Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Joe Millionaire: For Richer Or Poorer’, Where Fox Revives The Long-Dead Reality Franchise, This Time With Two Bachelors

In 2003, Fox dangled a fascinating, albeit trashy, idea for a dating reality show: Have women pursue a bachelor they think is exceedingly wealthy, only to have whoever wins find out that the guy is a broke-ass construction worker. Joe Millionaire was a huge hit because of that idea, though once the trick was done once, viewers lost interest in a second season. Now, almost 20 years later, the franchise has been revived with a new twist: Two bachelors are being pursued, one who’s rich and one who’s not, and the bachelorettes have no idea which one is which.

JOE MILLIONAIRE: FOR RICHER OR POORER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We see a highlight where the show’s host — and “butler” — Martin Andrew — tells the single women participating that one of the bachelors they’re pursuing is wealthy, while the other isn’t. And they won’t know who is who until the show is over.

The Gist: That’s the basic idea behind Joe Millionaire: For Richer Or Poorer, a revival of the franchise that was a massive hit in 2003 and a grinding failure the next season. But instead of trying to fool the single women into thinking the bachelor they’re pursuing is rich, the producers of this version — including Jersey Shore’s SallyAnn Salsano — want to see if love can triumph over greed.

We see Kurt Sowers first; the Charlotte resident owns his own contracting firm but is by no means wealthy. He tells the producers that for some reason, women get turned off by his blue-collar job, despite his flowing long hair and awesome beard. Steven McBee is personally worth over $10 million; he’s the CEO of his family’s massive farming and ranching business in the small town of Gallatin, Missouri. He claims that everyone there knows he’s rich, so it’s hard to date anyone without knowing their true motivations.

We see 18 women come out of their limos, ranging in age from their early 20s to their early 30s. One is an Olympic medalist in fencing, another is a lawyer/bottle service waitress. Some say they’re motivated by love, but others are honest and think that financial stability is important.

The women get a surprise when they see that there are two bachelors to pursue, but they haven’t been given the real surprise yet. They are about to meet the men and get the twist when Steven says he recognizes one of the women. Apparently he and Caroline matched on Hinge and have been tracking each other on social media. Production stops and Steven takes Caroline aside to tell him that she can’t stay or his cover will be blown. She’s angry she has to go home, but it’s for the best.

The next day the bachelors meet the women for real and that’s when the big twist is given, sending the women’s minds spinning. Even those who say they’re in it for love can’t help but speculate which one of the bachelors is rich and which one isn’t. Kurt is instantly attracted to Carolyn, a previously-married mother of a 3-year-old who claims to the camera right off that financial security is important to her. The attraction is mutual.

Then there are group dates: Steven and eight randomly-picked women go to a honkytonk bar and have a blast. Kurt, having lost rock-paper-scissors with Steven, has to pretend to be comfortable with hosting a formal cotillion-style ball. The nine bachelorettes who go there all get jealous of Calah, who vibes with Kurt throughout. One woman, Suzan, is angry that another, Rachel, wore the same dress. Let’s just say that the night doesn’t end in a pool party, like it did with Steven.

The next day four bachelorettes are subject to elimination, and two end up going home.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Joe Millionaire crossed with the worst seasons of The Bachelor.

Our Take: Does this show really have anything in common with the original Joe Millionaire? Not really. Yes, there’s some deception there, but as Martin tells the bachelors, the show’s goal is to actually see if someone can be loved for who they are and not the money they have.

One of the things that we need to take note of here: Unlike the original Joe Millionaire, Evan Marriott, who was truly broke, Kurt is merely not rich. He owns a contracting company and likely makes a decent living from it, with potential for growth. Steven tools around his ranch in a helicopter. So, even though he’s a farm boy at heart, there are still ways that his wealth comes out. It was also smart to pick two men who are both blue collar guys with similar interests; it helps to make the guessing game that much more confusing for the women.

But at its heart, this is a pretty standard bachelor show, a format that was relatively novel in 2003 when the first Joe Millionaire attracted over 40 million viewers for its finale, but is now pretty played out. And your enjoyment of the show will really depend on your tolerance for seeing supposedly smart women fight like high schoolers over the false hope that they can foster a true relationship with one of these two men.

We already know some of the storylines building, especially between Carolyn and Kurt, and at some point we may see if some of the women who said they were in it for love really meant it. But no one has stood out enough yet for us to really get a rooting interest for or against.

Sex and Skin: It’s all chaste in the first two hours, but we’re imagining the kissing and groping will begin in short order.

Parting Shot: After the two eliminated bachelorettes leave — one didn’t want to move to the country and the other barely appeared on camera — Martin returns to the mansion and we hear him say in voice over “only time will tell who’s here for love and who’s here for money.”

Sleeper Star: Martin Andrew does a good job at playing a butler who is really a veteran presenter. And he somehow seems to know how to waltz and line dance.

Most Pilot-y Line: We think the bachelors get a little bit of the short end of the stick staying at a guest house up the road. It’s nice, but not nearly as nice as the mansion itself.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Joe Millionaire: For Richer Or Poorer is more or less a standard matchmaking reality series, and not a particularly interesting one. Its twist isn’t as compelling as the producers would have viewers think, which is its biggest problem.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

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