As most people in the PUA community are aware, the second series of The Pick Up Artist is about to air on VH1. It will be interesting to see how the show is received after the controversy that surrounded the first series.

It was argued that some of the girls that were approached were actually actors, whilst some of the contestants were not quite the AFCs they made out to be…

Alevero, or ‘Kosmo’ the suspiciously good looking, well built winner of the first series gave a confusing account of his employment history. At first it was claimed that he was a video game programmer, which was then changed to camera man, and later on it was discovered that he was an aspiring actor. Strange.

Then there’s Brady, the painfully shy photographer, who thought that he would never get a girlfriend, who also did the occasional bit of modelling, the job choice of AFCs the world over!

VH1 described Fred as a mattress salesman, however on his myspace profile page he described himself as an actor, comedian and singer. Hmmm, another actor. I think I’m starting to see a pattern here.

There are also rumours of some of the pick ups actually being staged, with actors playing the targets, all despite the shows protestations that ‘no actors were involved’ which they mention before every live pick up.

When the two final contestants are made up of a part time model and an amateur boxer, who is also a good looking aspiring actor, one can’t help but be suspicious of whether these guys have gone through a dramatic transformation.

It’s a shame that Mystery and VH1 have compromised their credibility this way, especially when pick up can achieve these results without using actors or staged scenarios. Has anyone seen the before and after photos of Neil Strauss?! Now that’s what I call a transformation. And an inspirational one at that. He achieved that through working on his body language, voice tonality, dress sense and ultimately, his game. Dressing up actors and models in stupid clothes and getting them to claim that they are awful with women before ‘transforming’ them for our viewing pleasure may be entertaining to watch, but it’s also a disservice to pick up and the game.

I completely agree with what you have to say here. Mystery, Matador, and J-Dog as instructors should have been able to teach these guys without them being actors or models. I did find that disturbing because it does rig things quit a bit.

From a business stand point. You are Mystery, and VH1 is looking at you to produce a show based on this and make it look good. Most shows don't make it very long. You know you are a good instructor but it's up to the students to approach and other things. You design the show as a contest to try and get better results from your students, and it looks good for TV.

Next, you need contestants on this show/contest. You need people that can deliver canned material and look natural doing it. However, you need them to be the type that keep to themselves. Mystery has an "ah ha" David D. type of moment and gets a few actors out of the people that apply for the first show. He knows by trade they should be able to pull this off and give him some good TV. Just for good measure we'll include a handsome model, because he'll get pretty far just because of his looks.

Granted now Joe Doyle is now doing his own site were he teaches pickup and even has from free clips on it. I love how they show him in the basement playing star wars all by himself. Yet now, he is teaching pickup. As you said they left out his acting experience and made him look like we pulled him right out of the basement as much as possible.

Kosmo has obviously become one of Mystery's instructors.

I noticed that casting for Season 1 was done pretty discreetly. Season 2 however has a big website where you can go and vote for people who are going to be on the show. Obviously by now that has been concluded.

I can understand the "Why" from a business standpoint of making money and getting the show going. However, I completely agree with you that he has compromised their credibility.

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Been around the world twice, Talked to everyone once...

My roommate is a tv producer. He has done work for "The Apprentice" and he says that they never go for the most competant candidates or the best business people - they go for the people who make good tv. For the application process for The Apprentice, they put you in front of a camera and ask you trick questions and observe how you react in front of a lens. They don't give a damn if you went to Harvard Business School if you sweat profusively under bright lighting or blink too often.

I suspect it is the same when applying for all reality tv shows except Ricky Lake.

These guys were all chosen because they can hold it together in front of a camera, not because they were the biggest AFCs.

It's also worth pointing out that many top PUAs had performance related jobs or just plain cool jobs to begin with (Mystery - magician, Juggler - street performer, Ross Jeffries - comedy writer, Neil Strauss - celebrity ghost writer and Rolling Stone columnist).

I still think the show sucks though, bring back Blind Date!

They need too bring back jdog!

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Can anyone please name the actual date that the 2nd season starts on
VH1, as I don't reside in the US and would download it.

This was posted on another thread in this section. Start date is October 12th on VH1.

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never seen the show, not an aspiring actor, but even if i was I'd jump at the opportunity to be on a show organized by PUGs - gurus? is that even right, i think I'd rather be a PULord.. sounds cooler imo.) Anyway, fuck.. even if you ARE a model you are still hopefully going to benefit greatly from such direct feedback on your game. Though sure, i understand it isnt as dramatic / impressive.. many of the complaints make sense..

but damn, who wouldnt jump on an opportunity to be on the show, right? ... right? no need to answer, as I only want to hear a positive response to my question, why else are we even here?

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I do what I can, but I know I can do better.

You guys love conspiracy!

Who wants to go on TV, except for aspiring actors. No-one.

When you see all these 'before they were famous' shows they were all contestants on some show or other. 'Normal' people on the whole don't really have much desire to see their life on display for the public, it's just not something they aspire to.

Also, Brady can't get much work modelling because he's really not that good looking! It must be just because he already works in the industry (photographer). He wouldn't get any real modelling assignments. I'm fitter than he is and I wouldn't get model work.

And, like someone here said - They tend to do screen tests for this shizz. If you can't keep it togethter in front of a camera, you wont make the final cut.

I just have to add that being a model is just about looking good in a specific setting... I know a girl who did photo shoots for Elle magazine, and she doesn't look very spectacular in her everyday clothes. In fact, I don't think you would notice her walking down the street... she's just some skinny girl with good bone structure, who looks good in photos

They do this because they know that it takes longer for a true AFC to transform into someone who is social savvy and able to pick up attractive girls. For some it takes months. They want to show you what they can do, but they don't have the time. When they tape the show it is over a short period of time. Plus they need to generate good television in order to keep their show airing.

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Not a PUA just a girl offering my opinions/advice

how do they get the people in the clubs theyre sarging to conceed to being on national television?

i thought that if you were on camera and people were going to use it for there monitary benefit you would have to sign a waivor or something.

know what i mean?


-Lib

If anyone saw the first episode of season two last night it seems like some of those guys, not all of them, were kind of suspisiously good looking and almost seemed like the acting AFC part was an act. Does anyone else think that?

Hey guys, its Kevin from Second season, I reassure you all the guys this season are REAL AFC's, like I still have mad issues even after the show.

-Kevin

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Thanks for the update, and welcome to the forum man.

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Been around the world twice, Talked to everyone once...

Kevin,

Aren't you the dude from AA? If so, I'll be able to prove it's you.