The Pick-up Artist (TV series)
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Starring: Mystery (Erik von Markovik), James Matador (Stan Tayi), J-Dog (Justin Marks), Tara. Executive Producers: J. D. Roth, Todd A. Nelson, Adam Greener, Doug Wilson, Clair McCabe, Michael Hirschorn, Jeff Olde, Suzanne Murch. Producer: Angela Malloy. Supervising Producer: Adam Paul. Locations: Austin, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona. Network: VH1
The Pick-up Artist is an American reality show on VH1 which focuses on a group of eight or nine male contestants who have historically been unsuccessful in love and relationships learning the art of the "pickup" as taught by Pick Up Artist Mystery (Erik von Markovik) and his wings. The first season featured "wings" J-Dog (Justin Marks) and Matador (Stan Tayi), and in the second season, J-Dog was replaced by Tara. In eight episodes, Mystery teaches the contestants with guidance and training to meet potential mates in various locations, such as coffee shops and nightclubs. The contestants of the show compete with each other through a series of challenges. Most of the challenges on the first season involved picking up women in different situations, such as on a bridge during the day or in a nightclub. Some of the challenges were more novel, such as the second to last challenge (in the first season) where the men had to pick up a stripper, described by Mystery as "the ultimate challenge."
Contents |
[edit] Seasons
| Season | Premiere Date | Finale Date | Winner | Runner-up | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 6, 2007 | September 24, 2007 | Alvaro "Kosmo" Orlando | Brady Sprunger | Austin, Texas |
| 2 | October 12, 2008 | November 30, 2008 | Simeon Moses | Matt Radmanovich | Phoenix, Arizona |
[edit] Season One
[edit] Contestants
As the main introduction says, the cast comprises "lovable losers" and each has his own set of issues to deal with:
| Name | Age | Status/Reason on Show | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kosmo (Alvaro Orlando) | 23 | Freezes up around women | Winner |
| Brady | 25 | Lacking in self-confidence | 7th |
| Joe D. | 25 | The "friend" to girls | 6th |
| Pradeep | 22 | Over analyzes and talks too much | 5th |
| Joe W. | 24 | Starts off strong but often fails fast | 4th |
| Scott | 26 | Gets very nervous and stutters around women | 3rd |
| Fred | 45 | 40 year old virgin, plus 5 | 2nd |
| Spoon | 27 | Does not know how to approach women | 1st |
[edit] Episode Progress
| # | Episode | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | |
| 1 | Kosmo | Joe D. | Joe W. | Kosmo | Pradeep | Kosmo | Brady | Kosmo |
| 2 | Brady | Brady | Kosmo | Joe D. | Kosmo | Brady | Kosmo | Brady |
| 3 | Fred | Kosmo | Pradeep | Joe W. | Joe D. | Joe D. | Joe D. | |
| 4 | Joe D. | Joe W. | Joe D. | Brady | Brady | Pradeep | ||
| 5 | Joe W. | Scott | Scott | Pradeep | Joe W. | |||
| 6 | Pradeep | Pradeep | Brady | Scott | ||||
| 7 | Scott | Fred | Fred | |||||
| 8 | Spoon | Spoon | ||||||
- Sandybrown -- The contestant won immunity.
- Khaki -- The contestant was chosen as a wingman and had immunity.
- Lightcoral -- The contestant was eliminated.
- Tan -- The contestant quit the competition.
- Lightgreen -- The contestant won the title of the Pick-Up Artist.
- Note 1: Episode 1 had no elimination.
- Note 2: Spoon won the first reward challenge but quit the competition later that episode.
- Note 3: Alvaro changed his name to Kosmo in Episode 2.
- Note 4: Contrary to statements made earlier in the episode, no wing men were allowed to be selected in Episode 5.
- Note 5: Episode 8 was a recap episode.
[edit] Controversy
Soon after the show appeared, contestant Kosmo (Alvaro Orlando) focused his career in acting.[1][2] VH1 previously listed Kosmo as a video game programmer.[3] Kosmo cleared up any controversy in recent interviews with VH1 and on the nowlive.com[4] show that VH1 had incorrectly listed him as a video game programmer, and that he is an aspiring actor, working as a VJ and cameraman for the past four years in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles,[5] although this claim is somewhat been refuted or shown somewhat falsified by his promo-reel and video biography.[6]
Runner-up contestant Brady Sprunger, despite being described as a shy photographer, also worked as a model, five years before being on the show, for a Los Angeles based modeling agency called Action Agency.[7]
[edit] After the Show
Fred was a mattress salesman.[8] According to his MySpace profile, he is also now an actor, comedian, and professional karaoke singer.[9]
Joe D. can also be seen now working as an actor in the television show ER, where he appears as a gas station clerk in the "January 3" episode. He had studied theatre in college.
