beauty and the geek

Season four of Beauty And The Geek kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. on The CW. The new batch of contestants includes two local residents to root for.

Dave, 28, Somerville

BN: How did you wind up on Beauty And The Geek?
Dave: There were two influences, an indirect and a direct influence. A year ago I didn't watch any reality television what so ever ... but then a friend of mine got on Survivor: Fiji and thought, OK, I will watch for them. So I started watching Survivor and underneath it all it actually seemed like fun. There were a lot of negative aspects, like the dehydration, and malnourishment, and exhaustion, and the physical torture and emotional abuse...

BN: But other than that...
Dave: Right, other than that, it looked like a lot of fun. I thought to myself, "all I have to do is find the reality show that is right for me. I don't know what that is yet but maybe, somehow, I'll discover it." That was the indirect influence.

The direct influence came when a friend of mine called me up and suggested that I audition for Beauty And The Geek. I'd heard of it but didn't really know anything about it. I did a little research and was like, "wow. Living in a mansion filled leggy supermodels and intellectually stimulating guys? Seems like lots more fun than starving on a deserted island."

BN: So you go to the audition, and there's obviously hundreds if not thousands of other geeks that are there ... What do you think it was about you that made you stand out?
Dave: When I first showed up to the audition I was actually going down to Connecticut to attend a live action role-playing game. I wasn't sure how the logistics would work out and how long it would take so I showed up as early as I could to bring a lot of my props and costumes with me. The people at the audition asked me why I had all the stuff with me and I said, "Because I do live action role playing." The conversation continued to build from there but it was pretty much, "congratulations, you move on to the next round."

BN: What was the hardest part about adapting to life on camera 24-7?
Dave: There were lots of things. For one thing there is a restriction of freedom; you're essentially living in a prison. A very nice prison, don't get me wrong. As far as prisons go, living in a mansion with a swimming pool and hot tub in the back yard and a kitchen full of food ... very nice ... a prison with golden bars, I suppose. That took some getting used to.

BN: As an adult male, are you OK with being categorized as a "geek"?
Dave: Yes. It was actually kind of funny; the friend who suggested I try out was kind of afraid I would be offended. I wasn't offended; I refer to myself as a geek all the time ... to me a geek is someone who is very intelligent and is usually passionate about certain hobbies that aren't necessarily mainstream. And hey, that describes me.

Jennifer, 26, Boston

BN: Had being on a reality show been something you had thought about previous to Beauty And The Geek?
Jennifer: No, not at all, I had never thought about something like that. My friend at work told me she was going to an audition for the show and she thought I fit the image of the kind of girl they have on the show. I went and I did it and right away they were handing me forms to fill out.

BN: Were you a fan of reality shows? Had you seen BATG before?
Jennifer: I had watched a couple of episodes before. I watched Flavor Of Love and stuff like that.

BN: To get chosen for the show among the thousands of women they looked up has got to be a huge ego boost for how attractive you are.
Jennifer: Definitely. They want to have girls who are attractive, and also some girls who don't seem very smart but they actually might be smart.

BN: That was my next question. Obviously the show is not saying, "all these women are just beautiful and not at all smart" but there is the overall concept of "here are the hot women, here are the smart guys, lets see how they interact." Was there any hesitation on your part about the show playing into those stereotypes?
Jennifer: I was very happy to be considered a "beauty." There was a little part of me that was upset about being cast as a stereotype of not being intelligent, as not being too smart. It did bother me a little bit but then I felt like it was my opportunity to go on the show and prove to everybody that the stereotype is wrong. I feel like I am attractive but I know that I am definitely not stupid.

BN: What were the hardest parts about being on camera 24-7?
Jennifer: It was pretty difficult. When I'd go into my bedroom I just want to change into my pajamas or whatever and then quickly catch myself ... "No, you can't get naked, there's a camera in the corner." I always felt like I was on the alert, like I could never let my guard down.

BN: Had you ever dated guys who might be categorized as "geeks?"
Jennifer: Back when I was in high school and didn't have much experience dating guys, didn't know any better ... I think my first boyfriend was kind of like a geek. He was really smart, just super intelligent. In fact I got him to do a couple of my homework assignments for me. I think he was kind of a geek but because he was also an athlete, I really didn't see him as that. After him I didn't date anymore geeky guys.

