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The Pickup Artist (TV series)

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"J-Dog" redirects here. For the singer, see J-Dog (singer).
This article is about the TV series. For the feature film, see The Pick-up Artist (film).
This article is about the TV series. For the title character, see Erik von Markovik.

The Pickup Artist
GenreReality
Game show
Created by3Ball Productions
StarringMystery (Erik von Markovik)
James Matador (Stan Tayi)
J-Dog (Justin Marks)
Tara Ferguson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producersJ. D. Roth
Todd A. Nelson
Adam Greener
Doug Wilson
Clair McCabe
Michael Hirschorn
Jeff Olde
Suzanne Murch
ProducerAngela Malloy
EditorsTaatshing Hui
Tim Preston
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time43 mins.
Production company3Ball Productions
Original release
NetworkVH1
ReleaseAugust 6, 2007 –
November 30, 2008

The Pickup Artist is an American reality television dating themed game show that aired on VH1.[2] The show was hosted by pickup artist Mystery (Erik von Markovik) and his wings J-Dog (Justin Marks) and James Matador, with Tara Ferguson replacing J-Dog in season 2. The first season featured eight male contestants that had previously been unsuccessful in love and relationships. Throughout the show the contestants are tutored in the art of the "pickup" as taught by Mystery and his wings. In each episode the men were given challenges that involved picking women up in different situations, such as on a bridge during the day or in a nightclub. As the show progressed the men were instructed to pick up women of varying levels of difficulty, such as in the second to last challenge of the first season where the men had to pick up a stripper, described by Mystery as "the ultimate challenge."[3] The winner of the first season was Alvaro "Kosmo" Orlando.

The second season featured nine contestants and aired in October 2008,[4] with the second season's winner being 27-year-old Simeon Moses.

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

Season One

Contestants

Season 1 Cast
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 (Steven Poon) 27 Does not know how to approach women 1st

Episode Progress

Call-out Order
# Episode
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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
  The contestant won immunity.
  The contestant was chosen as a wingman and had immunity.
  The contestant was eliminated.
  The contestant quit the competition.
  The contestant won the title of the Pickup Artist.
  • Note 1: Episode 1 had no elimination.
  • Note 2: Alvaro changed his name to Kosmo in Episode 2.
  • Note 3: Contrary to statements made earlier in the episode, no wing men were allowed to be selected in Episode 5.
  • Note 4: Episode 8 was a recap episode.

Season Two

Contestants

Season 2 Cast
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 hasn't even had a girlfriend Episode 6
Brian Ly 21 The guy who kissed a girl Kissed a girl Episode 5
Todd Pabst 26 The Girl's Best Friend Has 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

Episode Progress

Call-out Order
# 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
  The contestant won immunity.
  The contestant was chosen as a wingman and had immunity.
  The contestant was eliminated.
  The contestant won the title of the Pickup Artist.

Reception

The initial viewer ratings were disappointing, debuting with only 673,000 viewers.[5][6] Viewer ratings picked up by the season's end, resulting in the series being picked up for a second season.

Critical reception for the series was mixed, with The A.V. Club panning the second season's opening episode.[7]

Controversy

Controversy began to cloud The Pickup Artist after revelations that some of the contestants' livelihoods were not as they were listed on the VH1 show profiles.[8] Alvaro "Kosmo" Orlando had been referred to as a game programmer, but he actually had been an aspiring actor for the previous four years - working out of Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.[9] Runner-up contestant Brady Sprunger was characterized as a shy photographer, but he had been working for a modeling agency, the Los Angeles-based Action Agency, for five full years prior to the show's taping.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ Parker, Robin (October 5, 2007). "RDF Rights takes on VH1's Pick Up". Broadcast: 12. Retrieved March 6, 2010.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "VH1 Is Negging Us All". avclub.com. The A.V. Club.
  3. ^ 'The Pickup Artist' Finale Airs Tonight BuddyTV
  4. ^ The Pickup Artist 2: Mystery is Back Crushable
  5. ^ Levin, Gary (August 14, 2007)."Nielsens: Big bucks, big start for '10'". USA Today. Retrieved on September 13, 2007.
  6. ^ 'The Pickup Artist' Ripples in Reality BuddyTV
  7. ^ The Pickup Artist 2: If You Don't Go For Tired Openers The A.V. Club
  8. ^ A Look Back at the First Season of 'The Pickup Artist,' Plus Kosmo Speaks Out BuddyTV
  9. ^ "The Pick Up Artist: King Kosmo Konfesses! VH1 Blog"
Sources
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