6 Things The Bachelor Franchise Should Take From Love Island USA

Love Island USA season 7 has returned with another enthralling season, and in watching the show, there are a lot of things that The Bachelor franchise could learn from the newer, viral reality TV dating series. While The Bachelor has long been one of the most-watched reality TV dating shows on the air, in the last several years, it's lost its way. The Bachelor season 29 was plagued with issues and seemed to stretch out endlessly for viewers, who were hopeful that the season would grab their attention. While the show has stuck to a formula, it needs major change.

Although Love Island USA season 7 is only a few episodes into its six-week-long season, viewers are already attached to the series and rooting for (or against) the Islanders. With a whirlwind six weeks in the villa, the Islanders are quickly introduced to viewers and the stakes are quickly amplified as the show gets underway. Unlike The Bachelor, Love Island USA capitalizes on the fact that it's a quick turnaround for the series. Rather than trying to press on the gas and create romance in unlikely circumstances like The Bachelor, Love Island USA uses its proximity to create quick bonds.

Though The Bachelor franchise has spent years creating a large following and bringing together stars from all its different shows, it's clear they're in desperate need of a revamp after seasons that have felt difficult to get through, and controversial cast members clouded the show's true mission. Regardless of how different the landscape of Love Island USA looks from The Bachelor, there are lessons that the older franchise can take from the newer series. If The Bachelor is going to find its way back to success, taking hints from a show that's captivated audiences like Love Island USA could help.

6The Bachelor’s Format Needs A Different Pace

It Moves Too Slowly For Such A Quick Turnaround

One of the most consistent things about Love Island USA is its timing, and The Bachelor could learn a lot from the fast-paced show's quick turnaround. Throughout Bachelor history, the show has taken place over roughly eight weeks. Through these eight weeks, the lead cuts their pool of about 30 contestants down to just one, typically proposing to them at the end of the season. While this timeline made sense early on in the show's production, as TV production has changed and reality TV has grown, the expectations of viewers have changed considerably. This has left The Bachelor in the dark.

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While The Bachelor doesn't necessarily need to adopt the same timeframe as Love Island USA, who consistently has 6 weeks of content per year and edits their episodes for release within days as the show is happening in real time, they should take note of how well it works for the series. Rather than waiting months to release a carefully edited season that feels, at times, like a carefully edited season, The Bachelor should embrace some of the surprises reality TV has to offer. Moving more in line with real time, The Bachelor upping its pacing could prove successful.

5The Bachelor Needs To Show Authentic Interactions

The Show Needs To Give Up Fairytale Romance

Throughout the show's history, The Bachelor has been known for its ability to create fairytale romance, even though at this point it's a detriment to the brand. In the early days of the series, viewers were drawn in by The Bachelor's ability to craft the romance of a lifetime. Sending the leads and contestants on jaw-dropping dates in beautiful locations, viewers watched in genuine excitement as the show was able to bring a dream date to life. While those dates have been a hallmark for the show for years, they don't feel as authentic or intriguing as they once did.

While Love Island USA has a lot more restrictions about what they do for "dates" or private moments on the show, the Islanders have far more opportunities to find each other than Bachelor leads ever do with their contestants. Getting rid of the null-and-void fairytale element of the show could allow The Bachelor to take a more modern approach to the lead and contestants getting to know each other. Instead of allowing them to have limited interactions, taking a playbook from Love Island USA and removing the restrictions could make for a better narrative, and could amplify the show's drama.

4The Bachelor Needs To Embrace More Diversity

Their Casts Lack Of Diversity Is Upsetting

Although the diversity on The Bachelor and its spin-offs has varied through the years, it's always been a massive issue for viewers and a massive blindspot for the show overall. The Bachelor is rarely diverse, often only having a few people of color in their casts. Even when the lead is a person of color, the diversity of the casts are staggeringly underwhelming. While The Bachelor franchise has been called out for this several times, the fact that it's not only rarely addressed, but has never been fixed is a genuine humanitarian issue for the series, one the requires attention.

Though there are always things that could be improved upon, Love Island USA has one of the best track records when it comes to casts that accurately represent the diversity we as viewers see in our every day lives. Throughout the last several seasons, there hasn't been a question of having too few people of color involved in the show, and it often stands out as one of the few reality TV shows that doesn't whitewash casts. While The Bachelor franchise may not have rectified the issues they face in the past, they could make major change in the future.

3The Bachelor Needs To Focus On Relationships, Not Drama

The Drama Between Contestants Isn't Fun Anymore

As a series that's hoping to draw in viewers week after week, The Bachelor often teases out some of the big drama of the season in a way that's made sense in the past, but doesn't work anymore. Typically, The Bachelor franchise shows have their casts living together in a confined space, and the contestants are spending a lot more time with each other than they ever are with the lead. Unfortunately, this means that the interpersonal drama between the cast members is often highlighted, especially early on in the season, more than the drama in building the romantic relationships.

While the drama on The Bachelor and its spin-offs can be interesting at times, it often feels forced or over-dramatized, and in moments, it feels like it's been created out of thin air. Mostly, though, it's tough to watch the drama knowing that the show isn't about the contestants taking issue with one another, but about them building a romance with the lead. Love Island USA may have a somewhat different layout, but the producers and editors rarely dwell on issues that the cast has interpersonally. Focusing on the romance helps keep the show grounded, focused, and fun to watch.

2The Bachelor Needs To Modernize Its Vocabulary

The Reality TV Dating Lexicon Has Changed

As Love Island USA has changed the game, it's also been able to keep up with the modernity of reality TV dating. The Bachelor, unfortunately, hasn't been able to do that in many ways, including the way the show talks about itself. As reality TV has come a long way since The Bachelor's debut in 2002, keeping up with the way that viewers communicate with the show and talk about the relationships is important. While The Bachelor was able to do this for a handful of years, in recent seasons, it's felt very dated and difficult when listening to contestants.

Rather than indulging in more modern ways of communicating about dating and relationships, The Bachelor has continued to talk about the show as a "journey" and has rarely broken the fourth wall, despite being a docu-series at its core. While it's obvious that Love Island USA, currently in its seventh season, has been on the air for far less than the 23 year old Bachelor franchise, the latter should take some advice from the former. Allowing the cast to talk about their relationships in a way that makes sense to them and feels natural could create stronger, longer lasting connections.

1The Bachelor Needs To Feel Less Formulaic

The Show Needs Shock Value

Although every reality TV show has a format that it follows, because The Bachelor franchise shows have been on the air for so many years, things feel incredibly formulaic and rarely have a freshness to them that's required to stay relevant. For years, The Bachelor was known for what it felt like were jaw-dropping moments, often referred to as the most surprising, shocking, or dramatic "in Bachelor history," which felt off-putting for viewers. Many were irritated when these moments weren't, in fact, shocking or dramatic, or they turned out to be more scripted than real. Regardless, the formula wasn't working.

Though The Bachelor has mostly scaled back on dubbing its moments as "the most" anything in Bachelor history, they haven't really changed the formulaic feeling of the series. With some creative licensing, The Bachelor could reformat the show a bit and take viewers by surprise, rather than having to create drama within the scope of the show. Love Island USA has its formulaic elements, like Casa Amor, but it often builds creative shifts from season to season around those elements so things don't always feel the same. With change, The Bachelor franchise could rebuild its following and stand strong again.

Love Island USA airs on Peacock at 9 p.m. EDT every night, except Wednesdays. Bachelor In Paradise will air on ABC later this summer.