Previewing King of the Nerds

Over the years I have given a lot of grief to The CW for canceling Veronica Mars and made fun of it for managing to get less viewers to watch original episodes of Everybody Hates Chris than TV Land could with repeats of the show. But I do not give them enough credit for ruining, and then canceling one of the great reality shows of the past decade: Beauty and the Geek (introducing male models and gay homosexuals just ruined the social experiment aspect of the show of nerds trying to hook up with hot chicks). Although TBS has not answered my prayers for a Beauty and the Geek reboot by a station not ran and watched by a bunch of morons, they did the next best thing: created King of the Nerds.

King of the Nerds takes eleven nerds and geeks (yes there is a difference) to see who is the best of them all. And who better to host the show than Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong. Yes, Lewis and Booger from Revenge of the Nerds; unfortunately Lamar was apparently unavailable. The show is basically Beauty and the Geek without the beauties (though half the nerds are female. And that is not the only great predecessor it has talked from as it also has taken ideas from Survivor (they start on teams before becoming an individual competition) The Challenge (the losing team gets to pick one person from their team to face elimination in the Nerd Off while the other team picks the other).

Unfortunately it did not rip-off other aspects because the challenges are pretty lame (at least in the first episode). I understand that the first competition is short and sweet as it is every nerds worst nightmare, a school yard pick of teams (if you noticed earlier I said there are eleven contestants, which of course means someone gets left out). But when they mentioned that the Nerd Off would be simple game I thought, there has to be a catch. Nope, no catch. Hopefully future challenges will be a lot more entertaining, if not, they better steal the challenge creator from The Challenge.  (Spoiler Alert: It turns out that the competitions get much more entertaining, at least they are in the second episode.)

But if you liked Beauty and the Geek or really enjoy all The Big Bang Theory repeats that TBS runs (and I am sure will run before King of the Nerds), you will definitely enjoy the show. There are plenty of colorful characters and made up languages spoken. And upcoming guest judges include George Takei from Star Trek; Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (better known as Jay & Silent Bob), Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci (of the duo as Garfunkel and Oates). I just hope that the challenges get more entertaining. That and Ted McGinley shows up in a second season to lead a group of frat boys to take on the geeks while The Ogre taunts the opposition with a rousing chant of “Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!”

King of the Nerds airs Thursdays at 10:00 on TBS.

I Wish You Were Sine Squared and I Was Cosine Squared so We Would be One

Nothing like good ol’ reality television to let me know that I’m not a big as a nerd as some would have me to believe. Every year for the past three years, the self proclaimed twisted mind of Ashton Kutcher has provided plenty of them on Beauty and the Geek to make me look like the dude from The Notebook in comparison. And after a poor casting round for the second installment, the third group of geeks may be the geekiest of them all. From a Star Wars fan to a Trekkie (err apparently they like being called Trekkers) to a guy who knows pi to hundreds of places.

On the other side of the coin, the beauties were led by quite possibly the two dumbest contestants in the show’s short history. Every week Cecille Gahr and Megan Hauserman would say something so dumb you hope for their sakes that the producers were feeding them the line because no one should be that stupid, my personal favorite being Megan’s, “I’m a good screwer, in response to her winning the doghouse building challenge. Seriously, if tennis was Megan’s favorite activity that she wanted to share with Scooter, how could she not at least know how to keep proper score?

Unfortunately they were also the downfall for this season as the two girls that seemed to change the least, especially Cecille who seemed to revile in her Mean Girls persona and said she was traumatized at having to be nice to people when it was reveled that the ousted teams would be the ones to pick the winners. What’s worse is the girl isn’t all that attractive and if there was a place to bet on her looking like one of those creepy chicks that have had ten too many plastic surgeries within five years (like the naked model in the one guy’s challenge), I’d bet my life savings.

Also a disappointment was the lame “reunion” special which lacked an actual reunion aside from Nate Dern and Jennylee Berns. Instead of having a usual reunion with all the contestants in front of an audience, we get them all separate in a hotel interview. Not that there were many of those as it was more of a recap show with an occasional “never before seen” scenes that actually could have been seen on its website for weeks.

Now if you think you are a huge geek are extremely hot dumb, you can download an application from The CW website too. Now I got to figure out how to geeky enough to get myself on the show. And hopefully this if for the last time, but no, I am from the Show.

