Average Joe debuts, geeks strike back

For the past few years, a reality program's ability to let the audience mock its contestants has been the integral part when determining whether or not it will succeed in the ratings.

On Fear Factor, devotees are captivated by the appeal of watching attention-hungry people do humiliating stunts for money, and Simon Cowell's cruel insults are a big draw to viewers of American Idol. Last winter's surprise hit, Joe Millionaire, was perhaps the biggest culprit of all, gleefully fooling its contestants into thinking their beau was a tycoon only to tell them at the end that he was a poor, average guy.

NBC has finally turned the tables on such poor, abused participants with its newest reality series, titled Average Joe. This time around, the contestants are lovable characters that the audience identifies with, while the clueless "bachelorette" becomes the point of ridicule. The appeal of the show, rather than focusing on making fun of the competing bachelors, banks on the fact that everyone knows someone similar to one of these men -- or that everyone also finds someone on the program who reminds them a little bit of themselves.

Average Joe stars Melana Scantlin, former beauty queen and cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs. She is the embodiment of all that is "hot" in today's society. With long, brownish-blonde hair and a fantastic figure, Melana is gorgeous and clearly knows it.

In the first episode, Scantlin is told that she's been selected for a show like The Bachelorette, where she'll have her choice of sixteen "Prince[s] Charming." The ex-beauty queen is clearly armed and ready to strut her stuff in front of some handsome hunks, but much to her dismay (and to the audience's pleasure), these sixteen chosen ones are not even close to being someone's dream date.

Nerds, geeks, dweebs, tools, and weirdos. Call them what you will, but the competing bachelors are the social rejects of the world. Still, these Average Joes are unabashedly forward about their social defects. One guy says plainly, "I have had sex with very, very, very, very ,very, very few women in my life."

There's Craig and Joe, two disgustingly overweight guys who have the heart of teddy bears. There's Dennis and John, guys who, if they had been around in the early 80s, could have made flawless cameos in Revenge of the Nerds.

And true to embarrassing reality television form, some of the contestants were already butting heads over Melana in the first episode. Marc, a 5'4" and balding hothead, was egged -- literally -- by oafish jerk Zach, who seems to be your prototypical New York Yankee fan. Not to be bullied around, Marc schemed to get revenge in a later episode, proving that one does not need to be a six-packed underwear model to fight over a girl.

Other interesting characters include Tareq, the 21-year-old university professor and all-around genius, who is juxtaposed with Adam, an extremely likeable guy who just seems to always say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Tareq, in his "one-on-one" time with Melana, stunned her by saying, "It is the simplicity of your complexity that's the catalyst of my infatuation," and asked her, "Do you like broccoli?" The utter randomness of his comments added to Average Joe's surreal atmosphere.

Once again, reality television has followed the principles of schadenfreude to establish its ratings' success. A German word which means "taking pleasure in other people's misfortunes," NBC is banking on the idea of schadenfreude as it places its prom queen star in more and more uncomfortable circumstances in order to appeal to viewers' senses of humor and help Average Joe succeed in the ratings.

And if the first episode is any example, there are plenty of uncomfortable situations in store. Melana's facial expressions as the motley crew came off of a bus were priceless comedic material. As the realization came to her that she was the target of a joke, she seemed to lighten up a bit. Melana the cheerleader would probably have never even spoken to any of these guys in a normal social situation.

Therein lies one of the greater draws of Average Joe. While people love to watch the pained expressions of Melana, they also want to see the nerd get his girl. All of these guys, except Zach the bully, deserve the best. The implicit questions, however, are "Can Melana be the best? Is 'best' defined by her gorgeous looks?" Regardless, the "average Joes" of the world are out and on the prowl, and Melana is all the better (or worse) for it.

Everyone loves the underdog, and Average Joe is the show where the underdog wins and a "nice guy" cannot finish last. Only on reality television, where nothing is what it seems, could the nerd take home the prom queen.