'Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer' Is a Breath of Fresh Air for 'Bachelor' Fans

The Bachelor came along a year before the original Joe Millionaire, and although it took 19 years for Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer to premiere on Fox, it was well worth the wait. The series premiere for the reboot kicked off with the two "Joes," Steven McBee and Kurt Sowers, and a group of 18 women ready to duke it out for their affection.

And from where we're sitting, Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer is already loads better than The Bachelor. Read on to find out why.

The parties, dates, and social hours on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer are exactly how you would expect them to be in real life. As in, the alcohol flows freely and many of the women are unafraid to drink as they please. Of course this can and does lead to more fighting and drama, but this is reality TV. Many would take that over the swooning and roses of The Bachelor.

There are a few moments in the series premiere when producers talk to the women during their in-the-moment interviews. There are also shots of the contestants talking to producers away from the other women during parties. The Bachelor has broken the fourth wall before and shown producers on camera, but those moments are few and far in between.

When they do it on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer, it makes viewers feel like they're being let in on some secrets. And it honestly makes the whole thing seem even more authentic — even if this is still a dating competition show with very little depth to it.

The average viewer is not 11 years old, so swearing itself isn't a novelty. But it's so much more realistic to see the women on Joe Millionaire drop f-bombs and admit to being gold diggers than the same lines we get from Bachelor contestants about love and romance. Sure, the women on Joe Millionaire want to fall in love, but they're also real people who can do more than say producer-fed lines.

By the time some of the first episodes of a season of The Bachelor end, there are still women who you feel you hadn't seen once in the episode. At the end of the Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer premiere, it's easy to remember at least one speaking scene with every woman whose photo is on Joe's wall.

Not only do the women argue openly on Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer, but they do it in front of the suitors. And at one point, when one of the women walks away to gather herself and talk to a producer, she actually blows her nose on a curtain. And this is all in Episode 1, mind you. Maybe people don't watch The Bachelor hoping for messiness, but that's what makes Joe Millionaire such a solid concept.

Most episodes of The Bachelor end with a cocktail party, followed by an elimination ceremony. Things are different on Joe Millionaire. In the latter, the bottom four women, so to speak, are called out. After the other women leave the room, the butler tells two of the women they get to stay, while the others are given the boot.

It seems like a form of minor torture for these women, but as a viewers, it's a different take on the classic Bachelor elimination ceremony full of calling out names and handing out roses.

Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer and The Bachelor are on different networks and part of different franchises. They even air on different nights. Technically, they aren't in direct competition with each other, but since people are bound to compare them, there's no time like now to point out why viewers are already obsessed with Joe Millionaire.

Watch Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer on Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.