Beauty and the Geek 3 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. VI

Quote of the Week: You checked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambora. I think the scariest part of this whole thing is the fact that you’re a Bon Jovi fan. (Dean, Supernatural)

Song of the Week: The Indian version of Cats in the Cradle (Knights of Prosperity)

Big News of the Week: One of the most critically acclaimed shows of the season, Friday Night Lights made its way to iTunes this week where you can download all of the episodes of the show. For those still wavering on giving the show a chance, you can download the Pilot episode for free.

Super Bowl: Checkout out Super Bowl Shuffle 2007 where you can see that I was the only one who actually liked the Snickers commercial. But the only thing I find funnier than the ad itself is that those Communist Liberals hated it because they thought it promoted homophobia whereas the Bible-Thumping Conservatives hated it because they though it promoted the gay agenda.

Heroes: Yawn, it was way too easy to predict that Nathan would be Claire’s father. They should have gone with the more shocking route with it being the mysterious Linderman or even the cop, but then again, there is probably why they have a show and don’t so we will see how this turns out. I wonder if there is any coincidence that most of the heroes are related to other heroes, could the mutated hero gene be some sort of sexually transmitted disease? Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: If there is one complaint I have about the show it is sometimes the storylines go on too long. Almost every episode is a two or three part-ers like the last three were. As much as I loved Chandler bidding on Harriett, Snakes on the Set, and the Tom and Lucy debacle (which ended way too nicely) I was ready to move on early in this episode. But I loved how that Macow knew English all along, that surely comes in handy. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.

The (White) Rapper Show: Holy Bushwick Bill sighting! Mind Playing Tricks on Me is one of the greatest rap songs of all time and a Halloween won’t go by without me thinking of Bill’s verse. It was also great when Serch called out Sullie out for that whole snitching crap. The whole anti-snitching campaign is one of the dumbest aspect of rap and when they have you on film it really can’t be considering snitching because they already know everything. Moron.

Friday Night Lights: Really there is nothing much to say but Landry was the Powerpuff Football referee. If there are outtakes or an extended scene of this on the DVD, I will buy it the day it comes out. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.

Lets Rob Mick Jagger: The two Cats in the Cradle segments were the funniest scenes on any show this week and I’m laughing again just thinking about them. Not to be outdone, Rockefeller Butts also had an instant classic explaining how he and a white girl ended up with an Indian baby going with the Intelligent Design excuse. Fracking brilliant. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.

My Name Is Earl: As great as the nerd from Road Trip was as the white version of Crabman, they could have taken it further. But I content with the meeting between Mr. Turtle and Mr. Bearded Dragon. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.

The Office: I’m just going to come out and say it, I am rooting for Roy.


Check out the Toss Up between Lost and Veronica Mars

Check out my First Impressions of Rules of Engagement

Check out my First Impressions of Survivor: Fiji

Promo of the Week: Look, a Veronica Mars promo that doesn’t have anything to do with the Logan and Veronica relationship. Of the twelve promos this year I think eight of them hinted at the two breaking up so it is refreshing to see one that doesn’t and this is one of the few promos this year that has actually got me excited for the episode. Also getting me excited for this week’s episode, my sources tell me we may actually have a Wallace sighting. Below the promo, for all you spoiler lovers, check out the director’s cut for a scene from the upcoming episode with a shocking reveal from Dick:





Pick of the Week: Beauty of the Geek, Wednesday 8:00, The CW: Yeah this season was a bit of a let down with the two least deserving beauties making it to the end but the tease that the final showdown will be something unexpected has me intrigued and C.C. doesn’t looked too happy about it. As for the surprise, I’m guessing the ousted teams get to choose the questions. As for the winners, I’m going with my original choice, Scooter (naturally) and Megan. You can catch up on the latest episodes over at CWTV.com.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. V

Quote of the Week: And then you frakked. (Ronnie, Veronica Mars)

Song of the Week: Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer (Played during Eugene’s homosex date, Knights of Prosperity)

Big News of the Week: The Grammy’s are nice enough to give their opening slot to a little known band called The Police. My sources tell me they will be huge.

Theme of the Week: Dudes lie even when they don’t have to. On Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Tom would have been better off telling Lucy (who definitely cleaned up nicely at the award dinner) the truth, that he was forced on the date. On Friday Night Lights Julie seemed way more upset that Matt lied about the calendar than actually being in it. Even after Veronica Mars gave Logan a free pass he still chose to lie and there is a good chance that the lying will be the one thing she can’t get past. Of course the classic example reared its ugly head again when Clark didn’t tell Lana about his abilities.

