Should Jimmy Kimmel host a ‘Bachelor’ aftershow every week?
At the time of writing this article, we still haven’t seen Jimmy Kimmel’s “Bachelor” aftershow coming up a little bit later tonight. Yet, at the same time we’re about 150% convinced that it’s probably going to be the best “Bachelor” aftershow that ABC’s ever had since starting the show. You’ve got a naturally-funny, experienced host who knows the franchise very well … or at least puts on that illusion in his appearances over the years.
As a matter of fact, we’d be willing to say that the show is taking a pretty tremendous risk in having him host the show tonight. What they are doing effectively is making it so much harder to have other aftershows in the future, given that almost all of them are probably going to fail in some shape or form to compare to what Kimmel ends up putting down. Chris Harrison’s a fantastic host, but he’s not a comedian. It’s a different gear. Neither was Sean Lowe on “Bachelor in Paradise” over the summer.
We feel like in a perfect world, ABC would have Jimmy do this every week if they could. Unfortunately, there’s a huge problem: Time. He’s got “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and this year, he’s also got a gig hosting the Academy Awards. He’s also got a family. There’s no way. We do think that there is something that could be fun about an aftershow for this franchise, but they need someone like Kimmel who acts like they’re above it all and will be completely ridiculous. Getting someone claiming to be a superfan first at times makes the show feel like pandering, and watching people obsess over some reality TV contestants typically feels hollow and boring. This is why doing one of these shows is significantly more difficult than anyone ever understands when they are put together.
Kimmel’s funny, he’s dynamic, and we hope that his show tonight gets great ratings; if nothing else, maybe if this is a success, we could see ABC take this more seriously and come up with a real aftershow rather than something that is put together at the last second to get ratings, but not develop a brand or staying power.
What do you think about this idea: Should Kimmel clone himself and host more of these aftershows in the future? On a more serious note, what do you think needs to be done to get this franchise a better aftershow? Share in the comments below!