BN: After going through the show, do you think that may change at all? Did going through the experience mean you might be more open to giving a geek a chance when it comes to dating?
Jennifer: I don't know. Right now I'd have to make the first step of giving a geek the chance to become friends. They definitely have great personalities and before I was on the show I wouldn't have even thought to get to know them like that. I think the show has helped me learn that just because a guy is geeky doesn't mean he can't be a cool person to hang out with.

Don't miss the two-hour season premiere of Beauty And The Geek tonight at 8 on The CW.

Published on Tue, Sep 18, 2007

Season 3 marked what may be the first time in the history of reality television that a contestant "threw" the game in the final round.[citation needed] All previously eliminated contestants were brought back to spend one more night in the mansion and to assess which of the final two teams had undergone the most personal change. Their votes on this question would determine the winner of the $250,000 grand prize. The majority of the contestants were torn between wanting Nate to win and his partner, Cecille to lose. Nate, believing that winning would only reinforce Cecille's behavior, asked contestants to vote against him. This led to Megan and Scooter winning 8 to 2.


[edit] Season 4
This season will feature a twist. One "handsome" man will be paired with one "geeky" girl, but the rest of the pairs will remain the same. Bios for the cast members as well as a preview for the fourth season can be found at the official site. A large dedicated fan following is starting to emerge for the show and many fan site have been launched to discuss the new season and the all the twists which are promised.


[edit] International versions
A Finnish version of the show, Kaunotar ja n?rtti (The Beauty and The Nerd) started at September 4, 2005 on MTV3. The show was filmed in Estonia. The Bulgarian version of the show started at October 3, 2005 on bTV. On February 7, 2006 a British version of the show debuted on E4. Although there is no host, voiceovers are provided by David Mitchell. A Norwegian version will start on Norwegian TV3 in March 2006. It has been given the name Prinsessen og Professoren (The Princess and the Professor). In Denmark, the original American show is aired with Danish subtitles. An Italian version started on Italia 1 in September 2006, called La pupa e il secchione (The Doll and the Nerd), hitting ratings records for the channel. An Estonian version also started on Estonian TV3 in September 2006 called Kaunitar ja geenius (The Beauty and the Genius) and a Colombian version also debuted on Canal Caracol in May 2006, called La Bella y el Nerdo (The Beauty and The Geek).

The Portuguese version started March 2007 and it's called A Bela e o Mestre (The Beauty and the Master). The "master" word was used because there is no word in Portuguese that has the same meaning as geek. A Russian version has aired on REN TV. The German version called Das Model und der Freak (The Model and the Freak) running on ProSieben hasn't got much to do with the original format despite the name (two "freaky" contestants get a makeover by two models in each episode).

A new version of the show is now set to debut on TF1 in France under the title Bimbo et Intello and other one in Mexico under the title La Bella y el Nerd which is being transmitted by TV Azteca now.[1] The first episode of Turkish Show TV's Güzel ve Dahi (The Beauty and The Genius) was aired on July 7, 2007.[2]But after some public pressure against showing unintelligent contestant girls, the producers had to cancel the show.

In Belgium and the Netherlands, a Dutch version of the show is produced by VTM and RTL 5. The first season aired late 2006 and a second season is in the making. The Spanish version was called Nadie es Perfecto (No-one is Perfect), and it was a failure.

is a reality television show, first aired by The WB network on June 2, 2005. It has been advertised as "The Ultimate Social Experiment" and is produced by Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg and Nick Santora. Each season, 8 "beauties" (young women who have relied primarily on their looks thus far in life) and 8 "geeks" (young men who have relied primarily on intellect and are socially inept) are paired up to compete as couples for $250,000 and other prizes. Each beauty lives together in a room with her geek during the course of the competition. There is a competition during each episode, after which one couple is eliminated. By the end of the competition, many of the contestants say that they have learned much about interacting with people from a different social group (and positive lessons about the character of people from that group), positive things about themselves and their own characters, and often something about human nature in general. The theme song, "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" by the Pet Shop Boys (originally released in 1985), is used also on the British version. The first two seasons featured a different theme song, "The Geeks Get the Girls" by American Hi-Fi.

Following the second season, the American version moved to The CW Television Network, the new network formed when both The WB and UPN ceased operations in September 2006. The two-hour season premiere for the third season aired Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 8PM EST on The CW. The fourth season is to premiere September 18, making BATG the first series opening up the 2007-08 season