Heroes: I try to avoid most spoilers, but casting news if one of the few spoilers I don’t mind but they really ruined this episode more than if they focused the whole episode on Nicki. First it was impossible not to know that Sulu would be Hiro’s father as they have hyped his appearance for over a month now so it was pretty obvious early on that he was the big boss. Also there was no drama in Claire trying to find her mother, the chick from Boston Public, because the preview from last week gave away that ending. At least the third big reveal did come as a shock as Sylar has recovered, although I don’t remember them ever explaining how he didn’t break out earlier when he killed Eden. You can check out this episode with commentary from Greg Grunberg (the cop) and Hayden Panettiere (the cheerleader) over at NBC.com.

Veronica Mars: One thing I forgot to mention during I Like This Show, it’s Tawdry is that why did they bring up the Mexico storyline again. I thought it assumed that the Lilth House did another of their fake rapes that night. Oh and exchanging Mandy Moore for the Aerie Girls: Upgrade. Check out the latest episode of Veronica Mars and Beauty and the Geek over at CWTV.com.

Beauty and the Geek: There is just something wrong with the three least deserving beauties are the last three standing. I can actually feel my IQ drop whenever Megan (I’m a good screwer) or C.C. (Trashy not classy) open their mouths.

Let’s Rob Mick Jagger: With his longwinded suggestion on what to do if the homosex dude tried to kiss Eugene, Rockefeller Butts has vaulted over Parker and Landry as the best new character on television this season. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.

Friday Light Lights: How random was Julie hanging out with Tyra? The scene with them at Matt’s grandma, painting her toenails while listening to SexyBack was the most disturbingly entertaining scene of the week. Bonus points to the show for references the Old 97’s (even though Julie ended up not going to the concert). Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.

Smallville: This show is at its best when it is campy and tongue in cheek about the Superman mythology and the first half of this episode was a great example of that. But then there was the shocker of an ending that Lana isn’t having a “normal” pregnancy that Lex isn’t telling her about. It is safe to say that the child won’t make it to see their first birthday, but I have a sinking suspicion that Lana won’t make it either.

My Name Is Earl: There was nothing funnier on television this week than Mr. Giggle-Belly. Nothing. On the other hand, the sex scene was the most disturbing of the week. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.


Promo of the Week: This is possible the funniest thing I see in a while (even funnier than Mr. Giggle-Belly) and watched it too man times since I saw it over at Give Me My Remote.




Pick of the Week: The Grammy’s Awards, 8:00 Sunday on CBS. Yeah, last year wasn’t really a good year for music, but this is by far the best award show of the year. This year you can expect performances by Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley, Ludacris, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Carrie Underwood, and Justin Timberlake with some random chick plus John Legend, John Mayer, and Corinne Bailey Rae take the stage together. Oh yeah, and don’t be late because The Police reunion kicks off the show (had you asked me a month ago what three bands I wanted to see get back together I would have said The Police, Rage Against the Machine and the classic Van Halen lineup; so naturally it was a great week for me hearing all three were getting back together this week).

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. III

Quote of the Week: “Last week I had a gang-banger tagging a dumpster. T looked so real the rival gang came in and shot him again.” (John Waters as a funeral director on My Name Is Earl)

Song of the Week: Humpty Dance (My Name Is Earl)

Big News of the Week: Stream the latest episodes of Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, Beauty and the Geek, Supernatural, Girlfriends, All of Us, The Game and One Tree Hill over at CWTV.com. Right now you can watch the last three or four episodes of the shows. The latest episodes will be up the day after it airs.

I gave the viewer a test drive and it’s much better than say ABC.com (which I routinely have problems with). The video can go larger than ABC or NBC but not complete full screen like CBS’s Innertube. It says that the video quality is near HDTV but my monitor isn’t so I really can’t tell but overall it is one of the best video experience on the web from the one video I watched.. And unlike the big three there are not even limited commercial breaks (yet).


I’m From Rolling Stone: I never knew that Wait (The Whisper Song) by the Ying Tang Twins was available in karaoke version. I’ll have to check out if old school misogynistic songs are know available because what group of guys wouldn’t like jumping onstage to give a rousing drunken rendition of Automobile.

Beauty and the Geek: A sad week as not only did Misfit get the boot on The (White) Rapper Show but Andrea Ciliberti didn’t survive the elimination round this week. Cue up It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. And with her exit, Friday Night Lights is back to the must see show at that timeslot.

