Back when he landed the job, reality television was still a
fledgling commodity. The show's creator, Mike Fleiss, had recently
aired what may well be the genre's low point, the disastrous
Who
Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?
"When he first got the job, I was nervous," admits Gwen, a Southern
beauty who shares her husband's easygoing nature. "I thought, 'What
is this show? Are we gonna be able to show our faces in church
again?' "
She needn't have worried. Now in its eighth season,
The
Bachelor (and its sister show, the three-season-old
The
Bachelorette, which Harrison also hosts) has not only become
one of reality TV's staples, but it has also become part of
America's pop culture vocabulary. You don't have to watch the show
to know its contours. It has been spoofed on
Family Guy,
South Park, and
Saturday Night Live, inspired a slew
of gimmicky spin-offs (including
Joe Millionaire and
Married by America), and netted Harrison gigs such as
hosting the Miss
America pageant and a guest spot on
Six Feet
Under. Despite early controversy - the National Organization of
Women claimed it brought female exploitation to a new low - the
show pales in comparison to such later genre inventions as
The
Swan and
Extreme Makeover. Beside those shows,
The
Bachelor seems almost quaint in its quest to produce, inside
television's peculiar fishbowl, a classic storybook romance. (Even
if it generally turns out more like a soap opera.)
As we chat, Harrison's kids scamper, rosy-cheeked, around the
Trocadéro. It's familiar ground for them; the Harrisons live a few
blocks away, and they often come here after dinner to take a walk
and enjoy some ice cream or a steaming chocolate crepe, which the
kids call a "chocolate taco."
It is the family's first trip to
France, and both Gwen and Chris
marvel at how their children have adjusted. The kids love the
métro. They play with French children who speak no English. They've
taken to
croque monsieurs, a kind of grilled-cheese sandwich
turned inside out; the best, the Harrisons say, are at Cafe du
Trocadero. "And they're obsessed with the Eiffel Tower," Gwen says.
"Hey kids, look!"