A case for the reality TV bar

By Tara Kenny

It’s the first Thursday in November at Bushwick’s Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen, where a crowd of around 200 is huddled at tables and shoulder to shoulder at the bar, hungrily taking in the on-screen action, when a collective roar erupts.

They’re not responding to a touchdown or a 3-pointer. Gerry Turner, the hunky septuagenarian star of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor,” has just spontaneously told a contestant named Faith that he loves her, in the presence of her entire extended family. A few minutes later, when Gerry tells another paramour, Leslie, that he’s also in love with her, the bar erupts in a cacophony of even louder screeches, drunk off the chaos (among other intoxicants).

There are dozens of sports bars in Brooklyn alone, which is only fitting given the year-round flow of events and the significance of the Yankees, Giants, Knicks, Nets and even Bills to the city. However, despite the fact that as many as half of all American adults are watching reality TV each week, there’s not a single dedicated reality TV bar in New York City — not for lack of demand, if the electric energy at Syndicated is anything to go by.

Earlier this year, as a “Vanderpump Rules” cheating scandal dubbed “Scandoval” gripped the Bravo cinematic universe, a number of watch parties — including screenings at Syndicated, 310 Bowery Bar in Manhattan, and That Reality Bar popups at Endswell and Fancy Free in Fort Greene — emerged to meet the demand for a communal viewing experience for the reality TV equivalent of the Super Bowl. The response was overwhelming; one tweet shouting out a reunion watch party in the East Village garnered 25,000 likes and 1 million views. Venues were forced to go ticketed to avoid turning disappointed stragglers away at the door. One particularly committed lady came in all the way from Virginia.

I found it. I finally found it.

A bar that plays #pumprules on every TV on full volume like it’s a sports game pic.twitter.com/nOHfbSdYeM

— Sophie Ross (@SophRossss) May 24, 2023

The popularity of this season’s “Golden Bachelor” and “Bachelor in Paradise” screenings at Syndicated are part of a lineage for the bar, which has included reality TV in its programming since opening in 2016. “There is a sporting event-like quality to reality TV that is heightened when you watch with other people over food and drinks, as opposed to watching at home on a laptop,” explains Syndicated owner Tim Neill-Chung. It’s a sentiment that’s repeated by many of the night’s revelers.

“I specifically wanted to come and watch “Golden Bachelor” here because it attracts so many people and it really feels like you’re watching a sports game — everyone screams and it’s really animated and fun!” says Taylor, who lives in Cobble Hill.

“These shows are made to be consumed around other people, like comedies,” adds Taylor’s friend Allason (both declined to give their last names), a “Bachelor” fan since high school who’s been coming to watch “Golden Bachelor” at Syndicated all the way from Harlem each week. “It’s fun to see everyone have the same reaction and know that we all agree.”

The night’s episode ends with Gerry keeled over at the waist, looking like he’s about to vomit all over his shoes at the prospect of giving roses to only two out of the three remaining women with whom he’s allegedly in love. While the crowd thins out for “Bachelor in Paradise,” which offers a more tried and tested healthy-and-horny-20-and-30-somethings-descend-on-a-villa format, those that remain are by now highly activated. “Charity! I went to high school with her!” squeals someone behind me as a woman in a yellow dress descends a stairway on screen.

Those ready to go public with their reality TV fandom can enjoy the remaining episodes of this season’s “Golden Bachelor” and “Bachelor in Paradise” on Thursday nights through November at Syndicated — they’re expecting you.

“It’s a little crazy to work those nights, but we’re used to it now,” says Neill-Chung. “At this point, ‘Ru Paul’ or ‘Bachelor’ night is shorthand for us: staff up and if you’re working, carbo load before your shift.”