[edit] Reception
The show debuted with 673,000 viewers, which was initially disappointing[10] and on September 7, 2007, the series averaged 1.8 million total viewers and a 1.3 rating among viewers aged 18-49, which turned out to be an impressive enough result that Season 2 was ordered.[11]
[edit] Season Two
[edit] Contestants
| Name | Age | Also Known As | Status/Reason for coming on the show | Episode Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simeon Moses | 27 | The High-Pitched Hottie | Cried when his girlfriend dumped him | Winner |
| Matt Radmanovich | 26 | The guy with foot in his mouth | Flew across the country and his girlfriend dumped him upon arrival | Episode 8 |
| Greg Fellows | 26 | The Loner | Hasn't had a date in 5 years | Episode 7 |
| Rian Turner | 28 | Patron Saint of the Overlooked | A virgin who has never even had a girlfriend | Episode 6 |
| Brian Ly | 21 | The guy who never kissed a girl. | Never kissed a girl | Episode 5 |
| Todd Pabst | 26 | The Girl's Best Friend | Has never had sex | Episode 4 |
| Karl Meyer | 21 | The Brokenhearted Kid | His only girlfriend broke up with him and broke his heart | Episode 3 |
| Kevin Feng | 21 | Strike-out King | The only girlfriend he's ever had cheated on him | Episode 2 |
| Alex William Shelley | 22 | Women think he's gay | Virgin, lives with his parents | Episode 1 |
[edit] Episode Progress
| # | Episode | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 | Brian | Brian | Greg | Rian | Simeon | Matt | Simeon | Simeon |
| 2 | Greg | Greg | Matt | Brian | Matt | Simeon | Matt | Matt |
| 3 | Karl | Todd | Brian | Matt | Greg | Greg | Greg | |
| 4 | Kevin | Rian | Todd | Simeon | Rian | Rian | ||
| 5 | Matt | Matt | Simeon | Greg | Brian | |||
| 6 | Rian | Simeon | Rian | Todd | ||||
| 7 | Simeon | Karl | Karl | |||||
| 8 | Todd | Kevin | ||||||
| 9 | Alex | |||||||
- Sandybrown -- The contestant won immunity.
- Khaki -- The contestant was chosen as a wingman and had immunity.
- Lightcoral -- The contestant was eliminated.
- Lightgreen -- The contestant won the title of the Pick-Up Artist.
[edit] Notes
- ↑ http://www.sceneinteractive.com/talents/ALVARO/?movie=alvaro-demo.swf
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2772522/
- ↑ "http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_pick_up_artist/122273/episode_characters.jhtml". Retrieved on September 17, 2007
- ↑ "http://www.nowlive.com/member.asp?id=100205452"
- ↑ "http://blog.vh1.com/2007-09-24/the-pick-up-artist-king-kosmo-konfesses/"
- ↑ "http://www.sceneinteractive.com/talents/ALVARO/?movie=alvaro-demo.swf"
- ↑ "http://www.actionagencyla.com/bradysprunger.htm: Action Agency Modeling: Brady Sprunger". Retrieved on September 25, 2007.
- ↑ "http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_pick_up_artist/122273/episode_characters.jhtml: VH1 Contestants on The Pickup Artist". Retrieved on September 26, 2007.
- ↑ "http://www.myspace.com/fredthecomic: Fred Rocks Myspace". Retrieved on September 26, 2007.
- ↑ Levin, Gary (2007 August 14 )."Nielsens: Big bucks, big start for '10'". USA Today. Retrieved on 2007 September 13.
- ↑ Brady, Shirley (2007 September 7). "360AM: Sept. 7 Programming, Online News & More". Cable360. Retrieved on 2007 September 8.
[edit] References
- "VH1 show teaches men how to meet women". August 1, 2007. The Orange County Register. Retrieved on August 4, 2007.
