Channel Surfing: Rashida Jones Joins Untitled Greg Daniels Comedy, Heaton Heads to "The Middle," No Brain Tumor for Izzie, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I'm still a little tired after staying up to watch Fringe last night after attending the Los Angeles premiere of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. (Verdict? A good film but not a great one.)

NBC has confirmed a long-standing rumor and announced that Rashida Jones (The Office) has been cast in the untitled Amy Poehler workplace comedy project from Greg Daniels and Michael Schur that isn't a spin-off to The Office. Jones will play Ann Logan, a nurse whose boyfriend has suffered a strange injury that leads her to the characters played by Poehler and Aziz Ansari. Do they work in a specialized medical clinic? A psychiatrist's office? Witch doctor's emporium? That remains to be seen but I am happy that Jones and Poehler will appear together in this project. I've missed Jones, especially since her last Office visit. The series is expected to be ready by late spring but may not launch until next fall. (Variety)

Izzie will NOT have a brain tumor on Grey's Anatomy. So says series creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes. "I think the love triangle with Denny, Izzie, and Alex is among the most interesting we've ever done," said Rhimes. "Watching the chemistry between Jeffrey and Katherine again has been really touching. I can't wait for our viewers to see where we're taking it. But what it won't involve is Izzie having a brain tumor." So then what the hell is going on between Izzie and the dead Denny then? Hmmm. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

ABC has given out a pilot order for family comedy The Middle, to star Patricia Heaton (Back to You). Project, to be directed by Julie Anne Robinson (Weeds) and written by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler, was previously produced as a pilot in 2006-07 with Ricki Lake in Heaton's role and was resurrected by ABC and Warner Bros. TV when they received a pilot order contingent on Heaton's attachment. Personally, I quite liked the script (about a mother dealing with her unruly flock in Middle America) back in 2006 and am interested to see what they do with it this time around. (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV is in talks to resurrect reality franchise Beauty and the Geek for a new six-episode season that is being called Beauty and the Geek: Celebrity, in which the titular geeks would be paired with celebrity hotties. Under the potential deal, MTV would also retain the option for additional cycles of the series. (TV Week)

Want more scoop on what's coming up next on Pushing Daisies, including that aforementioned crossover with Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls? Head over to Sci Fi Wire, which has details about the "Comfort Food" episode which will feature guest star Beth Grant's May Ann Marie Beetle character from Wonderfalls, as well as several other upcoming episodes. (Sci Fi Wire)

Brooke Shields is attempting to save Lipstick Jungle from cancellation following an onslaught of lipstick delivery by fans to the network. "NBC is now flooded with lipstick,” said Shields. “Women are in uproar over this… they’ve tried to kill us before and we have refused to die. If we were meant to be off the air, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we have. Everything that could possibly go wrong with a show has happened with us.” (The Daily Beast)

FX is developing drama AR2, from Prison Break creator/executive producer Paul Scheuring, executive producer Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing), and fox21 that is described by Scheuring as "Les Miserables in modern America." Plot follows a group of Michigan college students who set off a second American Revolution (hence the title) and how the military and police deal with their revolt. "It looks into what happens on both sides of the conflict and how that affects the personal lives of all involved," said Scheuring. (Hollywood Reporter)

Laura Linney will take over as host of PBS' Masterpiece Classic, succeeding Gillian Anderson. Linney's first on-screen appearance is set for January 4th when Masterpiece Classic will kick off a new season that includes Tess of the d'Ubervilles, Wuthering Heights, and The Incomplete Charles Dickens. (Variety)

The New York Times has an update on the increasingly complex legal situation surrounding the next season of Project Runway, which will likely not air until late spring. (New York Times)

Sean Combs will guest star in a two-episode arc of CBS' CSI: Miami, where he will play a prosecutor who bristles against David Caruso's Horatio Crane. His episodes are slated to air sometime this winter. (Associated Press)

Ed Begley Jr., Tyne Daly, Linda Emond, and Henry Simmons will star opposite Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in Lifetime biopic Georgia O'Keeffe, from Sony Pictures TV and director Bob Balaban. (Hollywood Reporter)

Elsewhere in TV Movie Land, Hallmark Channel has filled out the casts for two its upcoming telepics. Peter Strauss, Jonathan Silverman, DeDee Pfeiffer, Linsey Godfrey, and Nolan Gerard Funk will star in The Wilderness Family, about a family that inherits a cabin in the woods and faces some distinct challenges. Angie Dickinson and Laura Leighton will star in The View From Here, about a journalist who returns to her hometown to visit her ill mother and uncovers a plot against the town's inhabitants. Both are expected to air in late 2009. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

"Beauty and the Geek" Reveals Yet Another Twist...

... and I won't be sticking around to watch it.

Is anyone else just totally over this once-fantastic now unwatchable series? Sad.

I don't care about gratuitous twists, skanky contestants that appear willing to bed the geeks in order to stay in the house, or why the producers feel that they need to shake up a winning formula by introducing such drivel and undermining their own brand.

I'm out.

Have the Producers of "Beauty and the Geek" Destroyed the Series?

Sigh. Going into this season of Beauty and the Geek, I was already not entirely happy with this series' latest "loud" twist: that instead of the pattern we've come to know and love about Beauty and the Geek, the hapless geeks wouldn't be paired with beauties this time around. Instead, the geeks would face off against the beauties in a sort of war of the sexes.

Puhlease.

I understand the need for reality series to keep their formats fresh but I don't understand why the producers of this typically charming series--whose basic, inspirational/aspirational structure has been a standout among the increasingly trashy reality genre--feel the need to constantly mess around with what essentially works about the series.

Last season's male beauty/female geek twist worked despite itself (or possibly because female geek Nicole was so gosh darn awkwardly cute), but this latest game change just grates from the start and seems to go against everything the series is meant to espouse. Shouldn't these beauties be helping the geeks transform and gain confidence, rather than compete against them in challenges in which, so far and from the scenes for next week, they seem to have the upper hand?

Color me disappointed about this development. Add to that the fact that for some reason this time around Beauty and the Geek's casting directors seem to have hired the contestants from the sleazy VH1 casting pool. (Or would it be casting hot tub?) While the geeks are certainly geeky (what in the hell is with the creepy cowboy?), the beauties for the most part seem downright trashy, a 180 degree turn from the gorgeous but, er, socially acceptable beauties from previous seasons. When a series can make Hooters girls, cocktail waitresses, and bikini models seem wholesome, worry when that same series introduces a slew of beauties, several of whom seem more suited for streetwalking than fronting a reality series that proposes to be inspirational and aspirational. Hell, it's like that first season of America's Next Top Model all over again.

Still, there are a few standout contestants whom I will be rooting for, if I end up sticking around for the long haul... and right now that's a rather big IF: geek Greg (a self-proclaimed "gayasian") and beauties Leticia (an extreme sports model with confidence, poise, and intelligence) and Cara (a squeaky voiced and compassionate aspiring soap star). As for the rest, I can't say enough how I am not clicking with the cast this season and how the "game-changing" twist grates on my nerves.

Then there's the matter of the completely anti-climactic elimination, in which five geeks (who lost the digits challenge) face off in a game show-themed elimination room, complete with buzzers and little blue screens with their names on them. In changing this, producers removed any drama, suspense, or tension from the process. The geeks that buzz in to correctly answer a simple question can leave the room; the last one remaining is eliminated. Gee, wow. So not only do the geeks have to compete with the women, but they also have to compete against each other to stay in the game?

Maybe Beauty and the Geek's producers need to remember one simple rule: if it's not broken, don't fix it. In avoiding that cardinal command, the producers may have broken one of the few original and heartfelt reality series on the air today and that's not just a shame, it's a slap in the face to fans of the series.

It's Good to Be a Geek: Winners Crowned on "Beauty and the Geek" Finale

I'm thrilled with the results of this season's Beauty and the Geek.

If last week's blunt post about my support for Dave and Jasmine wasn't strongly worded enough, let me make it absolutely clear: I've been rooting for these two for a while now. And while their victory wasn't much of a surprise last night (call me crazy but was the opening of those two envelopes completely anticlimactic?), the reunion/reveal episode of Beauty and the Geek was just kooky and, well, creepy enough to keep things a little interesting.

It was nice for a change to see if the geeks were keeping up with their physical transformations and I do have to say that I was surprised to see that they all had clearly taken on board the lessons and skills they learned from their participation and had applied them to their everyday lives. (Yes, I too was happy to see that Jesse smartly lost the Billy Idol platinum 'do and went back to brown.) As for the beauties, it does seem that their learned skills are helping them as well as several expressed a desire to return to college or study for real estate licenses (Jen).

