AllMovie

The inevitable follow-up to the ABC "reality" series The Bachelor, The Bachelorette was the same formula as before, with a gender switch. This time around, Trista Rehn, the most famous of the runners-up on the original Bachelor, was given her choice of eligible men from a selection of 25 aspirants. On the first episode alone, ten of these would-be swains were eliminated from the running, while the remaining 15 were each handed a rose by Rehn as an invitation to continue competing for her hand and heart. Eventually, Rehn and her suitors shared the same "bachelorette pad" as more and more were eliminated, until finally, one man was left -- the man, one presumed, of Rehn's dreams. Debuting January 8, 2003, The Bachelorette was an immediate ratings success.