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I vote for inflated ego.Originally Posted by Luvvy;3377810;
What irritates me so much about him is his inability to stop talking. Do we really need to know that he feels DWTS didn't show a fair representation of him?! Dude, be gracious and smile through gritted teeth if you have to. But don't apologize on every talk show you're on, then make contrary comments afterwards. Sheesh.
Defending the Bachelor: 'A Sign the Show Is Working' - TIME
Defending the Bachelor: 'A Sign the Show Is Working'
By S. James Snyder Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2009
Dumped! Betrayed! Humiliated! For a week now, the reality TV universe has been obsessed with The Bachelor, and an "After The Final Rose" special that many perceived to be little more than an act of public humiliation.
While the show's season finale and the reunion special were shown back-to-back on March 2, six weeks had actually elapsed between the finale, when Bachelor Jason Mesnick chose Melissa Rycroft to be his bride, and the special, during which he announced that he had changed his mind and professed feelings instead for runner-up Molly Malaney. With more than 17 million viewers watching, Rycroft arrived at the "After the Rose" special holding — not wearing — her ring, and Mesnick confirmed the suspicions that the engagement was off. (Read TIME's report: "Reality TV Wants to Heal You")
As Rycroft fought back her tears, and as Mesnick turned to Malaney, the show's fans took to the Internet in a rage, decrying Mesnick as a "jackass," a "playboy" and a "bastard." It was clear that this particular chapter of reality TV struck some as a little too real. Yet creator and executive producer Mike Fleiss says the fireworks of March 2 reflected not the worst, but the best, of the genre. "I'm not really surprised by this, it's just a sign that the show is working," he told TIME. "That's really your job, to create television that the whole country will sit down at one time and watch together. But honestly, I really don't see the difference between [Jason]dumping Molly in New Zealand and then dumping Melissa [weeks later] in Glendale."
Some would say the difference is that Malaney knew there was a chance she could get kicked off the show during the actual competition, while Rycroft's departure occurred long after she had already been picked as the winner — and purportedly gotten engaged. But Fleiss insisted that Mesnick's change of heart hardly came as a shock to the bride-to-be. In the weeks leading up to the reunion special, Fleiss said he started to hear word from other producers on the show that Rycroft and Mesnick were not getting along. Two weeks before the reunion, Fleiss says, he heard that Mesnick might be interested again in Malaney — whom Fleiss had already approached about taking part in the next season of The Bachelorette.
All of of which set the stage for the most unpredictable "After the Final Rose" event in the show's history. Opting to film the show without a live audience for secrecy reasons, and unsure of how Malaney would respond to Mesnick's affections, Fleiss said there was plenty of uncertainty when cameras started rolling — just not when it came to Rycroft. "She knew they were essentially finished before walking out on that stage," says Fleiss. "But still, doing it for real and making it official and handing back the ring brought out real emotions."
In various interviews, as well as in e-mails between Mesnick and Rycroft that were leaked to the press, the Bachelor has blamed the production crew for some of the emotional fallout surrounding his choice of Malaney, saying that he was obligated to dump Rycroft in front of the cameras. But Fleiss says that's only half the story: "We didn't want Jason to necessarily spill the beans prior to taping, to keep it as real and raw as possible. But he's a good guy and didn't conceal anything — he let her know before that show that he didn't think this relationship was going to work."
Fleiss seems to be basking in the buzz of the past week ("It's the first time in a long time that people have something to talk about other than the stock market"), but he also claims the emotional outcry that's accompanied this season's Bachelor denouement is a sign of the passion this new wave of reality TV contestants is bringing to the set. At one time, he says, it was next to impossible to recruit plausible contestants, or even hosts, to reality TV projects. But as the genre has grown increasingly mainstream, producers have been able to find people who are more than mere exhibitionists.
And with this new pool of talent, Fleiss says the emotions involved have become more complicated, and engaging. "Believe me, I've seen Bachelor couples stay together who really didn't care about each other," he said. "Some of them feel an obligation to the show to try to be a couple, since we spent literally millions of dollars as their matchmakers and sent them all over the world."
