I admit it—the marketing worked, and I’m watching The Golden Bachelor. I’ve never watched any iteration of the franchise, but as a cohort of the GB’s dating pool, I had to watch.

I read some of the reviews of the first episode and there were some complaints that even with the change to the show’s demographics, it was still The Bachelor. Well, yeah—that’s why I’m watching:  it’s seniors on The Bachelor. Why change the dynamics? It’s much more interesting to see if the confines of the show are modified by the changes to the dating pool.

The GB himself, Gerry, seems real enough. He had a happy marriage and is still broken up by the loss of his wife (is that a red flag? I don’t know.) He holds his own as a slew of women come down the path, he appears to really listen to their stories, and he is nonplussed by their gimmicks, like dressing up like an elderly woman who needs a walker, or flashing him…while wearing a beige slip, or arriving on a motorcycle with a guitar. O-kay.

The one thing I am uncomfortable with is women fighting with each other over a man and I dread seeing that, either actually happening or being framed by the editing to make it seem that way. We saw that at work during the “rose ceremony” with Kathy and the “rabbit in a pot” framing.

A bunch of women  who never spoke on camera—and one who showed up in a track suit and pompoms to do a cheer leading bit who was featured—were sent packing at the end of the hour. I wish we had some insight into what sent them home, and not, say, April, who showed up with a basket of eggs and did a chicken impression.

It’s too early to really be able to pick out comers and goers, but here are the women who got my First Impression Roses, for better or worse:

–the aforementioned April. I am wondering how much of her persona is an act, and how much is legitimate eccentricity. I hope it’s mostly the latter.

–Sandra, who practices her mindfulness with obscenities. I do too.

–Faith:  a motorcycle and a guitar? Come on.

Until next week, GB fans. In the meantime, this is a good soundtrack to today’s post: