'The Bachelor,' 'Dancing With the Stars' Renewed at ABC

The Bachelor
ABC

Both unscripted staples will be back for new seasons.

ABC is keeping two of its reality staples in its fold.

The Bachelor and Dancing With the Stars have both been officially renewed for new seasons at the network, ABC announced Friday.

The Bachelor, which is coming off a strong season with Colton Underwood, is returning for a 24th installment, while the celebrity dance competition series will be back for a 28th cycle. 

After opting to forego a spring season of DWTS, a show that has long aired two cycles per year, ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke confirmed in February at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that the reality competition would "definitely be returning in the fall."

It remains unclear whether DWTS will return to its twice-a-year format, though the one-season renewal Friday seems to hint that may not happen. 

On The Bachelor front, news of its renewal keeps the Bachelor franchise with an ever-growing presence on ABC. With the 24th season of the flagship reality series, the franchise will have produced nearly 50 seasons of television (24 for The Bachelor, 15 for The Bachelorette, six for Bachelor in Paradise, three for Bachelor Pad and one for The Bachelor Winter Games).

The news comes after an unprecedented Bachelor season starring Underwood -- the first Bachelor in show history to go from three women in the finale to zero then back to one -- and a rise in the ratings for the long-running series. His season ended with a dramatic fence jump, during which he quit the show, and didn't feature the finale-patented proposal -- proving that even when The Bachelor doesn't follow its tried-and-true format, it still produces entertaining television.

"There’s always a feeling of, The Bachelor doesn’t get celebrated enough.' Sometimes it’s not mentioned along with some of the similar reality hits, but on the other hand, The Bachelor is its own thing and I think it defies categorization," Bachelor executive producer Robert Mills told ET during Underwood's season. "I get the sense people are loving this season. It’s going to keep trending upward, and our average will be up over last year, which in broadcast television not only doesn’t happen -- usually you’re lucky if you’re only down single digits. So, if we can pull this off and be up for the season, to me, it’s a monumental accomplishment."

"The two shows at ABC that I think will be on forever are America’s Funniest Home Videos and The Bachelor," Mills added. "With The Bachelor, you hear people say, 'I watched it and now my daughter is watching it. My daughter is obsessed with it now.'"

Jennifer Drysdale contributed to this report.

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