Beauty and the Geek

Thanks to constant screw-ups at the D.O. this article never ran.


If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the geeks on The WB's “Beauty and the Geek,” are some of the most beautiful men on television.

The geeks are painfully nervous and self-deprecating. Wanting to see them gain confidence outweighs the fun of mocking idiotic comments made by the party-girl beauties.
Ashton Kutcher's “social experiment,” now in its second season, partners up eight socially awkward yet brilliant guys with eight beautiful but dim-witted women. The goal, aside from ultimately winning a prize of $250,000, is for each contestant to transform into a well-rounded person.

The geeks undergo a more obvious transformation than the beauties. Although most of these guys are scientists, they lack any chemistry with the ladies. The lovable Tyson holds the world's record for solving the Rubix's Cube blindfolded. Quirky museum critic Josh, who is on medication for an anxiety disorder, is described by his partner as looking “like Carrot Top but he acts like Woody Allen.”

Their confidence is boosted immediately after they receive makeovers. Josh tells the camera “I look so good, I'd hook up with myself.” That’s a big difference from the first day when he described meeting the women in the house as “facing a sexual firing squad.”

MIT graduate Ankur was resistant to the makeover, particularly to having his unibrow waxed.
“There is no other purpose other than to look like what everyone says you should look like,” he said.

After the makeover, however, he joyfully dances around the room to show off his new look to the women. He even comes in second during a speed dating competition.

One geek, Chris, who was recently booted from the show, had false confidence because of his academic achievements. He made enemies quickly with his patronizing and threatening attitude towards both the beauties and the other geeks. He told Josh, who majored in psychology and film at University of Michigan that he had a “cake” major.

“I think Chris is putting the strategy of the game over building friendships and learning from the girls in the house,” said Tyson. “It really takes away from the primary purpose of our experience here in the house.”

For the beauties, who have “dedicated their lives to social pursuits,” the show uses the competitions to gently poke fun at their lack of awareness of the world around them.
“It's not really any geeky information. This is like, common knowledge. This fits into pop culture. This fits into current events. This fits into everything anybody should know,” Ankur says.

In a speech competition, Ankur’s partner Jennipher is asked how she would prevent pollution.
“Maybe not eating a lot of gaseous foods,” she answers. “Not be farting a lot. That's a form of air pollution.”

The contestants on “Beauty and the Geek” that are there for the right reasons have an opportunity for a Pygmalion experience. Sometimes, with the help of a beautiful woman, the nice guy can finish first.

Characters sweeten stereotypical romantic comedy

This is from the 2/3/06 Daily Orange. Cool news ... a publicist from 20th Century Fox, which makes "How I Met Your Mother" e-mailed me to say she liked the article. Thanks to my darling sister for bearing with me and playing the show with me on speaker so I could transcribe quotes.

Never judge a book by its cover or a television show by its title. Despite being terribly named, "How I Met Your Mother" is a sweet romantic comedy that endearingly portrays the years between college and settling down.

Architect Ted (Josh Radnor) is desperate to fall in love after his best friend Marshall (Jason Segal) gets engaged to his longtime girlfriend, schoolteacher Lily (Alyson Hannigan). When he meets local cable news reporter Robin (Cobie Smulders), he thinks he's met "the one." Instead, Robin becomes part of his tight-knit circle of friends, a group rounded out by the obnoxious womanizer Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). The show is narrated via flashbacks from a grown-up Ted (voiced by Bob Saget), who is telling his teenaged children how he met their mother.

"How I Met Your Mother" is like watching "When Harry Met Sally" in weekly half-hour increments. It is romantic without being overly sappy. It is imbued with hopeful optimism about love, without forgetting how ridiculous the search can be.

When Ted meets a mysterious girl at a friend's wedding, they agree not to exchange information, so they will have one perfect night together (just like in the romantic comedy "Serendipity"). When he ultimately tracks the girl down, he launches into a sappy soliloquy about love to his friends, only to be shut down by them for thinking too much.

"How I Met Your Mother" also has a surprising amount of depth for a traditional sitcom when dealing with issues faced by people in their 20s. Although Lily practically lives at the guys' apartment, she is reluctant to give up her own place because it's important for her to maintain her independence.

"It's like fat pants," Lily tells Robin. "You hope you never have to use them, but you're glad to know they're there."

Meanwhile, Ted fears he will lose the apartment to Marshall and Lily, so he begins fighting with them. Marshall and Ted wind up in a silly sword fight scene, but what Ted says expresses the loneliness he really feels.

