didn’t do horrendously when you consider how cheap this show is to put together. “The Bachelor” gets far better ratings than either one of its spin-offs, so the potential for “Bachelor Live” to beat “Castle” episodes in the ratings is high, and probably not a great thing for the Nathan Fillion series in its eighth season.
Aftershows have become a trend ever since “The Walking Dead” / “Talking Dead,” and we’re surprised for the most part that other networks have not tried this out to build more of a brand. “Empire” could probably benefit from one with the right host, and ABC has effectively been using “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” almost as an aftershow for #TGIT for quite some time. This is a trend that clearly isn’t going away, and we could see it happening for longer than four weeks at least next season if the ratings are big enough.
What do you think: Is a “Bachelor” aftershow a nice extension to the brand, or a worthless exercise that fills up time on the schedule? Share below, and be sure to head over here to see more of our daily spotlights with “Bachelor” contestants as a part of our article series. You can also sign up over here to get some other TV scoop on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)