The rest of the episode seemed devoted to rehashing squabbles or romances, such as the doomed one between Sam and Rebecca, which was quickly quashed by Nicole. Though I am surprised that they didn't put Nicole and Dave on the spot and ask if they had gone out for dinner in Harvard Square like they had discussed. (Hmmm.)

Instead, they nearly humiliated Jasmine by bringing out a tarantula for her (she seemed absolutely terrified) and then had a creepy aside between a totally-waxed Josh and Rebecca, who had promised him a body massage with "oils and everything" if he got rid of his body hair... and then had him doff his shirt and brought out a massage table. Ick.

Ultimately, in a move that surprised no one at home, Dave and Jasmine were declared the winners of this fourth edition of Beauty and the Geek and rightfully so. I would have been massively surprised had Sam and Nicole won the popular vote but it's clear to me that Dave and Jasmine had the most change and transformation over the course of the season (and into their daily lives) and clearly surprised themselves by their ability to work so well together as a team. And isn't that the entire point of this "social experiment"?

Already missing Beauty and the Geek? Fret not as the CW is planning another season of cultural confusion and confidence-building for the spring.

Vote for Dave and Jasmine on "Beauty & the Geek"

There, I said it. I've made it known where my allegiances are: squarely with Dave and Jasmine.

Last night's final elimination room on Beauty and the Geek proved not to be that at all, instead for the first time "in the history of Beauty and the Geek" booting the final two teams back to their hometowns for a change, allowing them the opportunity to see their teammates in their natural habitat.

It was a nice twist in a reality competition that seems hellbent on redefining its own rules and twists, what with cash on the table to walk away (which no one actually ever picked up), a male beauty and a female geek this season, and the final twist: that "America" would decide who would walk away with the $250,000 prize. (Half of me just wanted the adorably clueless Jasmine to ask if Ugly Betty herself really had that much sway over their final fate.)

It's pretty remarkable to me to see just how far Dave and Jasmine have come over the course of the season, considering how very much at odds they were in that first episode. I certainly couldn't have predicted that a team comprised of LARPer Dave and babysitter Jasmine would ever be sitting in the final two and yet they quickly learned to put aside their many differences, to find common ground, to support one another and to communicate. If that doesn't best sum up the entire shared goal of Beauty and the Geek (along with, yes, that cash prize at the end of the rainbow), I don't know what does.

Throughout the entire competition, both Dave and Jasmine have been able to push each other out of their comfort zones, to strive towards a better understanding of their own strengths, and to help them accept who they are as fully functioning adults. I am sure that Jasmine kissing Dave helped this immensely, as did Dave's striking transformation: gone is the scary 'fro and oversized novelty glasses and instead we find a guy who is more at ease with himself, even when that guy has a tendency to LARP for eight hours at a time in medieval costume. (A son gout, as the French would say.)

I was thoroughly impressed that Jasmine threw herself wholeheartedly into the LARPing experience when Dave took her to Boston. You could tell that she wasn't totally comfortable with playing an elf named Evergreen in a quest to obtain a potion from an evil baron at first, but she soon got into it in the adorable fashion she does everything. And wasn't Dave super chilled and relaxed when he visited Jasmine's family in Columbus, Ohio?

Meanwhile, I'll be honest and say that I don't really think that Sam has changed much as a person. He's leaving this competition just as cocky and self-absorbed as when he entered it (just look to last week's challenge lose--and his childish sulking--for proof of that). Yes, he learned how to study and to "read things and remember them" but this series has always been about challenging stereotypes and people's perceptions. It's also about leaving the series crying about how much you've learned and how you've come to regard your teammate as a friend, etc., and I just don't see Sam doing either of these things. Did he learn from this experience? Sure. But it hasn't altered his entire personality, world view, or confidence per se.

I do like Nicole. I was impressed with how relaxed she was getting on stage at Tufts and singing to Sam but I also saw how much more herself she was with her friends than she has been this entire competition. She's come far but still has a lot more work to do.

So, here's the deal. I intend to vote for Dave and Jasmine as the winners of Beauty and the Geek 4 and urge you to do the same. (Of course, I'll be voting online via this link to the CW's Beauty and the Geek subsite, rather than paying the $1 per vote via mobile.) I think that they embody the virtues of the series and have made the most in-roads in meeting the brief originally set out for them.

