The first season of Joe Millionaire: For Richer Or Poorer just came to a close and while fans are already talking about the fate of the couples involved, it’s worth discussing how the show improved upon the original and where it fell short. The original show is one of the most derisive reality TV shows of the 2000s and featured plenty of drama that fans adored. However, plenty of meddling trickery and producer interference made it a lightning rod for controversy.
The decision to revive the show with a new format but a similar core concept was a bold one and it had the potential to either be a big success or a huge failure. Ultimately it landed somewhere in the middle and there are plenty of features on the show the viewers can point to as being either an improvement or a misstep from the original.
Ways The Show Has Got Better:
The Joes
There are a LOT of unlikeable people on reality TV. In fact, many have argued that the entire medium is dominated by the worst kinds of personalities. That’s why it was so refreshing to see so many fans enjoy the presence of both of “The Joes” Kurt and Steven.
Even putting aside the gimmick that one of them is rich and the other isn’t, fans consistently enjoyed their interactions with each other and the women on the show. If one of them had been clearly more charming and likable than the other, it would have thrown off a lot of the show’s chemistry. Thankfully, the work they put in on the casting side of things paid off.
The Splits
One of the best things the reboot of Joe Millionaire does better than its predecessor is showing how the contestants value human connection over the shallow attraction to money (and it has a clever way of doing that).
Sometimes, the two Joe’s and contestants are split up into a “rich” version and a “poor” version for their activities. However, the catch is that the rich version usually gets caught up in appearances and luxury while the “poor” version is actually way more fun. From the very first episode, where the tipsy line dancers have way more fun than the cotillion goers, the show sets out to prove repeatedly that their contestants’ connection goes deeper than just the pursuit of money.
The Women Know What They’re Getting Into
One of the things that made so many people hate the original series was how dirty it felt that all the female contestants were being tricked. The whole show was built around the premise of lying to them about what Evan was worth. It felt really sly and was clearly one of the first things that the reboot wanted to improve upon.
While some people still point out how shallow the gimmick of having one Joe who is actually a millionaire and one who isn’t still is, at least the contestants know what is going on and don’t need to be tricked to create drama.
The Shots At Love
One of the phrases that producers of the show repeated in interviews and promotional material for months was how much For Richer or Poorer was breaking the mold of the reality TV love show.
Where most shows give their contestants one chance to fall in love, this time, the dynamic of having two Joe Millionaire’s opens up new possibilities. Between love triangles, rich and poor dates, and the friendly competition between the two guys, there is all kinds of new drama to be explored throughout the season that helps set it apart from other reality shows.
The Social Media Era
Despite some rumors being spread after the finale, there was ultimately a lot of fun discussion surrounding the show on social media after it aired each week. After repeatedly trending on Twitter, it was clear that fans had a lot to say each week about who was being eliminated, which of the Joes they’d want to date,and many of the shows most explosive and dramatic moments.
While social media fanbases and interactions can be a little inconsistent, the ability to discuss the show at length online was a big bonus that the original series didn’t have.
Ways The Show Has Got Worse:
The Melodrama
Even though the original series has a questionable premise, it created one highly dramatic moment after another. The dynamic of money vs. love made heroes and villains out of certain contestants and infused every moment with dramatic tension (and spawned a number of shows trying to be similar to Joe Millionaire).
On For Richer or Poorer, it feels like there’s so little of anything impactful actually going on. The problems are that petty quarrels are solved very quickly and when there is something legitimately shocking or tension building to be had, it can be for all the wrong reasons.
The Location
While the shift to a big estate in somewhat rural Georgia may be the producers way of trying to make the show (somewhat) more grounded, the fact that they didn’t go all the way makes some fans wish they had just stuck with the sensational luxury of the original series.
The beauty of the French countryside and classical elegance of the literal chateau, where the original show was filmed, is crucial to it’s larger than life grandeur. Since the reboot failed to achieve its grounded ambition in the first place, they would have been better off just leaning into the extravagance.
The Butler
On For Richer of Poorer, they got celebrity impersonator, Martin Andrew, to play the role of The Butler, who hosts challenges and helps keep the whole competition running. While he does an okay job in the role, he had did have big shoes to fill.
The original show’s butler, Paul Hogan, was one of the breakout stars of the show and his personality made him like a pseudo host who fans couldn’t wait to see each week. Martin also has to handle the more direct hosting duties on the reboot, which doesn’t really help that much. Maybe nobody was capable of living up to Paul Hogan’s standard and maybe they should have taken appropriate action to alter the role.
The Results
With the finale having just aired, fans would think that love would still be in the air. But, as soon as the final credits rolled and even possibly beforehand, there were rumors on social media that one or both relationships were falling apart.
While it’s hard to find any definitive truth to these, the fact that one of the most viral elements of the whole series was about how short the relationships it spent all season creating, isn’t a good sign.
The Slow Start
Like many shows do, For Richer Or Poorer got off to a bit of a slow start. Whereas the original hit the ground running (and competing shows, like The Bachelor, do it better, having the art of the season premiere down to a science), For Richer Or Poorer needed a few episodes to really find it’s footing.
While it settles into the specific kind of reality show it wants to be eventually fans really had to push through a confused and inconsistent first few episodes to get there.
