Now in its 20th season, "The Bachelor" is a very different beast than when it premiered on ABC in 2002. As the seasons progressed, the audience and participants became so familiar with the format that the show developed "humorous irony, seeming self-reflexivity," along the lines of " 'We know that you know that this is the requisite hot tub scene or overnight date, and we can't do this with a straight face anymore,'" Dubrofsky says.