There are not one but two Utah women on the new edition of "The Bachelor," and neither of them embarrasses herself in tonight's season premiere (7 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4).
That's a bigger accomplishment than you might think, particularly given the way so many women do embarrass themselves on this cheesy reality/romance show.
The schtick this time around is not only that bachelor Jason Melnick was rejected when he proposed to DeAnna Pappas on the finale of "The Bachelorette" earlier this year, but that he's the single father of a 3-year-old boy. And four of the 25 women pursuing him on "The Bachelor" are single mothers — including both Utah women.
Stacia Mann 24, is a charity accountant from Orem who is the mother of 5-year-old Tristan and 3-year-old Grace. And Treasure Morgan, 28, is a nurse practitioner from Salt Lake City who is the mother of 6-year-old Isabella.
Mann gets more screen time in tonight's two-hour episode, including footage of her at home with her kids.
"Being a mom is by far the best job in the world. It's busy. It's crazy. And it's a lot of fun," she says, "Dating as a single mom is really hard. So I pretty much had given up on dating until I saw that Jason was going to be the bachelor."
And she tells us that Tristan "is all about me dating."
"My mommy is the coolest mommy in the world," Tristan says.
Morgan, on the other hand, is seen mostly as she's stepping out of the limo and meeting Melnick.
"I'm Treasure," she says, to his apparent surprise.
"No, that's not my stage name. It's my real name."
Believe me, having a first name that's somewhat out of the ordinary doesn't even come close to being unusual in this bunch. As is always the case with "The Bachelor," the contestants aren't all selected so much because they'd be great girlfriends/wives/stepmothers, but because they'll be good reality TV.
There's the woman who can tell what a man is like by the hot-dog topping he chooses; the self-professed "tooth Nazi"; the salsa dancers; the one who insists she's not a stalker; the teacher who quit her job to be on the show; the woman who reads Melnick a poem she wrote about love at first sight; and the women who gets drunker and drunker as the "party" at which they meet the bachelor goes on.
Creepy. Creepier. Creepiest.
There's the much-anticipated cattiness, confrontations and bleeped language.
There's the sheer idiocy of anyone actually believing they can find true love on a tacky TV show.
(Have these people never watched "The Bachelor"?)
I remain uncomfortable when reality shows involve children. At least in the first episode, there's nothing particularly embarrassing for the parents and their kids, but the potential remains.
Of course, you could make the case that it's embarrassing to have a parent who goes on network television looking for love. And that, if you're looking for a stepparent for your child, doing it on "The Bachelor" might not be the best way to go.
And whether the single moms have an advantage, well, Melnick says, "It doesn't matter to me either way. If there's a connection, there's a connection. And if there's kids involved, the more the merrier."
INNER BEAUTY (9 p.m., Ch. 4): If you have any brain cells left after "The Bachelor," ABC has a new reality/competition show for you. Ten beautiful people compete to be the most beautiful of all — unaware they're being judged on their "Inner Beauty."
The six women and four men are essentially the butt of the joke as we see how they react to a clumsy waiter, if they respect their elders, etc.
Each episode will include both an outer- and an inner-beauty challenge. And the three judges — Vanessa Minnillo (who's also the host), ex-super model Cheryl Tiegs and fashionista Nole Marin — send one hopeful home every week.
The contestants don't find out about the whole inner-beauty thing until after they get the ax.
"Inner Beauty" is dumb, but no dumber than a lot of reality shows.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com