The Pickup Artist (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Pickup 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 seduction 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 night clubs. 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."
previously listed Kosmo as a video game programmer. Kosmo recently stated 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
, although this claim has somewhat been refuted or shown somewhat falsified by his promo-reel and video biography. [citation needed]
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.
salesman. According to his MySpace
profile, he is also now an actor
, comedian
, and professional karaoke singer.
Joe D. appeared on an episode of E.R. as a gas station clerk. He had studied theatre in college.
among viewers aged 18–49, which turned out to be an impressive enough result that Season 2 was ordered.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality show on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
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"
Seduction community
The seduction community is a subculture of men, primarily communicating on the Internet, who strive for better sexual success/access with women. Members of the community often call themselves pickup artists . It exists mostly through Internet newsletters, marketing The seduction community is a...
as taught by seduction artist Mystery (Erik von Markovik) and his wings
Wingman (social)
Wingman is a role that a person may take when a friend needs support with approaching potential partners. A wingman is someone who is on the "inside" and is used to help someone with relationships...
. 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
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and night clubs. 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."
Seasons
| Season | Premiere Date | Finale Date | Winner | Runner-up | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 6, 2007 | September 24, 2007 | Alvaro "Kosmo" Orlando | Brady Sprunger | Austin, Texas Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in... |
| 2 | October 12, 2008 | November 30, 2008 | Simeon Moses | Matt Radmanovich | Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data... |
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 (Steven Poon) | 27 | Does not know how to approach women | 1st |
Episode Progress
| # | |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 immunityImmunity (reality television)Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
. - The contestant was chosen as a wingmanWingman (social)Wingman is a role that a person may take when a friend needs support with approaching potential partners. A wingman is someone who is on the "inside" and is used to help someone with relationships...
and had immunityImmunity (reality television)Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
. - 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.
Controversy
Soon after the show appeared, contestant Kosmo (Alvaro Orlando) focused his career in acting. VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
previously listed Kosmo as a video game programmer. Kosmo recently stated that VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
had incorrectly listed him as a video game programmer, and that he is an aspiring actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, working as a VJ and cameraman for the past four years in Miami, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, although this claim has somewhat been refuted or shown somewhat falsified by his promo-reel and video biography. [citation needed]
Runner-up
Runner-up
Runner-up is a term used to denote a participant which finishes in second place in any of a variety of competitive endeavors, most notably sporting events and beauty pageants; in the latter instance, the term is applied to more than one of the highest-ranked non-winning contestants, the...
contestant Brady Sprunger, despite being described as a shy
Shyness
In humans, shyness is a social psychology term used to describe the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness experienced when a person is in proximity to, approaching, or being approached by other people, especially in new situations or with unfamiliar people...
photographer, also worked as a model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, five years before being on the show, for a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
based modeling agency
Modeling agency
A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and or the head agency....
called Action Agency.
After the Show
Fred was a mattressMattress
A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....
salesman. According to his MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile, he is also now an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, and professional karaoke singer.
Joe D. appeared on an episode of E.R. as a gas station clerk. He had studied theatre in college.
Reception
The show debuted with 673,000 viewers, which was initially disappointing but on September 7, 2007, the series averaged 1.8 million total viewers and a 1.3 ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
among viewers aged 18–49, which turned out to be an impressive enough result that Season 2 was ordered.
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 |
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 | |||||||
- The contestant won immunityImmunity (reality television)Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
. - The contestant was chosen as a wingmanWingman (social)Wingman is a role that a person may take when a friend needs support with approaching potential partners. A wingman is someone who is on the "inside" and is used to help someone with relationships...
and had immunityImmunity (reality television)Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
. - The contestant was eliminated.
- The contestant won the title of the Pickup Artist.