Next week on Beauty and the Geek ("And the Winner is..."), it's the return of all of this season's teams for a reunion as the winner of Beauty and the Geek 4 is unveiled after America's votes are tallied.

Checking Out "Beauty and the Geek"

I'm a sucker for the loopy charms of CW's Beauty and the Geek, so I was curious to see how this season's well-publicized "twist" would play out and how it would throw the social experiment into upheaval.

For those of you not in the know, that "twist" is the inclusion for the first time ever (or as the host emphatically put it, "in the history of Beauty and the Geek") that a female geek and a male beauty have been introduced into the game. Sure, it's not the biggest spanner in the works ever to hit a reality series, but it does cut through to the heart of the series' overaching premise: the tug of war between brains and beauties. I think it's about time that a female geek--in dire need of a makeover from the look of the socks n' shoes combo she was sporting in the season premiere--received the benefits of some social adjustments. As for the himbo they brought in as the first male beauty (who just screams stripper), it will be interesting to see how much he really gets out of this. Something tells me that he's really not going to be attracted to academic advancement, but rather towards the, er, enhancements of some of the female contestants.

For the rest of them, I already to have some favorites that I hope make it far in the competition. On the geeks' side, I can already see the potential in both 23-year-old electrical engineering student Luke, bowtie-clad medical student Tony, and 22-year-old electrical engineering and physics Master's candidate/analog circuit designer/amateur juggler John. I can honestly see them coming out of the other end of this season as more socially adjusted guys who could actually, you know, go on dates with women. And Tony is just, well, so adorably clueless as the sage Cher Horowitz would say.

On the beauties' side, I already adore 26-year-old Bettie Boop impersonator Hollie, who wowed me with her intelligence during the psychology segment (she was the only one to correctly identify "reading between the lines" and "tricycle" during the analysis), and
26-year-old bartender Shalandra (a.k.a. Shay), who is simply gorgeous but also truly a down-to-earth girl who tells it like it is.

I'm already beyond ready for space cadet Jasmine and LARPer David to hit the bricks. As for Joshua, what can I say? It's as though the producers try their damnest to find that season's Richard and they've done so with with the awkward stylings of 26-year-old grad student Joshua, who called his mother during the introductions so she could share his good qualities with the ladies. (Um, we won't touch that with a six-foot pole.)

And so another season of study books, dating advice, and extreme makeovers begins. Who are your fave beauties and geeks? Who do you think will hook up? (My money's still on Luke and Hollie.) And who will come the farthest and who will remain stuck in their little social pigeonhole? Discuss.

Next week on Beauty and the Geek ("Opposites Attract"), the male beauty and female geek move into the mansion and the couples face their first challenge: the geeks must perform homemade raps in front of Three 6 Mafia, while the beauties face a political debate.

Please Don't Let CeCe Win: "Beauty and the Geek" Wraps Its Third Season Tonight

Call me a hopeless romantic or a reality TV junkie, but I can't get enough of Beauty and the Geek. And even though this season has been a little lackluster compared to the last two seasons, I've been hooked nonetheless.

On tonight's season finale, the final two teams--Scooter and Megan vs. Nate and Cece--will go head to head in the final elimination challenge. But this being reality TV, there's a twist, one possibly involving the former ousted contestants. (One can hope so, anyway.)

I really do want Nate to win this competition but half of me hopes he doesn't just so I can see the look on Cece's face when Scooter and Megan walk away with the cash. Cece is, in my eyes, one of the very worst people to ever pop up on a reality TV series (and that's saying a lot when you've got a category already filled by Boston Rob, Johnny Fairplay, and the cast of Real World: Las Vegas) and I cringe every time she shows up on screen.

Her near abuse of that poor Chihuahua was disturbing, not just because Cece forced those bangle bracelets around its neck but because she showed no remorse for doing so. In fact, it's safe to say that this blonde bombshell has no conscience either. What was with her "excuse me, I have something to say" moment from last week's episode? I half-expected her to redeem herself by saying that she wanted to remove herself from the competition for not realizing her full potential or something (as if), but instead she went on to utter some nonsense about taking the blonde out of the bikini that made no sense whatsoever.

