If you're not watching this show. . .

satisfaction guaranteed.

If you're one of the millions of people who read this blog daily, you know I am an individual who is deeply vested in popular culture.

And that I had a four year crush on Val Kilmer.

You also know I have a love-hate relationship with VH1 that started with Flavor of Love 1-2 and ended with the I Love New York 2 Casting Special.

But I have to hand it to EP John Q. Lastname--you've made me a believer with new show The Pickup Artist.

If you're not familiar, The Pickup Artist follows eight single men ages 22-45, who share a common challenge: women. For whatever reason--low self-esteem, shyness, , or crippling fear--the contestants cannot approach anyone with double Xs whose teat they didn't suckle during infancy. The men are then introduced to Mystery, a self-professed master of "the pick up" who, along with two former students, turns them from timid and self-alienating to skilled marksmen.

My Womanist Friends Now:

You like a show that teaches men to treat women like sexual targets? Humph! Come on ladies. Let's go earn .70 cents on the dollar.

I do love this show. Because along with helping men navigate women, it shows women how to engage men. That's right. It arms you with game-zapping power.

Think about it. How can Dude #4 with the gaters on who looks flawless possibly succeed when you see through his opener, gambit and DHV technique? He can't. Unless, of course you want him to. Which I wouldn't recommend because one-thing-will-lead-to-another-and-before-you know-it-you're-somewhere-holding-hands-which-means-he-has-the-power-to-hurt-you. By squeezing really, really hard.

But aside from that, I'm digging on Tevin Campbell and this show for the same reasons Robert McKee loves Chinatown.

1)Empathetic Characters
There's a delicious mix of men on the show. Some look like the guy next door. Some are so shy it's painful. There's even a 45 year old virgin. In any case, the characters are a great cross-section of the male species and when you realize approaching women is a metaphor approaching life, bingo Johnson you've got a universal themes.

2)Ante-upping Scenarios
After weekly lessons, the guys are injected into that hotbed of human hedonism--the Club. If they don't put their skills to the test and improve each time, they are eliminated, and more at stake means deeper audience involvement.

3)Palpable Story Arcs
Interviews and confessionals get you inside each contestant's psyche, as they explore their lack of intimacy and at the same time challenge their socially stagnant ways.

And such transformation! Just episode four and the guy who only nursed a beer ep. one is making out with a stranger on the couch. Three cheers for hidden cameras.

Okay there's another reason. If there were a show like this for girls, I'd probably be on it. Because I don't know how to talk to boys. Notoriously awkward, in fact. Why, just last year TRUNCATED TRUNCATED TRUNCATED

Do yourself a favor, person who wants informative entertainment. Start watching The Pickup Artist .

Edit: In a semi-related story, I found this and thought it was funny. Especially the bit with the salad. Viva la difference!

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