Beauty and the Geek (American TV series)
| Beauty and the Geek | |
|---|---|
| File:Beautyandthegeek.JPG | |
| Starring | Brian McFayden Mike Richards |
| Opening theme | Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Ashton Kutcher Jason Goldberg Nick Santora |
| Running time | 42 minutes (60 with commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | The WB (2005-2006) The CW (2007- ) |
| Release | June 1, 2005 – present |
Beauty and the Geek is a reality television show, first aired by The WB 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 and Belgian-Dutch version. Commercial promos for the show 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 premiered on September 18, making BATG the first series to premiere for the CW for the 2007-08 television season.
Season 1
Cast
| The Beauties | The Geeks |
|---|---|
| Cheryl Elliott "Cocktail Waitress" |
Eric Chase "Computer Programmer" |
| Erika Rumsey "Life-Sized Barbie Doll" |
Joe Hanson "Has never been on a date" |
| Krystal Tini "NBA Dancer" |
Brad Hooker "Mensa Member" |
| Lauren Bergfeld "Lingerie Model" |
Bill Lambing "Vice President, 'Dukes of Hazzard' Fan Club" |
| Scarlet Garcia "Beer Spokesmodel" |
Shawn Bakken "Assistant Boy Scout Master" |
| Mindi Emanuel "Sorority Girl" |
Richard Rubin "Has kissed three girls" |
| Caitilin Stoller "Aspiring Fashion Expert" |
Chuck Munyon "Medical Student: Functional Neurology" |
Challenges
| Week | Beauty Challenge (Winner) | Geek Challenge (Winner) | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fifth Grade Knowledge (Mindi) | Dancing Competition (Richard) | Cheryl & Eric |
| 2 | Car Repair (Caitilin) | Massage (Chuck) | Erika & Joe |
| 3 | Rocket Science (Caitilin) | Women's Fashion (Shawn) | Krystal & Brad |
| 4 | Math (Lauren) | Get Girls' Phone Numbers (Chuck) | Lauren & Bill |
| 5 | Scarlet & Shawn | ||
| 6 | Mindi & Richard | ||
| Winners | |||
Season 2
Cast
| The Beauties | The Geeks | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amanda Horan "Hairstylist" |
Brandon Blankenship "Assistant Neurobiologist" |
Amanda's original partner: Chris Brandon's original partner: Tristin (changed after Week 1) |
| Brittany Knott "Tanning Salon Administrator" |
Joe Block "Speed Chess Champion" |
|
| Cher Tenbush "Beer Spokesmodel" |
Josh Herman "Museum Critic" |
|
| Danielle Gonzalez "Cocktail Waitress" |
Karl Hench "Dungeon Master" |
|
| Jennipher Johnson "Camp Counselor" |
Ankur Mehta "MIT Graduate" |
|
| Sarah Coleman "Dental Assistant" |
Wes Wilson "Tracks Monkeys With Lasers" |
|
| Thais Soares "Model" |
Tyson Mao "Rubik's Cube Record Holder" |
|
| Tristin Clow-Thomsen "Cocktail Waitress/Shot Girl" |
Chris Saroki "Has Only Kissed One Girl" |
Tristin's original partner: Brandon Chris's original partner: Amanda (changed after Week 1) |
Challenges
| Week | Beauty Challenge (Winner) | Geek Challenge (Winner) | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quiz (Amanda & Chris) | No eliminations | |
| 2 | Public Speaking (Cher) | Karaoke (Tyson) | Amanda & Brandon |
| 3 | Assemble a computer and burn a song (Cher) | Interior Decorating (Joe) | Thais & Tyson |
| 4 | Makeover for the Geeks | Speed dating (Wes) | Tristin & Chris |
| 5 | Strip poker (Brittany) | Party planning (Josh) | Danielle & Karl |
| 6 | Frumpy flirting (Jennipher) | Fashion photography (Joe) | Sarah & Wes |
| 7 | Navigation (Cher) | Shopping (Josh) | Jennipher & Ankur |
| 8 | How their partners think (Cher & Josh) | Brittany & Joe | |
| Winners | Cher & Josh | ||
Season 3
Cast
| The Beauties | The Geeks |
|---|---|
| Nadia Underwood "Sorority Girl" |
Mario Muscar "Owns 25,000 Comics" |
| Cecille Gahr "Bikini Model" |
Nate Dern "Singer: Star Wars Band" |
| Jenny Lee Berns "U.F.C. Ring Girl" |
Niels Hoven "Had A Perfect S.A.T. Score" |
| Megan Hauserman "Playboy Model" |
Alan "Scooter" Zackheim "Harvard Graduate" |
| Erin Gipson "Voice Teacher" |
Andrew "Drew" Sawa "Trekker" |
| Andrea Ciliberti "Beauty Pagent Queen" |
Matt Herman "M.I.T. Graduate" |