Out of the three seasons of Beauty and the Geek to date, I do believe that Cece has shown the least amount of improvement out of any contestant. I get why she was cast by the producers (it's all about drama, people), but I was hoping for more out of this reality dating show and was hoping (wrongly) that there would be some hidden inner depth to the baby-talking bimbo who showed up that first day. Instead, she's reaffirmed those stereotypes of dumb, manipulative blonde girls who are bitchy on the outside... with an imitation 14K gold heart on the inside. The scariest thing to me is that I am sure Cece is watching all of this and loving how "cute" she comes off. It's sad, really.

Personally, I wish there was a way for Nate to just walk away with the entire bankroll on his own. He's made a stunning transformation but remained essentially the same alternatively cool guy he always was (albeit one who uses deodorant now) and he even found some much earned romance with Jennylee. Regardless of what happens tonight, I think Nate has won in more ways than one.

In the end, I am going to root for Scooter and Megan (especially as my personal faves Mario and Nadia are no longer in the running). Scooter's come a long way from that socially awkward guy with the scruffy beard and knee socks in the first episode and has gained a lot of confidence in himself. So too has Megan, who has realized that while she might not like to study, sometimes it does pay off.

Personally, I wish there was a way for Nate and Jennylee to win the cash and sail off into the sunset together, but reality TV, just like life, isn't fair that way.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Jericho (CBS); Friday Night Lights (NBC); Beauty & the Geek (CW); George Lopez/Knights of Prosperity (ABC); Bones (FOX); Wicked Wicked Games (MyNet)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Deal or No Deal (ABC); One Tree Hill (CW); According to Jim/In Case of Emergency (ABC); American Idol (FOX); Watch Over Me (MyNet)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Medium (NBC); Lost (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Beauty & the Geek.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Beauty & the Geek. It might not be the most original or thought-provoking reality TV series on the air, but this "social experiment" from "Ashton Kutcher" always makes me chuckle. On tonight's episode ("Beauty Queen & Geek King"), the final two teams learn that some unexpected visitors (say it with me: returnees) could alter the competition, while one teammate makes a sacrifice that could change the outcome of the game. (Hmmm, Nate?)

9 pm: American Idol.

Tonight, Randy, Paula, and Simon finally reveal (after what seems like 52 weeks) who the top 24 semi-finalists will be.

10 pm: Lost.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Lost is back on the air again. On tonight's episode ("Flashes Before Your Eyes"), it looks like someone other than Jack, Kate, and Sawyer will finally get some screen time as Hurley asks Charlie for help figuring out what the hell happened to Desmond, who's still exhibiting some rather disturbing precognition about Claire's death, while Kate, Sayid, and Locke plan a daring rescue mission to get Jack back. I can't wait!

Checking Out "Beauty & the Geek"

There are some guilty pleasures that are just that... truly sinful television encounters that you watch alone in the dark, with the curtains drawn, afraid to ever dare mention to anyone the following day that you tune in to this show, much less have a TiVo Season Pass.

And then there are guilty pleasures that you can't help but blab about endlessly to any and all who will hear, in the hopes that you can persuade them too to tune in and watch the show.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about the CW's reality series/"social experiment" Beauty & the Geek, currently airing at 8 pm on Wednesdays. I'll admit that when the series first launched three seasons ago, I was a little wary and thought that Reality TV Svengali Ashton Kutcher would present a geek-spoitation and social punking that the world had never seen.

And, yet, after three seasons of challenges, unrequited crushes, and lame introductions from charisma-short host Mike Richards, I am still just as enamored of this show as when it first premiered. I think that it has a lot to do with the fact that unlike other reality shows, say Unan1mous or, I don't know, Flavor of Love, the contestants don't learn anything about themselves or change as a result of being on the series. As cheesy a sentiment as that may sound, it is true with Beauty & the Geek, which throws together eight beautiful but book-shy women with eight smart but socially-awkward men in a Los Angeles mansion, forces them to pair up, and compete for a cash prize.

It's a simple premise yet one that continues to mine that chasm between smarts and looks in our style-conscious 21st century America (it's only fitting that the series is filmed in the epicenter of the beauty biz, Hollywood). This season added a new temptation: teams were offering increasing amounts of money to immediately leave the house in lieu of staying to compete for the $250,000 grand prize. I'm happy to say that no one took the bait last week (though it seemed as though Andrea and Matt were mighty tempted by the dosh).

