Scarfs for Giraffes

It's finally happened! The day has arrived. I held out resistance for many years, secretly knowing it was a lost cause, but - in the words of Martika - no longer can I can deny. Yes, I, Alphiano, have become addicted to a reality TV telly show!

And it's not Celebrity Big Brother.

'Beauty And the Geek' sounds just like the sort of dreadful American trash they seem to vomit out at a stomach-churning rate. On paper, this is no different. In fact, the no-brainer concept makes it seem worse just for being so bloody obvious: 8 geeky losers team up with 8 vapid beauties to win a competition and "learn new things about themselves" along the way.

Sounds god-awful, doesn't it? You can't even justify it on it's self-imposed 'mission statement' of being a social experiment. The geeks are not relatively normal guys that have little or no social skills, and the girls are not attractive women who happen to not be that well-read.

No, the producers have gone out of their way to find the most cliched, hideous and laughable freaks on god's green earth. You can tell the geeks are geeks because they ALL wear glasses, dress funny, and one of them likes Star Trek. You can tell the beauties are bimbos because they all dress in skimpy outfits, have massive breasts, and are more concerned about their tans than current affairs.

And herein lies the innate brilliance of the show, though I don't think it knows it. With ridiculously over-the-top, cartoonish characters and stupid situations it's more of a sitcom than a reality telly show. And, damn, it's good telly!

If you'd like to see a weedy nerd with a fear of public speaking try to perform a stand-up routine (which he attempts by constantly swearing at the audience), or if the idea of a blonde airhead breaking into tears because she can't work out the library's dewey-decimal system appeals to you....

You'll be in telly heaven!