The Bachelor Begins

I have never been one for reality television. Most of the time I find it overly dramatic and ridiculous. But I confess that, while studying abroad in Australia, I got hooked on "Australian Idol" because my roommates watched it. I watched "Dancing with the Stars" this past season, again because other people in the house were tuning in. And last night, I chose to watch the premiere of "The Bachelor" on ABC because Marshall's own Shannon Bair is one of the bachelorettes. Here are some highlights.

Shannon greeted bachelor Jason Mesnick wearing fake hillbilly teeth, a joke on her career as a dental hygienist. Later in the show, they talked one-on-one, where Shannon proceeded to tell Jason all she knew about him but claimed not to be "a stalker."

The show last night began with 25 bachelorettes, and it ended with 15. The girls were asked to cast ballots for the one person they wanted off the show; but, in a bit of trickery, the person who received the most votes actually got to stay. Jason picked the rest of the girls who would stay, and Shannon was one of them. He said he did not see her knowledge of him as creepy but as impressive.

After the show ended, brief scenes from upcoming episodes were aired. Shannon appeared in some of them, and at one point was shown crying over an unexpected woman who returns to the show. I would guess that she will be on after next week's episode, too, but we will just have to wait and see. After Shannon is eliminated or the show is over, she has promised to give an interview to The Marshall Democrat-News.

I am not convinced that the two hours I spent watching this reality series last night were worthwhile ones. However, I may continue to watch, just to see what happens to Shannon.