The Bachelor is stepping up its Emmy game.
According to Deadline the extremely popular ABC reality dating shown has used a multitude of celebrity quotes about the series to try and finally land an Emmy nomination. The series has never been nominated in all of its 20 cycles so far.
The Emmy “For Your Consideration” ad for The Bachelor features quotes from Kirsten Dunst, Sean Penn, Ryan Reynolds, Kate Hudson, Donnie Wahlberg, Jenny Mollen and John Mayer. Reynolds said, “If I were on The Bachelor, I’d step out of that limo wearing nothing but white socks and like, 312 candy necklaces” and Dunst said, “It’s one of the funniest, smartest shows on television. It’s comedic gold.”
At one of Deadline’s The Contenders Emmy events both The Bachelor executive producer Martin Hilton and WBTV head of alternative Mike Darnell spoke openly about the show’s consistent Emmy absence and brought up the shows guilty pleasure identity as a possible reason. “This show has never [been nominated for] an Emmy. For anything! And despite that, this show is a cornerstone of American pop culture,” said Hilton. Darnell backed him up and said, “For wardrobe, nothing! This isn’t just luck. I would implore you to look at it. You don’t last this long without being a really well-produced show.”
There are clearly plenty of celebrities that are in love with The Bachelor. Along with those taking part in the Emmy campaign, celebrities like Silicon Valley‘s Thomas Middleditch have spoken on talk shows about their love of the series, and E! put out list a few months ago of celebrities that are “obsessed” with the series which included Amy Schumer, Adam Scott and Jennifer Aniston. Just last month The Hollywood Reporter published an article of which twitter accounts to follow while watching the new season of The Bacholer sibling series The Bachelorette, which included Emma Roberts, Lea Michele and Eric Stonestreet.