Let's Rob Mick Jagger: If I were to pick a theme song for my crime syndicate, I’d go with Take the Money in Run, not only is it a much better song than Tom Sawyer it has the built in hand claps that can help in building team unity.

Smallville: Even though he was The Flash Impulse first, it’s hard to see Beaver Casablancas as a good guy. And what was up with the medieval hairdo? Well he was recruited by a Robin Hood wannabe. After this episode I’m ready for the end of Smallville and a Justice League spin-off. Get rid of Martha, Lionel, and Lois, move Lex and Lana to recurring and keep the Clark, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Auqaman, Impulse, with Chloe holding down the fort at headquarters.

My Name Is Earl: John Waters as a funeral director may have been the best stunt casting of the year. Every one of his lines had me cracking up. Though an Honorable mention to Randy’s, “I’ve never had a legal massage before. What’s the point; it’s like drinking non-alcoholic beer.”

Pick of the Week: Veronica Mars, 9:00 Tuesday, The CW: After around two months of waiting Mars Investigation dives into the Dean O’Dell murder investigation. Personally I can’t wait to see Lamb’s reaction to the Dean’s murder mirrors a certain “Plan a Perfect Murder” paper (It’s safe to assume that that is how the Dean was killed and Ronnie wrote that paper, right?). Since this is the start of the new mystery arc, anyone can jump right in with little confusion. And since there is absolutely nothing else on against it (The State of the union will be broadcast on all the other stations, and since he spoke just last week, there won’t be anything new to say), might as well give Veronica Mars a try. Extra reason for all the dudes to watch; the possibility of Veronica getting naked as seen in this clip from the episode:




Promo of the Week: Of course it coincides with the Pick of the Week, a little more to wet your Veronica Mars appetite, really how can you go wrong with seduction, shame, and scandal?:

First Impressions: Beauty and the Geek 3

Before I get into this post, let me first say that no, I’m not the Scooter from the show. My lucky knee high socks are white with three neon green strips at the top. Also when I sport a beard I look more like the dude from The Notebook (or so I’ve been told). But if there are there are any Playboy models who want to jump on the hang out with dudes named Scooter bandwagon, shout a holla. Now back to your regularly scheduled post.

The first season Beauty and the Geek was one of the best reality seasons in the history of television. Richard Rubin set a very high bar for the Geeks while Lauren Bergfeld did the same for the beauty. Which led to a very steep drop off in the second season mostly because the contestants had an idea of what was to come as well as it seemed as if more than a few beauties faked their dumbness just to get on to the show. But after watching the two-hour premiere of the third go around, it looks like they did a better job casting because these girls all seem clueless led by Megan Hauserman, who has Playboy Model (guys check out the Google search box on the sidebar, I know you are gonna search eventually) as her credential, and Cecille Gahr, Bikini Model. But my favorite job has to be Jennylee Berns who has UFC Ring Girl on her résumé. And I swear I have seen her on one of MTV’s fifty different dating shows. Round out the beauties are Andrea Ciliberti (Beauty Pageant Queen), Erin Gipson (Voice Teacher), Nadia Underwood (Sorority Girl), Sheree Swanson (Former Hooters Waitress), and Tori Elmore (Model).

As for the Geeks, none of seem like they will dethrone Richard as the geekiest ever but overall this could be the geekiest of all the season. The crop definitely eliminates any thoughts I’ve had being a nerd myself when they have characters like Drew Sawa who informs us all a bit a trivia that I doubt anyone else knew in that Trekkie is like the “N” word to Star Trek fans who instead prefer Trekker. His explanation of this was only made funnier when his partner kept on calling the show “Star Track” and “Star Truck.” But it’s Singer for a Star Wars Band So Long Princess Nate Dern who steals the show. And sorry the band has yet to show up on iTunes. But hopefully we get to hear more songs from him throughout the series. Then there is Piao Sam (only Kissed One Girl) who like to go by Pi and even has a gang-like hand sign that resembles the Greek letter. But it was another Geek who bragged he knows Pi to over a hundred places. Other Geeks include Matt Herman (MIT Graduate), Niels Hoven (Had a Perfect SAT Score), Alan “Scooter” Zackheim (Harvard Graduate), Mario Muscar (Owns 25,000 Comics), and Sanjay Shah (Virgin) who, despite being a huge fan of rap music was under the impression that “bootie” was referring to a pirate’s treasure.

