Dancing With the Stars leeches off of The Bachelor. Thanks, ABC.

Last updated on January 3, 2023

dancing with the stars cartoon
Rejected Melisa from The Bachelor joins cast of Dancing with the Stars. And causes our first sonic boom from Reality TV. ©D.Barstow 2009

Why I Did It:   It’s a brand new world. Now I have to read the newspaper – I mean the bits besides interesting murders, the funnies, and local stuff that makes me mad. Because my syndicate, Uclick, is waiting for more, more, more cartoons, with hungry maws. (and I just used that word in a cartoon recently.)

And I have to send in the cartoon by 6 PM my time, so there goes my Sunday afternoon, unless I do it in advance. Today I didn’t know yet what I would do. I had some ideas: that wolves can now be killed in many states (Obama said he would protect them with the ESA, which lasted, oh, about a month) , Obama’s continual pouring out of money into sinkholes, etc. But you know what I was most excited about today?  TV reality shows, people! ABC did a mashup of The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars.

About the Cartoon:   One of the things that I’m loving about my new gig is trying different styles. I didn’t want this cartoon to be too busy, as it has two panels already, and text in each. I could have colored each item, but why? And how fun to just have this red jagged sonic boom thing (pointing at the words sonic boom) and really making the whole black and white thing pop! I’m really pleased with this one!

More: People leaked the new “Star” in Dancing with the Stars, Season 8! It’s Melissa Rycroft, the rejected one (well, engaged, and then rejected) bachelorette from the latest Bachelor!

Rycroft, 25, is to fill the slot vacated by Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell, who had to withdraw from the competition on March 5 due to a knee injury. According to a source close to the production, the Dallas beauty, who has had only days to rehearse, is expected to perform live on Dancing’s Monday premiere.

(TWO stars were injured before the Season even starts on Monday, March 9; Holly Madison (from the Playboy show) is believed to be taking over for singer Jewel.)

I always watch the Bachelor and the Bachelorette (even better, more men for me!), but wasn’t that wild about Jason Mesnick and his kid Ty, although he apparently appealed to others, as this is the most successful season yet. He was well-spoken, honest, and at least had some emotions. And he was enjoying himself, which was fun. When it got down to just a few women, I knew Molly was best for him, and she was my fave.

Well, Jason had a little surprise in store for us this season. He did a first: proposed to Melissa, and let Molly go (with many man-tears). Then decided it wasn’t working with Melissa, broke it off with her, and wanted to see if Molly would still consider dating him. He did all this on camera. On camera, because, you know, this is a TV reality show, with cameras.

You would have thought he held a knife to Melissa’s throat when he broke up with her. Hysteria on the boards, the news, blogs, talk shows. Melissa was painted as THE REJECT, the poor poor slighted woman who would never recover from this heartbreak. She turned down an invitation to be the next Bachelorette, and said, No more reality shows. She was going to live her simple life and be a teacher. She said this on Wednesday. Today we learn that she is the newest dancer in Dancing with the Stars! Could you hear the sizzle as two different reality shows made this AMAZING crossover?

I could. And so I did this cartoon, up for Slate’s enjoyment, and mine, too.

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