\n
As the center\u2019s director, Arielle Preciado, arranged chairs for the incoming audience, she recalled the disapproval of some regulars when she screened a movie about 20-somethings falling in love. \u201cEverybody was like, \u2018No one wants to watch our grandchildren getting together!\u2019\u201d Preciado said.<\/p>\n
So when chatter about \u201cThe Golden Bachelor\u201d reached her social media feeds, Preciado decided to organize a viewing in Oakland, where members of the Greatest Generation flocked to after World War II. The senior center now sees a few hundred visitors a week, offering exercise classes and free activities such as Mahjong and knitting.<\/p>\n
After attending the morning Zumba class on Friday, three girlfriends who met at the senior center more than a decade ago returned to the building for the 2 p.m. \u201cGolden Bachelor\u201d screening. (The premiere aired on ABC the previous night.)<\/p>\n
Their take on Turner, whose bronzed image has been plastered across billboards, buses and commercial breaks for weeks?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s too young for me!\u201d Joanne Craw, 78, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he\u2019s right up my alley,\u201d her friend Toni Pflugh, 68, replied. \u201cExcept I have a husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cI do, too,\u201d their friend Chris Lill, 73, said, joking, \u201cbut we\u2019re ready for a change after 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Pflugh, once a devoted \u201cBachelor\u201d viewer who fell out of the habit after getting tired of what she considered a lack of realism, hoped that this version would be different.<\/p>\n
As a beaming Turner greeted a cast of hopefuls in the premiere episode, the senior center crowd tittered at attention-getting strategies like riding up to the Bachelor Mansion on a motorcycle, groaning at the franchise\u2019s wink-wink, nudge-nudge innuendo.<\/p>\n
The group of friends offered guesses on which women had \u201chad work done,\u201d while others simply watched silently. The room broke into gasps and cheers when one of the contestants shared that she was from Teaneck, N.J., a short drive down the highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s only 60, she\u2019s a baby!\u201d Pflugh called out as one contestant stepped out of a limo in a shimmering golden gown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\u201cI need alcohol,\u201d cut in Craw as she ventured out to the snack table.<\/p>\n
(She was joking: The senior center does not serve alcohol, so the best Craw could do was an \u201cOrchard Spritzer,\u201d a mixture of pear juice and sparkling white grape juice.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
As the episode concluded with a preview of a season of flirtation, heartbreak and a heavy dose of messaging around aging and female empowerment, the reviews trickled in.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot my cup of tea,\u201d Nicolaysen said, though he found seeing Turner putting on hearing aids while getting ready relatable. He was certain his wife would ask him to turn it off at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think reality TV is the downfall of civilization,\u201d offered Vicki Wyan, 69, as her group of friends debated how \u201creal\u201d this reality show actually is.<\/p>\n
Linda Arns, 78, was far more charmed. \u201cI just fell in love with his laugh \u2014 and his blue eyes,\u201d she said of Turner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n