For some reason they tweaked the elimination round this year in that the partners stay in the room while the other answers the questions while all the other pairs watch from upstairs. But more puzzling is that they went from three questions each to just two. Both seem like change for the sake of change and in no way makes the show better. As for predictions, I’ll have to go with my boy Other Scooter and Megan to win. But more importantly Andrea wins my Girl I’d Most Want to Have Dirty, Dirty Sex With Award.

Verdict: After a sophomore slump Beauty and the Geek is back in fine form. It looks like I may have to bump Friday Night Lights back into the taping category at lest for the Geek’s seven week run. Beauty and the Geek airs Wednesday at 8:00 on The CW.


Be sure to check back tomorrow on my thoughts of Let’s Rob Mick Jagger which more than lived up to expectations. And don’t forget to check out my contest to win your own Knights of Prosperity T-Shirt. Also if you missed the show, head over to ABC.com to stream the episode for free or tune in this Friday at 9:00 when ABC will repair the pilot.

Winter Television Preview

Tomorrow I dive head deep into my year end festivities that will overflow into the new year (if you would like to partipate in the 9th Green Reader’s Poll then e-mail me you top ten favorite songs of the past year in order to ScooterKSU@aol.com) and so today I’d like to highlight some shows that will be airing early in the new year before I get bogged down in all things 2006.


Let’s Rob Mick Jagger
Number one on the list of shows that premiere next year is Knights of Prosperity, or as I like to call it Let’s Rob Mick Jagger. The show landed at number two on my preseason poll for fall shows before ABC unceremoniously pulled it for midseason. The show is from the guys behind Ed and stars Daniel Logue, better known as the cabbie from the early 90’s MTV ad campaign and follows him and his buddies around as they, well, try to rob Mick Jagger. The show debuts Wednesday January 3 at 9:00. Check out a music video from the show below.





I’m From Rolling Stone
For years it seems like reality shows on MTV have gotten trashier and trashier (see the evolution of The Real World to Laguna Beach to My Super Sweet 16) but here’s one I’m looking forward to and surprisingly it actually as something to do with music. It’s been a while since MTV had a show that had at least a little to do with music and no, getting a rapper to host a show about fixing up cars doesn’t count. The show follows six interns for the magazine around for a summer and at the end of it one gets a job with editor in the title. The show starts Sunday January 7 at 10:00 and you can check out a trailer below.




The White Rapper Show
This could be the greatest show in the history of VH1 or the biggest train wreck. But if we have learned anything from Flavor of Love those two are not necessarily exclusive. Yet again here’s a show on a music channel that actually has to do with music. Could this be a sign that both networks will be going back to their roots? Probably not. That may be for the best because this is the network that has The Pussycat Dolls at number #1 on the Top Forty Videos of 2006. No seriously. The show drops Monday January 8 at 10:30 (and this is VH1 so it will be repeated multiple time throughout the week so don’t worry about it conflicting with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). Here is the ad for the so with judges M.C. Search and Prince Paul.




Beauty and the Geek 3
This first season of Beauty and the Geek was up there with the greatest reality seasons of all time. The second season: not so much. Hopefully the show breaks the sophomore slump with the new crop of token hot chicks and loveable losers with the two hour premiere on Wednesday January 3 at 8:00. Yeah it conflicts with Let’s Rob Mick Jagger but this is why God gave us VCR’s (or TIVO’s for you pretentious types). The first clip (which is borderline not safe for work) is of Sanjay, who gets the moniker “Virgin” as he sells himself to the girls. The second features beauties Megan Hauserman “Playboy Model” and Cecille “Bikini Model” (which is moderately safe for work but will lower your IQ if watched). And before you ask, the Scooter in the cast is not me.

In a Perfect World All the Geeks Get the Girls

One of the best reality television ideas ever came back for a second season recently in Beauty and the Geek. I had reservations about this season because the greatness of the original was that neither subject sample really knew what they were getting into so you truly had a group of dumb token hot chicks and a group of uber-geeks. Know that everyone has seen the show, potential contestants know what to expect and could fake dumb at the audition to get on the show. I ever heard people suggest that Wes Wilson, or nerd who tracks monkeys with lasers, was a plant.

