‘The Fratchelor’ is back

Palmer and Ginther want “The Fratchelor: Take Two” to be a different show than the original; the first episode airs Feb. 10

%E2%80%9CThe+Fratchelor%3A+Take+Two%E2%80%9D+director+Hannah+Palmer+talks+about+her+plans+for+selecting+contestants+Monday%2C+Jan.+20+in+the+Cable+8+supply+room.

RACHEL SUN

“The Fratchelor: Take Two” director Hannah Palmer talks about her plans for selecting contestants Monday, Jan. 20 in the Cable 8 supply room.

Fans of Cable 8’s fall 2017 production “The Fratchelor” will be excited to know the WSU-based reality show is getting a second season starting Feb. 10. The show will feature Phi Sigma Kappa member Eduardo Rojas as the Fratchelor and Theta Xi member Mark Findlay as the host.

A parody of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” the first edition of the show featured Phi Kappa Tau member Jake Bauman as its titular ‘Fratchelor.’ Twelve women vied for Bauman’s attention each episode, hoping to be the last woman standing and become his girlfriend.

Of course, followers of “The Fratchelor” will remember that the previous season ended unexpectedly. Bauman admitted he wasn’t looking for a serious relationship and decided to not choose any of the contenders. But new “Fratchelor” producer Mary Ginther hopes to change the pace this time around.

“I want to cast people who have personalities that you can root for and you can genuinely fall in love with,” Ginther said.

She and director Hannah Palmer decided to name this year’s production “The Fratchelor: Take Two” rather than “Season Two” to separate it from the notorious first season. This time around, Ginther said, she’s setting different standards for the men and women involved.

“I’m more casting based on personality,” she said. “As a viewer of ‘The Bachelor’ … I want to give the audience someone where they think ‘He’s awesome, everything he stands for is awesome.’ ”

Ginther said the women auditioning for the show were required to dress professionally and bring a resume to the interview to prove they were taking the production seriously. When choosing cast members, she said she took personality and diversity into consideration rather than looks alone.

“Last time we had this show, the people that did it were overwhelmed”

Ashley Beard

Palmer backed up this decision, saying the original “Fratchelor” lacked a diverse range of women in particular.

“Last time there was a lot of blond girls,” Palmer said.

Palmer said her goal for “The Fratchelor: Take Two” is to improve on the original with better organization, editing and communication.

Ashley Beard, Cable 8’s vice president of television, said the idea to bring the show back started out as a joke between her and Ginther. A freshman in Cable 8 at the time of the original, Beard said her colleagues were initially hesitant to bring the show back.

“Last time we had this show, the people that did it were overwhelmed,” she said. “It is kind of a big job to get 12 people in a cast and try and wrangle them in, in a reality show fashion.”

Despite the show’s tumultuous history and large YouTube viewership, Ginther agreed to do the show on one condition: Beard had to buy her dinner at some point.

From there, the trio worked through logistics during an informal meeting at McDonald’s. Beard, seeing that Ginther and Palmer planned to take the show and its production seriously, felt comfortable greenlighting the project.

“If anyone can do it, it’s [Palmer] and [Ginther],” Beard said.

Beard said the plan is to make “The Fratchelor: Take Two” more clearly satirical. Ginther, a Sigma Kappa member herself, said she wants to poke fun at Greek life while changing the negative storyline surrounding the community.

For example, instead of handing out roses, Ginther said each woman will hold a blue Solo cup, and the Fratchelor will drop ping-pong balls in the cups of the women he chooses to continue to the next episode. This tradition — usually called the Rose Ceremony — will be called the Bros Ceremony.

“Greek life has such a bad rap lately,” Ginther said. “I want everyone to take a step back and say, ‘This is fun, I like this.’”

The main goal, Ginther said, is to preserve the integrity of the show. That means the Fratchelor will have to limit interactions with the 12 women outside of the show, both in person and on social media. That rule goes for the host as well.

As for the crew, Palmer said good communication will be key. She said the show will be a chance for her to step outside of her comfort zone since she is not involved in Greek life.

“There’s a good balance of Greek life versus non-Greek life,” she said. “I think [Ginther] and I both have really good values and morals for this show. We both have good ideas for it and work well together.”

The first of six episodes of “The Fratchelor: Take Two” will air Feb. 10 on YouTube and the Cable 8 channel.