The show’s recent crop of leading men has underwhelmed. Nick Viall, the franchise’s resident fifth-year senior, is officially billed as a software salesman but has spent the past several years suckling at the franchise’s teat, twice appearing as a runner-up on “Bachelorette” seasons and then taking a televised vacation on “Bachelor in Paradise” before graduating to Bachelor lead. Then there was Chris Soules, who offered 30 cosmopolitan women the incredible opportunity to live out their days with him at his family farm in a rural Iowa town with a single restaurant. The former professional soccer player Juan Pablo Galavis was such a dud that he incited a mutiny by the cast; two women quit the show. Now we have Mr. Luyendyk, whom Reality Steve, the show’s most dedicated gossip reporter, called “the biggest dog they’ve ever cast as lead in Bachelor history.” It’s “The End of Men,” reality edition.

Meanwhile, the franchise is overflowing with female talent: professionally accomplished, emotionally intelligent, actually intelligent, witty, beautiful women who make for interesting romantic leads. There are so many eligible bachelorettes that some fans begged ABC to just skip “The Bachelor” this season and go straight into another run of “The Bachelorette.” It has become increasingly clear over the show’s epic run that watching “The Bachelor” isn’t just about giving one’s self over to a blandly heteronormative spectacle. It’s to behold a particular kind of romantic coupling — one where vastly overqualified women compete for the attentions of a mediocre dude. For women who have found themselves in a similar position, it can all get a little too real.

One of the fantasies promoted by “The Bachelor” is that the patriarchy is as strong as ever, even as traditionally male power structures are waning in America. The show gravitates toward leads with macho jobs — racecar driver, farmer, soccer player, personal trainer. This is an American throwback that is exclusively invested in elevating white men. Why didn’t “The Bachelor” reinvest in one of its most eligible runners-up from last season, Eric Bigger, the sweet Baltimore guy? He says he was never approached. One reason comes to mind: He is black.

The show featured its first black Bachelorette this summer, and it’s clear that the producers were eager to return to casting leads who do not threaten its white, Middle American viewer base. (The season pulled an average of 1 million fewer viewers than the previous one.) It wanted to nod to diversity, then reassure its audience that white romance still reigns supreme. As one fan meme put it: “After Peter flatly refused our offer to suffer for another cycle, we scraped the bottom of the barrel as hard as we could to ensure we’d never have a black Bachelor.” Mike Fleiss, creator of “The Bachelor,” spelled it out yesterday when he tweeted, “Make ABC great again.” As in dating, the show’s ingrained prejudices are sabotaging its chances for success. If you’re looking for only white men, you’ll miss out on a lot of great guys.