But rather than playing to the expectations of producers, or viewers, says Fleiss, Mesnick dared to reveal his true emotions, and to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that love is not always a programmable enterprise. "More than any other Bachelor in history, he was committed to love and to truly following his heart even though he knew he was going to have to go through hell to do it," Fleiss said. "It's really a romantic notion, that he sacrificed chunks of his popularity to at least try to be with the woman he loved."
Yah, i get that, only that if you are planning to resume a planner career it doesn't sound like you are going back to school for your teaching certificate any time soon...hmmm, I'm thinking Mel may have changed her mind on career paths.
They're talking about her current job--the one she's had the past few years. She works for a wine distribution company. Although, I think they are mistaken on what exactly she does there. I'm pretty sure she works in marketing.
I'm not sure why it matters when she goes back. That was a goal, from what I could tell, for when she had a family so that she could have summers off. That probably won't happen anytime soon. We saw a snippet from a show where she brought it up. It didn't sound like a short term goal. It sounded like a long term goal ... Besides, if she is going to be broke from a low paying job, she might as well get as much cash as she can now. ABC pretty much owns her for a while as she was F1. There would be no teaching program for a while anyway.
Funny what keeps coming to my mind is her DCC bio where her goal was to be an entertainment reporter.
Seems like if that is really a goal for her then DWTS is a great stepping stone. After all she's replacing an entertainment reporter! I'm just guessing that after her DWTS stint is over she will at least get an opportunity to try her hand at that particular goal. Good for her!
I don't doubt that teaching is a career she is interested in. But luckily for her at 25 she has many many doors open for her.
I live in the Dallas area and teaching probably isn't a good career move at this time. Dallas itself laid off a ton of teachers recently and I'm sure they have first crack at any new jobs. I'm not sure how going on DWTS for however long means anything about her future plans. She's young and has plenty of time to make decisions.
IDK, I'm still on the fence. I've always been partial to Melissa- she did an amazing job last night- i was so proud!
BUT, once you get up the ladder its hard to come down.
Last night when they announced Mel as the replacement for Nancy, my hubby innocently asked "Melissa is on DWTS? She's a star?".
I'm glad she did it, and I hope she goes far---I just don't see someone at this point rewinding to a quiet/humble profession, ya know?
I've seen it happen way too many times and it makes me skeptical, that's all.
With a few exceptions, by my observation, people go on this show because they want to shake things up in the lives they have been living. And often, a change in the professional direction they are headed in is part of what they are hoping for.Funny what keeps coming to my mind is her DCC bio where her goal was to be an entertainment reporter.
Seems like if that is really a goal for her then DWTS is a great stepping stone. After all she's replacing an entertainment reporter! I'm just guessing that after her DWTS stint is over she will at least get an opportunity to try her hand at that particular goal. Good for her!
I don't doubt that teaching is a career she is interested in. But luckily for her at 25 she has many many doors open for her.
For sure, many stick that toe in the water of Hollywood/TV Land only to run screaming home to "real life", same job, same boyfriend even, relieved that it is over, thankful for a few new friends, and cured for good of any desire to shake things up. (Jenni Croft, Bevin Powers, Brad Womack are a few of those)
But odds are, heading into the show, Melissa Rycroft was no different than most. She was open to the invitation to appear on a network TV show, because some aspect of her life as a single woman in Dallas working as an event planner/salesperson (whatever job it is she did there?!?) was incomplete, unsatisfying, lacked a necessary element.
Going on a network reality dating competition is a way to shake things up, answer the lingering "what if's" that plague a person in their 20's/30's. It's no crime. It's the American Way in fact.
So, I never "get" why fans go crazy trying to deny the obvious. Matt Grant the ex London banker, still looking for work in LA, living with his publicist. Deanna ex bartender (she never really did real estate seriously) moves to LA next month, pursuing media/entertainment work. Andy Baldwin, navy doctor, doesn't see patients anymore. He is paid a salary by our government to be a Famous Person with Military and Medical Training. It was so apparent that was part of the "why" those people went on the show. This is going to sound harsher than I intend it, but some of these folks are only one step above "mere exhibitionists" as Fleiss so aptly put it in that Time Mag article CF kindly posted.
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