Watercooler: The Bachelor...Ben There, Done That?

Ladies and gentleman whose ladies make them watch The Bachelor, we may have a winner! In a loser!

Last night, the shame-challenged franchise returned with Ben Flajnik (who lost Bachelorette Ashley Hebert to J.P. Rosenbaum) handling the opening ceremonies of these Engagement Olympics with more charm than we thought he was capable of. After all, while he did make it to the end with Miss Ditzy Dentist, most of us were pretty "meh" about the mild-mannered winemaker...until he actually reacted to being ditched like a real dude. No, not the dude who gets drunk, tells everyone that he broke up with you and then hits on your sister. The dude who says "well that sucks...thanks for wasting my time."

And for that, we rejoice. In recent seasons past, the guys giving out the roses have been hot, hairless robots. Brad Womack? Body by God, personality by Godzilla. And to call Jake Pavleka a fame whore would be an insult to both fame and whores. Plus, we're not always in love with the constant recycling of former contestants — if they don't get the guy or girl, just send them home to work out like fiends and build up their immune systems for the next season of Bachelor Pad. But with Ben, what he lacks in conventional humpiness, he makes up for with a likability we're happy to have back. He's kind of dorky, self-deprecating, and in serious need of some styling, but at least he seems human. And honest. Which means he's probably gonna have to throw down some hard-to-swallow realness with at least one of the remaining wackadoos who survived his first rose ceremony.

We can't wait. Does that make us bad people? And more importantly, which of the ladies still in the running for Big Ben do you think is the worst of the wild bunch?

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