Playing the field

Oh, Jillian.

How I loved you during Jason’s season of “The Bachelor,” and how I hated him for sending you packing.

Now, as our “Bachelorette” (ABC, 8 p.m. Mondays) I’m seriously questioning your judgment for keeping that creep Wes around for so long.

I don’t doubt that Mr. Country Singer was the victim of some really bad editing, but he’s still no catch in my book. So I was beyond thrilled when Jill finally gave him the heave-ho during the show’s recent Spanish excursion.

Now our girl Jill has a pretty stellar final two: Ed, with whom I’m totally in love, and Kiptyn, who hasn’t exactly wowed me, but still seems like a good guy and a good choice.

I would rather see the just-eliminated Reid or the fun-loving Michael alongside Ed in the final two, though.

Reid, despite his neuroses, was cute and funny. He also seemed to be looking at this entire experience realistically. He wasn’t ready to declare his love for Jillian after only knowing her for a short time, and he told her that.

Who can blame him?

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this show should give itself a mini-makeover and become a dating show! Take away all that marriage pressure, especially considering that very few of these relation-ships work out in the long run, let alone lead to an official union.

As for break dancer Michael, his ouster after the hometown dates was my biggest heartbreak of the season. He had a great sense of humor and an adorable personality, and his family seemed like the most fun (unlike Kiptyn’s snooty mom and stepdad; I’ve warmed up to their son, but I’m no fan of them).

The season finale, in which Jill chooses between Kip and Ed, airs at 8 p.m. Monday.

As “The Bachelorette” signs off, there are plenty of other dating shows to keep you busy this summer.

Here’s the scoop on a few:

Dating in the Dark (ABC, 10 p.m. Mondays)
The premise of this show, which premiered Monday night, is exactly what it sounds like: three men and three women are secluded in a house for four days, during which time they go on a series of dates. In the dark.

The group lives in separate wings of the house, and the only time they interact with the opposite sex is in the dark room.

After a group date and a series of one-on-one dates, which vary in levels of steaminess, each contestant chooses the one partner he or she wants to see revealed.

The first men up were Stephen, a Mensa member looking for a girl who, he hoped, had “good pheromones and a good hip-to-waist ratio” (ugh!); Seth, a kinda geeky audio-visual designer who claimed he usually goes for the hot girls (huh?); and Allister, a deejay from England who seemed to be a little awkward with the ladies.

The gals were Christina, a marketing manager who likes bad boys; Melanie, a mousy girl who admitted she never learned how to flirt properly; and Leni, an Australian nanny with a bold streak.

The actual dates were entertaining, and encouraging, to watch.

Some of these people actually had long talks about their lives, unlike what we’ve seen this season on “The Bachelorette,” in which Jill has had the same “How much do you like me?” conversations with her suitors over and over again.

(I’m sure the talks were more in-depth than that, but you’d never know it from the way that show is edited. It’s amazing how much control producers have over what we see and what we think, isn’t it?)

Before the couples are revealed to each other, each person describes to a sketch artist what he or she imagines their potential mate looks like. This can be funny, but also a little worrisome. In the case of Stephen and Leni, she envisioned a square-jawed, superhero-type that Stephen worried he couldn’t live up to.

It was the show’s final moments that made me the most uncomfortable, as each single stressed out about who he or she was about to see. And the reveals themselves were more dramatic than any “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” rose ceremony I’ve seen lately.

The couple stands face-to-face in the dark, and each is revealed in turn, while the other remains in the dark, hiding his or her reaction. I was glad for that, because some of them were less than thrilled with what they saw.

Then each person has to decide whether to meet his or her intended on a back balcony of the house to show interest in pursuing a real relationship or leave out the front door, which means, well, you know.

Watching them wait on that balcony was agonizing and made the whole show feel kinda mean, especially when Christina rejected Seth by walking out the front door without a backward glance.

More to Love (Fox, 9 p.m. Tuesdays; premieres July 28)
This is “Bachelor” creator Mike Fleiss’ version of the show for heavy people, and, other than the weights of the contestants, it’s pretty much a carbon copy.

The cocktail party features similar getting-to-know-you chatter, a few first kisses and some cattiness. Among the girls, there’s the one who quit her job to be here, and the one who drinks a little too much during the first party.

Our bachelor is 26-year-old Luke Conley, described in a Fox press release as a “husky hunk” who weighs in at 330 pounds and likes curvy, voluptuous women.

At first glance, Luke seemed cute and sincere. But the more I watched, the more it felt like something was off with him. He says everything in the same monotonous tone and gets two smooches in the premiere in a borderline sleazy way.

I was skeptical about this show from the beginning.

It seems well meaning in concept, but not in execution — especially not in the hands of the people behind “The Bachelor,” which, let’s face it, is becoming more of a joke every day.

“More to Love” feels even more exploitative.

Every time we see the women in one of their confessionals, their weight flashes on the screen, along with the customary name, age and occupation. Is that really necessary?

Some of the women they chose have never been on a single date, so the stakes are raised even higher. If you’ve never really dated and are presented with this supposedly charming guy in this heightened circumstance, of course you’re going to fall hard and fast.

I’m really afraid for some of these women, five of whom are sent home in the first episode, and what this show will do to them.

Holidate (SoapNet, 10 p.m. Wednesdays; premieres July 29)
The classiest show of the bunch, “Holidate” follows two women as they swap cities to look for love, setting each other up with their friends.

At the end, they meet up to reveal which suitor stole their heart and offer him a plane ticket to visit them in their hometown.

Now, where do I sign up?