My suspicions were justifies as the show took a hit creatively this season. The geeks weren’t as interesting and the hit chicks weren’t as vapid. Josh Herman stood to be the breakout star of this season after his panic attack upon first meeting the bikini-clad beauties, but really calmed down from there and rarely had a spaz attack after that. And sadly Josh didn’t have an arch nemesis much like Chuck Munyon and Richard Rubin from last season.

But it was the females that really brought down the season. It became pretty clear throughout the season that many of them, including Cher Tenbush, Brittney Knott, and Sarah Coleman were not as dumb as they let on. I believe that many stated early in the season that they had even gone to college. Cher even said that she plans to go to med school with the money she won. But a god side product of this was the more intelligent Brittany lead, the hotter she got. She was my pre-season number three on the hottest scale, but if I were to reorder, she be number one with a bullet.

The challenges also weren’t as interesting this time around as they were last season when they had such tasks as fixing a car and the rocket science test. And what could have been the most interesting one in the karaoke challenge, got boring quick as the guys had to perform the exact same song. And having the girls play strip poker with the nerds clothing was just wrong on so many levels. Even the ploy of switching up the game fail miserably when they gave one team the chance to switch up ant team they wanted including their own. Chris and decided to end their partnership with Chris hooking up with Tristin Clow while Amanda took Brandon and both teams were promptly sent to the elimination room in the first week.

It looks like we won’t even get a reunion show either as Supernatural debuts in Beauty and the Geek’s timeslot starting next week. Word on the street is that Ashton Kutcher is already to shake up the game dramatically for the next season with the beauties being dudes who are teamed up with geeky girls. It will be interesting to see if this makes it to screen as the already filmed Average Joe spin-off, Average Jane, has yet to make it to the small screen. But if Rachel Lee Cook taught us anything in She's All That, a female nerd is a makeover away from being homecoming queen, well, as long as she was hot before becoming a nerd.

Beauty and the Geek 2.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

First Impressions - Beauty and the Geek 2

The surprise show of the summer was easily Beauty and the Geek (see my review of season one - I Got the Brains, You Got the Looks). Usually I flee from anything that would be hyped “From the twisted mind of Ashton Kutcher,” but the commercials for the show were so funny, I ended up watching it and loved every second of the show. But the brilliance of the show was that none of the cast members actually knew what they were getting into. A lot of reality shows die quickly after the first season because once everyone, including the contestants and viewers, know what to expect. Joe Millionaire even went from the most watch episode of that season to something nobody watched.

So one can expect a falloff from a show like Beauty and the Geek and there is even a possibility that some of the hot chicks faked dumb to get on the show although on the flip side, it can be pretty hard to fake geeky. There’s even a dental assistant in the beauty group and really how dumb can that girl be? At least I’m hoping that someone who sticks sharp objects in my mouth has had plenty of formal education no matter how attractive she is. But to keep the contestants on their toes they already switched things up giving one team the power to change up the pairing however they want.

One thing the show has going for it is that even with the unpredictability factor taken out of the equation, is that good casting could make up for it. Last year had break out start Richard Rubin who started out the season with “Never Been Kissed” label whenever they showed his name which would change every time he got lucky. And this season they may have actually found someone who could even out geek Richard in Josh Herman with his afro, muttonchops, and happens to suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. To add to his geek cred, he’s also a museum critic. Seriously how do you get a job like that?

There is even a celebrity in the cast, well if you consider someone in the Guinness Book of World Records a celebrity. And that would be Tyson Mao who holds the world record for solving the Rubik’s Cube. And to impress the ladies last night he was able to solve it behind his back. Joe Block, the Speed Chess Champion must be jealous. Rounding out the geeks are Ankur Mehta who holds multiple degrees from M.I.T., Brandon the Neurobiologist, which none of the beauties have correctly pronounced, Chris who unwisely makes his own clothing, Karl the Dungeon Master with the Peter Brady haircut, and Wes Wilson who works with monkeys and lasers presumably at the same time.

As for the ladies, none of them stick out like last year’s lingerie model, Lauren Bergfeld. But this season does include Amanda Horan the hairstylist, Brittany Knott who is labeled “the innocent one” which I have a feeling is nice for the dumbest, beer spokesmodel Cher Tenbush, Danielle Gonzalez the cocktail waitress, Jennipher (yes that’s how she spells it) Johnson the camp counselor, Sarah Coleman is the dental assistant, Thais is your token model this year, and Tristin Clow who one up’s Danielle and is a cocktail waitress/shot girl. And since I’m shallow here’s how I rank the girls:

1. Tristin
2. Thais
3. Brittany
4. Sarah
5. Cher
6. Danielle
7. Amanda
8. Jennipher (yes that’s how she spells it)

Verdict: No where near as entertaining as My Name Is Earl, but still worth taping because there is a good chance Josh has a mental breakdown. As for a prediction I say Sarah and Wes end up winning.

