The recent hometown dates episode of ABC's "The Bachelorette" received a lot of criticism from viewers. Many were cringing at how the show producers have exploited the news about the sudden death of contestant Eric Hill.
HollywoodLife recounted that in the episode, Andi Dorfman supposedly scheduled an "impromptu" meeting with the rest of the bachelor contestants. The meeting might had good intentions, but the main focus of that moment was all about the show star and her men as cameras focused on Dorfman's and the guys' reaction about the news of Hill's death.
Blogger Matt Carter wrote, "Was it necessarily for us to see it? The emotions were raw and we suppose it was "shocking" TV, but it also felt a little too forced, like the camera crew wanted us to see distraught faces and Andi unable to continue a rose ceremony. This show is about something that is serious in love, but they do push that whole "fairy tale" aspect of it hard. This was a railroading of the real world into the show, and it may have been more effective to give everyone time to grieve and collect their thoughts off-camera before having to talk about it on the show. We do feel like it was important to address it on the program itself, mostly for the sole reason that Eric did mean a lot to these guys, and this is the sort of thing that would effect you, even if you hardly knew the guy."
Show host Chris Harrison has since defended the decision of the show and wrote in a blog for Entertainment Weekly, "What happened was horribly sad and tragic, but to me acting like it just didn't happen and going on like Eric never existed seemed horribly dishonest and disrespectful."
An avid watcher of the show suggested to HollywoodLife that an appropriate response to a cast member's death would be some sort of a message coming from Hill's family. However, Harrison has said that the show had been in constant communication with the family, and it is most likely that the Hills have pre-approved the show's decisions. On the other hand, it would have been proper if ABC decided to nix any additional coverage that would bring up Hill's death altogether, as oppose to milking up every opportunity for drama's sake, the entertainment news said concluded.
"For 13 years we've built this franchise by showing you everything that happens, whether it's good, bad, dramatic, or sad," Harrison wrote.
