"The Golden Bachelor" started with lead Gerry Turner getting dressed to the contemplative chords of Cat Stevens, and it only got more emotional from there.
This is not Turner's first love story.
As he explains in the premiere episode on Sept. 28, Turner had previously been married to Toni Turner, his high school sweetheart. After 43 years of marriage, just as they were beginning their retirement, Turner's wife died of a sudden illness.
On screen, Turner cried while recounting his life-changing loss. At home, viewers cried, too.
The reactions to Turner's story were swift, and most of them involved tears. "Why am I crying already" an X user wrote.
"three minutes into the golden bachelor and I’m already crying," a "Bachelor" fan account posted.
"BRB. I'm sobbing already," wrote a "Bachelor" meme account along with a photo of Toni.
Viewers were trying to gird themselves for what was sure to be an emotional episode as Turner opened himself up to love again.
"Not prepared for the tears that are sure to flow over the next hour," one X user wrote.
Turner's story had the same effect, for some viewers, as the opening montage of "Up," a Pixar movie that recounts a man's marriage.
“The Golden Bachelor” is the first spinoff in the ABC franchise to focus on people in their golden years: All cast members are between the ages of 60 and 75. Many, according to their ABC bios, have gone through the death of a spouse or divorce.
They've also experienced hardship more generally. Ellen, the second woman out of the limo, shouted out her friend of over 60 years, Roberta, a longtime "Bachelor" fan who was seen battling cancer at home but unfortunately, at the end of the premiere, it was revealed she has since died.
The conclusion? "The 'Golden Bachelor' is going to heal the nation," an X user wrote.