I Got the Brains, You Got the Looks

Nothing says, “no way I’m watching thing” more than hearing the phrase, “from the demented mind of Ashton Kutcher." So needless to say, I had no desire to see his latest show the he was producing, Beauty and the Geek. Not to mention that the show looked like an Average Joe knock off. And it’s never a good idea to rip-off an already lame show. But the more ads I saw for the Beauty and the Geek, the more entertaining it looked. I realized that it wasn’t necessarily an Average Joe knock-off as Beauty and the Geek was not a dating show, instead, as the host said, it was a social experiment where they take a dumb chick (who happens to be hot) and pair her up with a smart dude (who happens to be a nerd). But the biggest advantage of the show was whereas most shows have a lone token hot chick, Beauty and the Geek has six. So by the time the show started, I decided to give it a try.

What I found was one of the most entertaining reality shows in a long while. The highlight of the show was the nerds. First there was the king of all nerds, Richard Rubin who as soon as he walked on screen I though he’s the white Urkel. And apparently I was right as his partner said the same thing in her first interview after meeting him. Then there was Chuck Munyon who had a penchant for say very big word that even the other geeks didn’t know the meaning to and would correct every little detail that could be wrong. Oh, and he had an occasional nose bleed. And Joe Hanson had no problem admitting that he was a virgin on national television. That in itself isn’t that bad until he clarified that he wasn’t by choice. But my favorite geek was Bill Lambing who’s title was “Vice-President of the Dukes of Hazard Fan Club.” Make you wonder just how geeky the president is. And Bill mention he didn’t have enough time to meet woman because he was too busy with the fan club. How busy can he be, the show has been off the air for twenty years. And any true Dukes fan (like myself) refuses to acknowledge any Dukes of Hazard that doesn’t star John Schneider and Tom Wopat. Didn’t Holleywood learn anything from the Coy and Vance debacle?

As for the fair sex, we had a bunch of dumb token hot chicks. All the hot chick clichés were here: Hot chick how spells her name with an “I” instead of a “Y” – Mindi Emanuel; hot chick who mispronounces her own name – Caitilin Stoller (pronounced Kite-a-lynn); sorority girl – Mindi; cheerleader – Krystal Tini; Barbi wannabe – Erika Rumsey But the problem with them was that some of them were not that hot. Not that I’d turn any of them down, but some would be considered Elevated (Yellow) if I were grading them on my Terror Alert Scale including Krystal, Mindi and Scarlet. That’s half of the girls right there. I guess they went more for the dumber girl but then again Mindi wasn’t really that dumb though. Then Cheryl Eliot, whom I though would be the most approachable from first sight of the bunch, was tossed on the first elimination. But lingerie model Lauren Bergfeld make up for the sup-par who also had one of the sexiest voices to boot. And Caitilin (pronounced Kite-a-lynn) grew on me as the show wore on and made it pretty easy to root for once Lauren was unceremoniously bounced from the show.

Some of the best part of the show included having Richard start off the show with the tagline “Never kissed a girl,” then every time he kissed one of the girls on the show, it would change real time until it read “Kissed 3 girls.” Richard’s date with Lauren. Every time the girls tries to say something smart but backfired, “1942 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Chuck almost killing Richard in the finale. Richard’s response when finding out Mindi was a size 0. “Size 0? That means you don’t exist.” Lauren explaining how she has an IQ of 500. There are just too many more to name.

Next week is the reunion show, should be a good time if only to see Lauren once last time. Supposedly they will dish the dirt about the romances that when on in the house, which I assume were just for the cameras. And with the success of the first season, a second season will be coming to a television screen near you in the near. And if I could make a suggestion to Ashton Kutcher to make next season better – cast me. My words tend to get scrambled when I’m in the presence of token hot chicks. I’m about 3 IQ points away from MENSA’s requirement, granted it’s still well shy of Lauren’s IQ. I even own the same shirt the Richard wore in an episode (that would be the yellow one pictured above). So Ashton, shout me a holla dogg. (See, I even have my own cheesy catch phrase. Although you may have to pay Ben Siller royalties.)

Beauty and the Geek 1x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.