Once again this season, there isn't a character that can ever quite compete with Season One's Richard, a walking ball of neuroses who uttered the now famous geek catchphrase "Hello, ladies" with such gleeful aplomb. What we do have are some geeks that seem suspiciously... not geeky enough. As in the fact that I am thinking their geekiness has a bit to do with affectation rather than, er, reality. Take Scooter for example: He's a 23-year-old Harvard grad (with a degree in Social Anthropology) from Montana, currently employed as a receptionist, with a penchant for knee-socks, scruffy facial hair and bizarro outfits. (And no, before you ask, Scooter is not his real name.) He feels a little too much like a ringer to me and I've voted him Most Likely to Actually Hook Up with One of the Beauties Once the Cameras Are Off.

I'm also not quite convinced about Nate, a 21-year-old Harvard student who sings in a Star Wars tribute band and seemed, last week, to be quite confident, thank you very much, to nail the stand-up comedy routine he seemed to have invented a few hours before. To me, he's a quirky guy who is playing up his "geek" cred a little too much but he doesn't really seem that much in need of a lifestyle makeover. And isn't it a little coincidental that he's studying Social Anthropology at Harvard... just what "Scooter" got his degree in. Hmmm.

Last week saw the elimination of Sanjay and Tori and while I was sad to see Sanjay go (dude seemed to have potential), I was thrilled to see that back of Tori, especially as she couldn't seem all too bothered to actually TRY to compete or learn... or grow as a human being. After flubbing the library challenge (in which the beauties had to use the Dewey Decimal System to locate three books in a library), she didn't bother doing her homework (reading the book Freakonomics) and then flubbed the in-studio interview she had to do with the book's author. When Sanjay didn't tell her that she did okay ('cause, well, she didn't), she flew off the handle, saying that no one has ever spoken to her the way Sanjay did, etc. Unless we missed something in the editing, I'm not really sure where all of that came from, except from her own insecurities, which she was obviously not willing to work on or work with Sanjay to correct, even after he offered to help her study.

If I had to pick a favorite team thus far, I'd have to say that I really like Drew and Erin. He's a 21-year-old student and Trekker from Wisconsin whose interests include Star Trek (duh) and "celebrating his Polish heritage." (Hmmm, maybe eating some pierogies in his Enterprise uniform, perhaps?) She's a 25-year-old voice teacher/model from Chicago who graduated from Elmhurst College looking to open her own private voice studio. In the elimination chamber last week, they proved that they might just be the team to beat, as both breezed through their respective questions with ease.

But then again, the competition is just starting and, from the looks of the last week's previews, going to heat up in more ways than one. Walking away with that grand prize could happen to any of them at this point and I have a feeling there are a few more twists and turns awaiting these beauties and their geeks.

"Beauty and the Geek" airs Wednesday nights at 8 pm on the CW.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Armed & Famous (CBS); Friday Night Lights (NBC); Beauty & the Geek (CW); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); Bones (FOX); Wicked Wicked Games (MyNet)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Deal or No Deal (ABC); One Tree Hill (CW); The Knights of Prosperity/In Case of Emergency (ABC); Bones (FOX); Watch Over Me (MyNet)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Medium (NBC); Primetime: Basic Instinct (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Beauty & the Geek.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Beauty & the Geek. It might not be the most original or thought-provoking reality TV series on the air, but this "social experiment" from "Ashton Kutcher" always makes me chuckle. On tonight's episode, the geeks are instructed to sketch a portrait of a woman... who just so happens to be completed naked, while the beauties must act as tour guides at a museum. Whatever happens, should be hysterical.

8 pm: Armed & Famous.

Maybe hell is freezing over, but I am tempted check out this new reality show on CBS, in which D-list "celebrities" including Erik Estrada, La Toya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, and others undergo police training to become reserve officers (guns and all!) in Muncie, Indiana.

10 pm: Top Chef on Bravo.

On tonight's episode, the chefs are split into two teams who must each get a restaurant up and running but (of course) end up fighting with one another while judge Gail Simmons chastises the chefs for their disastrous performance. I cannot bloody wait.

Reality Check: "Geek" is Still Chic

I'll admit that I was more than skeptical at first when I heard the premise of the WB's reality show, Beauty & the Geek. Perhaps it was the fact that the promos kept billing the show as "Ashton Kutcher's social experiment," a dubious endorsement to say the least. (His marriage to Demi more than fits the bill as "social experiment," but that's not for here.) The concept is pretty basic: six geeks (intellectually advanced yet socially awkward guys) and six beauties (gorgeous yet, er, intellectually challenged girls) are picked to live in a mansion.

