'The Golden Bachelor' praised for its groundbreaking nature, captures attention of Bay Area seniors
Several residents at the Cogir Senior Living facility in Vallejo put on their best clothes to watch the show's premiere.
VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- On Thursday, millions of people around the country tuned in to ABC's premiere of "The Golden Bachelor."
The new show, a spinoff of the original Bachelor series, features 72-year-old widow Gerry Turner as he searches for love.
"They were all excited about it. There were multiple residents who wanted to watch it, so we decided to have the watch party," said Tracy Freudendahl of Cogir Senior Living.
At Cogir Senior Living facility in Vallejo, several people put on their best clothes and came to watch the show.
That included 81-year-old Mary Spry Danner.
VIDEO: 'The Golden Bachelor' Gerry makes some early connections on night 1
"I wanted to see how this handsome 72-year-old decided he wanted to come back out and live again."
Mary says she's been a fan of the original show for years and was excited to see it now with someone closer to her own age.
She told us it even sparked her imagination.
"Yes, I would sure get on there," she said.
Others though, weren't as confident, and said they just wanted to see the process play out - with show participants all over the age of 60.
PHOTOS: Meet the women looking for love on 'The Golden Bachelor'
"At 81, let me see, what would we do?" said Shirley Woods.
"The Golden Bachelor" has received a lot of media attention due to its groundbreaking nature.
Studies have shown senior citizens are one of the most underrepresented groups on television.
So changing that is monumental says Heather Drury - the director of coaching at a California-based matchmaking company that specializes in people 50 and older.
"Those people deserve a voice too, and to feel like I'm not alone in this. And that's what's so beautiful about the premiere of this show." Drury said.
And even though Thursday was only night one of the series, the folks at Cogir believe it could be around for a while.
"I think they're going to be wanting to watch this every week to see how it transpires," Freudendahl said.
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