"You and Lily get to be married," said Ted. "What do I get? I get to be unmarried, alone, minus two roommates and on top of that, I get to be homeless. Does that seem fair?"

Adding to the comedy of the show is a very un-Doogie-like Harris, whose character sounds like he read a manual teaching him how to be a player. When Ted asks him to call a bridesmaid from the wedding to track down his mystery girl, Barney refuses. He reasons that he can't call the girl

"because we just hooked up last night. I can't call the girl the next day. I have to wait at least, like … forever. Oh snap. Never gonna call her," he says.

Likeable characters keep "How I Met Your Mother" from becoming just another sitcom about young professionals living in impossibly large Manhattan apartments while looking for love. Instead, it balances romance, comedy and a realistic look at the issues facing post-graduates.

Sick Day

Are you even allowed to take sick days in grad school? It feels weird, like you need to get a note from the health center to prove to your professors you weren't making it up. On the other hand, who, in the real adult world, goes to the doctor when they have a fever? You just drink the water, take the tylenol, nap and watch lots of TV stored up on your beloved DVR...or at least that's what I do. I'm feeling much better now btw...thanks.

Anyway, stomach in check and windows open to help cool me down, I caught up on all the shows I missed last night because I went to see Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" at Syracuse Stage. Wednesday night's are getting tough....that 9pm slot has so many good shows and apparently Law & Order is moving there also? They're killing me.

I started off with "One Tree Hill." Do you think Bono dies a little inside every time he sees a piece of one of the greatest albums U2 every made being sold out to the teens? Do they even get the reference? Back to last night's episode. It was a dramatic episode with a dramatic storm. Cliche Hill? Dan took advantage of the black out to break into Keith's apartment. He had a brotherly flashback when he accidently smashed a picture of the pair as children. Behind the picture was a safe deposit box key, which Mayor Dan quickly took stole and then broke into the vault, only to find the ledger book Lucas stole last season. Keith got nothin' on him now...except the guy is a creep and clearly will get his in the end. I wish they would just do it already, it's such a repetitive storyline. Speaking of bad seeds, what is up with that cheerleader Rachel. Talk about mean girls and bad acting. Lucas and Brooke had a massive blowout because he used the same ending in a letter to her that he did in an unsent letter to Peyton. Peyton got a life lesson from her dying birth mother, who actually died finally ending that storyline. Haley and Nathan had a romantic evening talking about their relationship. Oh, and Karen and Keith did it in the cafe.

Yes, the storylines are weak, the characters predictable, the writing incredibly cheesy....but it is such a fun guilty pleasure. I can't help but hope "One Tree Hill" has a home on the new network The CW.

But then I needed some quality television so I cued up my favorite show "Veronica Mars." I find it hard to believe there are people who watch TV and aren't watching this show, but you can see my previous review for all the gushing about how amazing this show is. In last night's episode Wallace quickly learned that doing the right thing isn't always easy. His basketball phenom friend from Chicago who hit and ran from the wino, turned the blame on Wallace. Put Veronica Mars on the case. After a failed attempt to confront him because of his controlling uncle, V puts queen bitch Jackie to use. She steals the uncle's cell phone and Wallace's cop dad tracks down the bought off witnesses and proves his boy's innocence. That storyline moved shockingly quick. Moving at a slower pace in the Fightin Fitzpatricks. Weevil talks to Molly about her relationship with Felix and realizes St. Mary's Church, where her brother is a priest, is where the drug hand-offs have been happening. Where else do the PCH'ers and the 0'9ers mix? V agrees to videotape the confessional but even she has ethics because she refuses to bug it for audio. When Weevil confronts his motorcycle gang they turn on him, beat the crap out of him and drive his bike into the ocean. And Thumper even has some blackmail--a videophone tape of Weevil beating up Curly before he washed ashore. Lastly, a little attention was finally paid to the bus crash mystery. Daddy detective broke into the evidence room at the police station and stole the interview tapes and there seems to be a theme developing....all the rich kids dad's knew Curly and the newly elected Mayor even told his daughter not to get on the bus after the field trip. Hmmm....is Steve Guttenberg bad? I'd put money on it. We also found out that the dead journalism teacher knew jackie's dad, star baseball player with a gambling problem Terrence Cook. The episode ending with him being arrested in connection to the bus accident. Definitely a false lead Sheriff Lamb.