"The Bachelor" franchise has been going on for 14 years now, ever since "The Bachelor" season one aired in March 2002. The show has produced multiple spin offs including the as popular "The Bachelorette" and two other shows called "Bachelor Pad" and "Bachelor in Paradise." As a "Bachelor" fan myself I do enjoy watching the show, mostly for the drama, but if there is one thing I can not overlook, it's the apparent lack of positive results from the two main shows.

At the end of each season of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" a proposal is expected, and the winning couple who supposedly fell in love enough to propose to each other should get married and stay together. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Out of the 20 seasons of "The Bachelor," 12 of them ended with proposals, and only three of those couples have stayed together and gotten married or are still engaged. Out of the 11 seasons of "The Bachelorette," with season 12 still airing, all of them so far have ended in proposals, and three of the couples have gotten married with another couple still engaged. This means that overall from 31 seasons of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" combined, only 7 couples have gotten married or are still engaged!

There must be a reason why "The Bachelor" franchise has not gotten very good results with these dating shows, and it can't only be because people are not going on the show for the "right reasons" (a phrase that has been very overused on the show since Bachelorette Desiree's season where they did a rap with Soulja Boy on one of the group dates).

Speaking of the group date with Soulja Boy brings up my first reason for why I think "The Bachelor" couples rarely work out. Unrealistic dates. "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" feature extravagant and unrealistic dates that contestants probably wouldn't be able to recreate once the show is over, unless they were very, very rich. Imagine being picked up by helicopters and private jets, having private concerts, getting to meet international super stars, jumping off of really high things and having private romantic dinners as a regular occurrence. Many of us regular people cannot pull that off, at least not as often as "The Bachelor" does. This means that after the show, if the winning couple wants to go off on a date as regular couples do, they might be disappointed that these "out of this world" dates are now out of their reach and that could put the strain of unrealistic expectations on their relationship.

Another reason why "The Bachelor" couples might not work out is the unnatural environment that these couples meet in. Not only are the producers of the show most likely the ones picking the dates and who goes on the dates, but they do manipulate some aspects of the show to get the most drama out of the season. Also, a main part of the show that the contestants might not be used to is the fact that the bachelor or bachelorette starts off dating over 20 people from the first episode. So not only do you have to work to get to know someone you are interested in marrying, you have to compete with a whole group of other people to get their attention. This environment might not produce the best foundation for a long-lasting relationship.

My final reason for why I believe that it's hard for these couples to stay together is actually what happens after the show is filmed. Then begins a long period of time where the (often) newly engaged couple have to live out a secret relationship. They can't tell people who they ended up with for fear that it would leak to the tabloids and ruin the show. They can not necessarily physically be together and that long distance aspect right after being so close and spending weeks seeing their significant other can put a strain on the relationship. Another problem could be watching the show while it is airing. Seeing the person that you are now engaged to, or in a relationship with, going on dates and kissing other people would not be an easy thing, and if the couple is not completely confident in their relationship, it could spell the end.

So while "The Bachelor" franchise is still going strong with lots of people devoted to watching the show, I think people have a right to be skeptical of the show at the same time. The number of couples who actually get married is disappointingly low. Even though I do not watch "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" expecting to see couples meet their soul mates, get married and live happily ever after, it's still a television show I turn to when I want a good dose of drama. Maybe the show will change with time and yield better results? But whether it does or not, you can catch season 12 of "The Bachelorette" on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.