Sounds rather like MTV's Real World at first, no? But here's the twist: the girls and guys will be paired into teams of two and will compete each week for the priviledge of staying and continuing the experiment... and for the opportunity to win $250,000 at the end. Each week, the geeks and the beauties are forced to compete in various challenges; the winners of which get to decide which teams to send to the dreaded elimination room (where they must separately answer questions on the subjects of their individual challenges). The challenges vary in intricacy and difficulty: the girls must deliver a speech, assemble a computer, beat a Vegas dealer at blackjack, or, using a map, navigate the streets of Los Angeles; the guys must chat up female strangers at speed dating, throw a party, decorate a bedroom, or stage a fashion shoot with their partner. And of course, with any lifestyle makeover show, there's the requisite transformation, where the girls makeover the guys, usually with stunning (and surprising) results.

(It should be noted that, during both of the show's two season, one of the beauties hooks up with one of the geeks following the guys' make-over transformations. This season was no exception with tracking-monkeys-with-lasers scientist Wes and beer spokesmodel Cher locking lips in Las Vegas and then returning to the mansion as a full-fledged couple. Apparently, the two are reportedly still an item even after the B&G cameras stopped rolling.)

But then something unusual happens: both the geeks and the beauties not only end up learning important life lessons during their stay, but also change considerably, both on the outside and the inside. For the guys, they learn how to dress better, how to groom themselves, how to approach and talk to girls, and--most importantly--how to have more confidence in who they are. For the girls, they are usually used to getting what they want by using their looks and relying too heavily on those looks to get through life; they end up learning that learning isn't all that bad, that they do have intelligence and skills, and, maybe, that guys that look like their geeks might have more to offer than their outsides might imply.

This season has pushed both the geeks and the beauties to adapt and change in new and different ways. Probably the most real and touching moment came two weeks ago when the beauties were forced out of bed without being able to do their hair or makeup or select an outfit and taken to a bar where they were forced to ask guys to buy them drinks. Stripped of their "armor," the girls looked completely average and that was the point; no longer the focal point of every guy in the room, the girls were avoided and ignored at every turn, much as if they were the geeks. For the girls, it was a traumatic and revealing experience and all of them were reduced to tears by the end of the challenge.

At times, I almost wish that Beauty & the Geek wasn't an elimination-style competition--that the geeks and beauties could stay in the house the entire time and continue to evolve together. Most of those who fail to make it out of the elimination room are usually saddened, not because of the money they failed to win, but because the experience had drawn to and end. And it's not just the geeks who are sad to go; for the beauties it serves as an opportunity to be taken seriously and seen as more than just a pretty face. I was traumatized this season when Rubik's Cube Champion Tyson and Thais were forced to leave the house so early on; Tyson really wanted to be there and to change his personality and his life and was only starting to loosen up and relax. (Then there are others, like last season's winner Richard, who outstayed their welcomes very early on.)

Over the course of the past few weeks, the teams have been whittled down to two: Joe and Brittany (above), who seems oblivious to the fact that poor, doomed Joe is nursing a serious crush on her; and the truly Woody Allen-esque Josh--who carries around a purse like a security blanket--and Cher, whose motives for being in the game were questioned early on. But after falling for Wes (who cleaned up quite nicely), even Cher blossomed into a better person.

Tomorrow night will pit the final two Beauty and the Geek teams in the elimination room to see who gets crowned the ultimate beauty and the geek and who gets to walk out of the mansion $250,000 richer.

And though it seems more than a little cheesy to say, I think both teams are already far richer for their experiences.

What’s On Tonight

8 pm: Still Standing/Still Standing (CBS); The Biggest Loser (NBC); One Tree Hill (WB); George Lopez/Freddie (ABC); American Idol (FOX); America's Next Top Model (UPN; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); Beauty & the Geek (WB); Lost (ABC); Bones (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); Invasion (ABC)

What I’ll Be Watching

None of the above, but for two good reasons.

With Lost a repeat and Veronica Mars a no-show once again (Veronica fortunately returns next week with all new episodes and a better lead-in with America's Next Top Model), I'll be (gasp!) skipping television tonight.

I'll be in Aspen, Colorado, for the start of the HBO US Comedy Arts festival. Which means more than likely I'll probably be away from the television but instead will be taking in quite a lot of live comedy acts, panels, and feature film premieres over the next few days.