How is it that after eleven seasons and zero wedding ceremonies, The Bachelor manages to stay on the air?

The long-lasting success of this charade of a show, in which a gorgeous, young, and usually wealthy bachelor scopes out 25 prospective wives until he picks “the one,” really says something about that notion that romantics are hopeless. It seemed silly from the beginning to believe that a true romance would blossom out of a dating competition, no less one set up in front of cameras, a production crew, and, subsequently, millions of viewers. But who can really still believe in this fairytale fantasy after it’s failed to deliver 11 TIMES IN A ROW?

I found it refreshing that Brad Womack didn’t chose either Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas in the finale of last season. While it was cruel for Womack to have the ladies meet with his family just before the finale and to let them believe he was about to propose, at least in the end he was honest and didn’t pretend he wanted to marry one of them. It's clear that most of the 10 previous dudes were pretending to be in love with their final picks, which is even more depressing. (Though avid fans clearly want these bachelors to pick someone, as so many were outraged by Brad's decision last season.) Finally, there was a realistic moment in an otherwise fabricated reality show. If you didn't already know, word on the street for some time now has been that The Bachelor is largely scripted, manipulated, and edited to be more exciting than it really is.

Well, hopeless romantics, get ready to start believing in the fantasy again. The 12th season of the show is scheduled to premiere on March 17th. The newest installment will feature a tall, handsome, wealthy, educated bachelor…oh sorry, you already knew all that! But there is a twist this time… he’s from England. His name is Matt Grant; he’s a 27-year-old financier who lives in London and who’s ready to settle down. Or, maybe he's just ready for a shag: when recently asked by OK! magazine why he was interested in being on the show Grant replied, “I have the opportunity to date hot American women. Enough said.”

Umm, yeah. It sounds like this guy, like the other 11 guys before him, is total marriage material.

It would be nice to think that The Bachelor is still on the air because of the WGA strike, and because ABC had to desperately scramble to fill the blanks left behind by other shows now on hiatus. Yet, I am suspicious that ABC signed up for more of this Bachelor nonsense way before the strike took hold. (But don’t quote me on that.)

What’s interesting is that after a three-year hiatus, ABC is bringing The Bachelorette back this summer for a fourth season. Who else but DeAnna Papas, one of the heartbroken two finalists that Brad Womack dumped in last season's finale, has been chosen to take the hot seat. Ah, revenge is sweet! Now this spin-off of The Bachelor is one to watch. It gives us a fantasy we can actually believe in mathematically. This show has a one-in-three chance of producing a love match since Trista Rehn, the first star of The Bachelorette, and her chosen suitor, Ryan Sutter, not only fell in love and got married after the show, but they now have a baby.

No one expects meaningful relationships to come out of The Bachelor’s silly MTV/VH1-produced spin-offs -- Flavor of Love, I Love New York, Rock of Love, or A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila -- and, of course, no long-lasting romances have come out of those shows. Yet, while these spin-offs only seem to last a couple of seasons before audiences are tired of them, The Bachelor keeps going and going... going longer than most new marriages in America seem to last! Should there really be this many seasons of anything besides ER, Survivor, soap operas or game shows?

It seems that the grown women who make up the audience of The Bachelor just won't let go of the Prince Charming fantasy from their childhoods, no matter how unrealistic it is. But, hey, who knows? Maybe the 12th time will be the charm.

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