I'm not a reality TV fan, but because "The Bachelor" featured a local Navy guy and a good guy at that, it seemed like there would be a large enough audience to follow the travails of Lt. Andy Baldwin and the 25 women hoping to marry him.

As we discussed coverage plans for the show, we figured to give the show a number of preview stories and then follow the saga from time to time in the paper as we attempted to interview Baldwin. Throughout the season, we did about a dozen stories, most of them authored by Catherine Toth. She used her blog, "The Daily Dish," to write twice-weekly items as the female hopefuls dwindled each week. She'd write a blog right after the show and another during the week when ABC scheduled a teleconference with someone dumped from the show.

From the beginning, dealing with ABC was not going to be fun and indeed, they put many restrictions on Baldwin, dictating when he could talk and what he could talk about. What made coverage difficult is that Baldwin kept contacting us but ABC was telling us we had no approval to interview him.

For instance, even though Baldwin was in our office and we shot video of him, we could not use any of it because of his agreement with the network. We weren't concerned with ABC, but we did not want Baldwin to get tossed off the show before it began. It was clear that Baldwin wanted the publicity — he was appearing at functions all over town — but was having issues with ABC and the limitations they wanted to place on him.

I know there are people who thought we wasted too much space on something that is essentially a contrived dating game. Reaction to the show usually falls into one of two camps: it's a dreamy diversion or it's a cruel manipulation of the contestants.

It's also fair to say that "The Bachelor" is not anyone's definition of news, but readers buy our newspaper and look at our blogs, videos and stories online not just for what is happening in Iraq or how real estate prices are rising but because they like to follow various forms of entertainment. Whether it's local contestants competing on "American Idol" or a young military officer who calls Hawai'i home, we understand that TV is hugely popular and we cannot ignore the celebrity nature of journalism.

That said, there's always a balance in how much coverage is warranted.

For her part, Toth believes that TV shows or movies filmed here are legitimate entertainment stories, and we certainly do a fair amount of pieces on "Lost" or "Dog the Bounty Hunter."

The number of newspaper stories and blog items on "The Bachelor" were appropriate, she thought, although she believed weekly short items promoting the show were a tad excessive.

Toth did an excellent job with the stories and the blog, but from what I could see from the discussions on "The Daily Dish," there was only marginal interest until the final show Monday. Our Web site devoted to "The Bachelor" drew just 3,000 page views, although admittedly it was not heavily promoted in the paper or online.

"I don't know if 'The Bachelor' had a broad enough appeal in general," Toth said. "I've never watched the show before — and I'm supposed to be its target demographic! — and don't know if a lot of people here cared about a naval doctor who's stationed in Hawai'i. It's not like he was born and raised here. There's a difference."

Although Hawai'i numbers are not broken out, the show was a hit overall in the U.S. with the first hour of the finale drawing 12.8 million viewers and the second hour drawing 13.8 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Toth kept her opinions about the show mostly to herself but now that it's over, she's happy to move on.

"I can't see how dating the same guy in that kind of environment is going to lead to true love," she said. "I could be wrong, but the statistics on how long these couples really last back me up. I just think it's unnatural and contrived. Producers are obviously looking for ways to spice it up, to create drama, to keep viewers interested. I didn't have enough emotional investment in the show on a personal level to keep watching."

I have to agree with Toth. The show dragged out over too many weeks and Monday's two-hour finale was painfully long. For good measure, ABC brought Baldwin, his fiancee Tessa Horst and even the rejected runner-up Bevin Powers back the following night in front of a studio audience for more humiliation. I guess it's in the contract.

And just when we thought it was over, Baldwin and Horst came back to Hawai'i Friday for another media opportunity at the Moana Surfrider Hotel. Like it or not, our bachelor (and his fiancee) are local celebrities with many fans.

Toth has the right take on this celebrity/entertainment coverage.

"If the show is popular with our readership, you can't ignore it. But if it's marginally popular — in the case with 'The Bachelor' — but has some kind of local tie, we should acknowledge it appropriately and move on," she said.