Golden Bachelor finale. Did Gerry Turner pick Theresa or Leslie?

On Thursday night, 70-year-old Theresa Nist of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, became the big “winner,” with an engagement ring from 72-year-old Gerry Turner to prove it, on “The Golden Bachelor" — exciting news for viewers who have been glued to ABC’s surprise hit show for weeks.

I was not one of them.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I watched some of the first episode, weeks ago, and found it silly.

As near as I could tell, a lot of other people felt likewise. Because, really, who wants to watch a 72-year-old widower from Indiana travel all the way to California (and, eventually, Costa Rica) so he can sort through a bunch of 60- to 75-year-old ladies and find love?

Aren’t there any 60- to 75-year-old ladies in Indiana?

(I was there 22 years ago and I’m pretty sure I counted at least 50 of them.)

Jersey wins: Get to know Theresa Nist, who captured Gerry's heart on 'The Golden Bachelor'

You may notice that I am not referring to these golden lassies as “old ladies,” even though they are considerably older than the considerably younger ladies we usually see on reality dating shows.

Reason: As I understand it, 14 of the 22 women on the show are younger than I am. And, even though I’ve gotten used to being referred to as an old man, I’m not crazy about it.

I’m not digging “spry,” either. Or any compliment that ends with “… for your age.”

Should you care, I’ve never been able to stomach the other shows in this franchise (“Bachelor,” “Bachelorette,” “Bachelor in Paradise,” etc.) because there has always been something cringeworthy about watching cute young women (or men) competing with each other for the attention of the cute young single man (or woman) chosen to be that season’s unmarried catch.

Pick me! Pick me!

Ridiculous, isn’t it?

You go on a TV show, meet a bunch of people, and marry one of them?

Wouldn’t you have a better chance of marrying someone you met on an elevator?

(Or, in Gwen Stefani’s case, “The Voice?”)

The day after the first episode of “The Golden Bachelor” aired, those of us who didn’t care for it made our displeasure known. Little did we know how many other people were already hooked.

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In the last week or so, Glamour magazine referred to it as “a wonderful surprise” and “appointment viewing.” The New York Post called it “must-see TV” and an antidote to all of the toxic dramas and reality shows elsewhere on the tube. And The New York Times used the show as a jumping-off point for a serious opinion piece on the graying of America.

The author of that Times piece called the show “mesmerizing.”

In other words, like it or not, “The Golden Bachelor” had a cultural impact.

Related: Gerry Turner explains his wild lion tattoo before 'Golden Bachelor' heads to hometowns

When asked, many of my readers who did like it referred to the show as “a guilty pleasure.”

Other reviews left on my Facebook page included: “I love mindless television and ‘The Golden Bachelor’ put a new spin on things.” “It’s fun and wholesome!” “[It’s been] nice to watch mature women making friendships and possibly having another chance for happiness.”

And, while that’s all very nice, I was more amused by one of the show’s non-fans, who said the bachelor in question, the 72-year-old Turner, “cries too much. I don’t think he’s ready for a relationship.”

Sure, he cried. But we love tears, don’t we? And noisy fights. And shocking revelations.

And living vicariously through the bold and the beautiful.

Plenty of folks, including actress Lisa Rinna, have opined that reality shows like “The Golden Bachelor” are today’s soap operas.

Rinna, who became famous on the soap “Days of Our Lives” and currently stars in “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” called the small screen’s ever-expanding glut of romance programming “the new paradigm of escapist television. It’s the new ‘Dynasty.’ The new ‘Dallas.’”

I never watched “Dallas,” but I did watch “Dynasty,” which starred Jersey-born John Forsythe as divorced billionaire — and bachelor — Blake Carrington, who remarries and has nothing but trouble with his new wife, his ex-wife and his conniving children for the next 222 episodes.

(Forsythe, who previously starred in the sitcom “Bachelor Father,” was 71 years old by the time all of this ended.)

On a whim, I looked up “Dynasty” on my Prime streaming service last weekend and plopped myself into the middle of the show’s second season, circa 1982.

In the span of four hours I saw poor, rich Blake Carrington pick up his headstrong pregnant daughter at the you-know-what clinic, moments before a sleazy business rival blinds him (temporarily) with explosives.

Meanwhile, the vengeful psychiatrist who bedded Blake’s daughter is kissing Blake’s beautiful, sad wife, Krystle, whose bimbo niece just eloped with Blake’s gay son and convinced him to leave the family business and become a married gay race car driver, to the chagrin of Blake’s scheming ex-wife, Alexis, who eventually has the first of many knock-down, drag-out catfights with Krystle.

Ah, marriage!

I’m guessing that Gerry Turner never watched “Dynasty,” or he would have passed on “The Golden Bachelor” and signed on to something safer, like “Survivor.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Golden Bachelor finale: Did Gerry pick Leslie Prince or Theresa?