Take a peek at 'Beauty and the Geek'

The battle between book smarts and social skills goes head-to-head every Thursday night at 9 p.m. If you're busy then, just check back the following Wednesday evening for a replay.\nThe WB's "Beauty and the Geek 2" is a competitive elimination show that pairs eight beautiful, yet dim-witted, women with eight highly intelligent, yet socially inept, men. This entertaining premise attempts to force the contestants to learn from one another. For example, the men (the Geeks) teach the women (the Beauties) about political issues. The Beauties, in turn, teach the Geeks how to let go of their fears and sing karaoke. \nThe last time I really enjoyed a WB program was my freshman year of high school when "Dawson's Creek" was in its prime. Also, I have never seen a reality TV show I liked. Thus, I thoroughly surprised myself when I sat down to watch "BATG2," expecting to criticize every second of it, and instead became positively fascinated with it.\nThe cast members are competing for $250,000, but their competitive spirit is remarkably absent. In the first episode, it is obvious that all of the Beauties and Geeks share a strong dislike for Chris, an egotistical Geek who makes it clear he just wants to win the competition by being part of the final pair left standing at the end of the season. \nStill, the contestants agree that they just want to improve themselves through the show's challenges and have made an unsuccessful effort to eliminate the hyper-competitive Chris from the show.\nBoth the Geeks and the Beauties have something to gain other than money: The women learn the value of using their minds and having intelligence, whereas the men learn the value of confidence and social skills. This is a vast improvement from the bickering college students on MTV's "The Real World,," who appear to have no tangible goal other than to create as much immature drama as possible.\nNevertheless, this isn't a flawless show by any means. The Geeks and the Beauties alike are highly stereotypical. As entertaining and refreshing as it is, "BATG2" could improve. The women are conventionally unintelligent in all the usual categories of politics and science and the men have limited knowledge of pop culture. The women are beautiful and fit, yet the men are unattractive and unkempt.\nNothing about this is original. Instead of geeky guys and beautiful, dim-witted women, I'd like to see a show about smart women paired with dumb guys. That is something I wouldn't expect. Although, I'm not so sure that highly intelligent people without social skills should have to learn them from someone who doesn't know who John Kerry is. (One Beauty, in the second episode, failed to name the Democratic challenger to President Bush in the 2004 election.)\n"BATG2" is an entertaining show, though. It is satisfying to see people enjoy learning new, valuable skills. Thankfully, the show hasn't yet attempted to change anyone's appearance or other superficial qualities. The assets they attempt to improve all reside in the their minds: intelligence and confidence. So if you must watch a reality TV show, choose wisely. Actively watch the programs and find something worth your own intellect.