| Sheree Swanson "Former Hooters Waitress" |
Piao Sam "Has Only Kissed One Girl" |
| Tori Elmore "Model" |
Sanjay Shah "Virgin" |
Challenges
| Week | Beauty Challenge (Winner) | Geek Challenge (Winner) | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Part 1) | Library Search (Cecille) | Social Challenge (Nate) | No eliminations |
| 1 (Part 2) | News Interview (Sheree) | Stand-up Comedy (Nate) | Tori & Sanjay |
| 2 | Museum Tour Guiding (Nadia) | Model Quiz (Mario) | Sheree & Piao |
| 3 | Geek Makeover & Charity Auction (Jennylee & Niels) | Andrea & Matt | |
| 4 | Beach Escape Challenge (Cecille) | Fitness Instructor (Scooter) | Erin & Drew |
| 5 | Building a Doghouse (Megan) | Collecting Phone Numbers (Nate) | Nadia & Mario |
| 6 | Ranch Duties Challenge (Megan & Scooter) | Jennylee & Niels | |
| 7 | Who Changed the Most (decided by previously eliminated contestants) (Megan & Scooter) | Cecille & Nate | |
| Winners | Megan & Scooter | ||
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 7 to 2.
Season 4
This season will feature a twist. One male beauty will be paired with one female geek, 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, while episodes and other videos can be found here. A large dedicated fan following is starting to emerge for the show and many fan sites have been launched to discuss the new season and all the twists which are promised. [1]
This season's male beauty, listed in his site bio as being a party promoter, is also an actor who has appeared on Disney's Brink!, Veronica Mars, Desperate Housewives, Little Giants, Accepted, 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter, and Accepted.
Cast
| The Beauties | The Geeks |
|---|---|
| Amanda Hanshaw "Aspiring Playboy Model" |
Tony Tran "Medical student" |
| Erin Schneider "Hair Stylist" |
Jesse Yeary "Lives with parents" |
| Hollie Winnard "Professional Betty Boop" |
Josh "Rubberband Club President" |
| Jasmine Moore "Babysitter" |
David "LARPer" |
| Jennifer Carter "Waitress, Model" |
William "Server, Online gamer" |
| Katie "Sorority Girl" |
Luke Neyer "Robotics Engineer" |
| Natalie Reeves "Ultimate Hooters Girl" |
John "Analog Circuit designer" |
| Rebecca "Student" |
Will "Software Engineer" |
| Shalandra "Shay" "Beauty Pageant Queen" |
Joshua Green "Astrophysicist" |
| Sam Horrigan "Club Promoter" |
Nicole Morgan "Studying Musicology" |
Challenges
| Week | Beauty Challenge (Winner) | Geek Challenge (Winner) | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intellectual Skills Analysis (lowest score wins) (Shalandra) | Social Skills Analysis (lowest score wins) (Joshua) | No eliminations |
| 2 | Political Debate (Sam) | Rap Off (Will) | Amanda & Tony |
| 3 | Anatomy Body Paint (Rebecca) | Romantic Picnic Basket (Will) | Hollie & Josh |
International versions
A Finnish version of the show, Kaunotar ja nörtti (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.[2] The first episode of Turkish Show TV's Güzel ve Dahi (The Beauty and The Genius) was aired on July 7 2007.[3]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 started early September 2007. The Spanish version was called Nadie es Perfecto (No-one is Perfect), and it was a failure.
Footnotes
References
- Official Site on The CW
- Beauty and the Geek Fansite Including Season 4 Gallery
- Beauty and the Geek UK
External links
- Beauty and the Geek fan site US
- La Bella y el Nerd (México)
- Some news about Beauty and the Geek FR (in french)
- A Bela e o Mestre Template:Pt icon
- Beauty en de Nerd Dutch-Flemish
- Nicole Morgan on MySpace
- Sam Horrigan on IMDB
- Hollie Winnard on IMDB
- Hollie Winnard (season 4) on Myspace (private)
- Amanda Hanshaw (Season 4) on OneModelPlace.com
- Amanda Hanshaw (Season 4) on ModelMayhem.com
- Amanda Hanshaw (Season 4) on MySpace (private)
- Erin Schneider (Season 4) on MySpace (private)
- Jasmine Moore (Season 4) on Myspace (private)
- Joshua Green (Season 4) on astro.princeton.edu
- Joshua Green (Season 4) on MySpace
- Joshua Green (Season 4) on LiveJournal