--- description: Find out why The Bachelor has one of the most influential reality TV seasons of all time. title: The Bachelor: The 50 Most Influential Reality TV Seasons image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4d51e00927d1a7/698a33f8cabb1d736ee5080f/the-bachelor-reality-tv.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 04, 2022 # The Bachelor Season 13 (2009) by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Season 13 of 'The Bachelor' Season 13 of 'The Bachelor'Everett Collection The formula for [_The Bachelor_](https://time.com/5168186/bachelor-book-interview/ "undefined") is a simple one: a male suitor dates 25 or so single women all at the same time, whittling down the group each week until he is left with two prospects. If all goes according to plan, he’ll propose to one of the women and look forward to the “happily ever after” he’s been chasing all season. By season 13 of ABC’s hit dating show, _The Bachelor_ had seen several seasons ending in engagements. While there was some drama built into the show’s outlandish premise, it was nothing like what happened in 2009\. Thirty-two-year-old insurance agent Jason Mesnick was the perfect lead: a single dad from Washington state who had been the heartbroken (and therefore extra endearing) runner-up on the prior season of [_The Bachelorette_](https://time.com/4819558/the-trouble-with-the-bachelorette/ "undefined"). _Bachelor_ fans everywhere were rooting for Mesnick’s second chance at love—and were completely stunned to discover that, in an unprecedented twist, he dumped the woman he had proposed to at the end of the season, Melissa Rycroft, for Molly Malaney, his second choice (now his wife). Nowadays this type of last-minute decision is common in the [increasingly unpredictable ](https://time.com/collection/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198528/arie-becca-the-bachelor-breakup-legacy/ "undefined")_Bachelor_ franchise, but, in 2009, this ending was truly shocking. The ratings for the season’s finale episode surpassed 15 million viewers, and it foreshadowed the [emphasis on dramatic twists](https://time.com/5186941/the-bachelor-recap-finale-arie-lauren-becca/ "undefined") that was to come. _—Annabel Gutterman_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/"},"headline":"The Bachelor","datePublished":"2022-08-04T12:30:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:05:16.486Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/","keywords":["franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4d51e00927d1a7/698a33f8cabb1d736ee5080f/the-bachelor-reality-tv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4d51e00927d1a7/698a33f8cabb1d736ee5080f/the-bachelor-reality-tv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/","name":"The Bachelor"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Reality TV Has Reshaped Our World, Whether We Like It or Not","description":"Reality series aren’t exactly well respected; critics, social scientists, and even fans never stop unearthing revelations about their crass manipulations and toxic tropes. Yet despite all the antipathy directed at these programs, they’ve conquered the culture and claimed their prize: our attention.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Y74rnB5D/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-07-26T21:45:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Y74rnB5D.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/","duration":"PT5M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/reality-tv-most-influential-seasons/6198489/the-bachelor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```