Summer TV preview 2009

Dating shows

The Bachelorette
Premieres May 18 on ABC
"The Bachelor" franchise reached critical mass last season with the break-up to end all reality show break-ups (if you haven't seen it yet, you haven't witnessed the most entertaining hour of television of 2009). We're guessing this year's bachelorette, former "Bachelor" runner-up Jillian Harris, will make for comparatively mild TV viewing, but we'll still be there, watching the latest season-long car wreck of this, the Cadillac of dating shows.

Dating in the Dark
Premieres mid-summer on ABC
They're not being clever—the title really is the premise! In an unintentional update to "The Dating Game," loveless, lonely folks will go on dates without being able to actually see their date. (Man, we bet the developers were bummed the title "Blind Date" had already been snagged...)

Hitched or Ditched
Premieres May 27 on The CW
Real-life couples, nominated by their friends, are faced with a very real ultimatum: either get married, or break up. The show either ends with a lavish televised wedding, or a serious bummer.

More to Love
Premieres July 28 on Fox
Remember "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionare?"—the bizarre, highly controversial 2000 special in which a woman married a wealthy man sight unseen? Now the duo behind that show (producer Mike Fleiss and Fox exec Mike Darnell) have teamed up once again to offer what's being billed as the "first dating show for the rest of us." This new Fox reality series won't be a makeover or weight loss show like "The Biggest Loser," but rather a sort of "Bachelor" for the plus-size set.