Pullman hit pater with the September premier of “The Fratchelor.” The reality show has taken the college system by storm with their take on modern pop culture.
The show was created after a tweet from Zachary Anders, director of “The Fratchelor,” went viral. After the season finale of the Bachelorette he jokingly suggested making a version of the bachelor on the WSU. “My process was ‘I bet this will be really popular in the sororities’…so I just went with the idea that the fraternity will want to do what is popular with the sororities,” he said.
The show has raised many eyebrows, but supporters say it provides the same entertainment someone would get by watching “The Bachelor.” “The Fratchelor” not only showcases the production skills of students, but the versatility of people on the Washington State University campus.
When asked about the negative effects of “The Fratchelor,” Anders said early filming had a slight hiccup with a sorority. Within the first few episodes, with the permission of the sorority chapter, they were able to film inside one of the houses, but they ran into problems with Panhellenic association. “One of the sororities requested that we pull those scenes,” said Anders. Despite initial concerns, they resolved their problems and continued filming.
The Fratchelor has gained a following and inspired discussions about a possible season two, a spinoff called “The Srachlorette,” as well as possible imitations from other
campuses. Students at The University of Washington have called their version “The Bachelor in UW” and are presently looking for applicants.
Anders was involved in all facets of the show, ranging from the selection process to the final rose. He worked alongside producer, Emma Jerome.
“It started up 100 percent real,” explained Anders. “We just threw everybody in there and said you know what ‘do what you normally do’…it became scripted and I think we were pretty transparent with that towards the end.”
Jake Sirianni is president and general manager of Cable 8 Production, a student-run production company in WSU Pullman that hosted the show on their YouTube channel.
Sirianni said, “[The Fratchelor] got thousands and thousands of views and people started asking ‘what is Cable 8?’… as a student run production company, our biggest thing is growing and learning from doing.”
Sirianni believed making “The Fratchelor” brought awareness to Cable 8 Productions and the resources available to students on campus.
Anders claimed to owe most of the success of “The Fratchelor” to Cable 8 Productions.
“I’m hoping that more than anything what people got out of “The Fratchelor” and watching the student show was that there is a great organization on campus for creating content in a television environment and out of that resources open and available to all no matter their major.”
For students hoping for a new season of “The Fratchelor,” both Anders and Sirianni claimed it is a possibility in the not- so-distant future.
While Anders and Sarriani said that the spinoff series of “The Sratchelorette” might not come anytime soon, former contestant Sara Nielsen said she would be happy working with Cable 8 again. “If ‘The Sratchelorette’ is offered, I would definitely consider it.”
Nielsen said that one of the best parts of being on the Fratchelor was making friends with all the girls. She still regularly hangs out with some of her fellow contestants. Nielsen also let slip some #FratchelorSecrets. “[In] the reunion show they were talking about the mystery girl that kissed Jake [the Fratchelor]…that girl was me.”
To watch full episodes of “The Fratchelor” yourself, visit http://bit.ly/FratE6