The Pickup Artist Review From the Los Angeles Times

As most of you know we review the latest episode of Vh1’s The Pickup Artist every Sunday after the episode airs. Here at TSB Magazine we approach the review as “community insiders.” This means that we are familiar with the material and we understand the most of our audience is as well.

I came across this review of tonight’s Pickup Artist episode from The Los Angeles Times. I thought that it is interesting to hear a review of the show from a perspective not familiar with the community.

Here are some of the highlights of the review:

There is much to loathe about “The Pick-Up Artist” (VH1, Sundays at 10 p.m.), from its astonishingly callous disregard for women to its sometimes laughable protagonists.

From week to week on this show, you can watch these men being nourished, with transformations no less revelatory than those on “The Biggest Loser.” Their tour guide into the world of human interaction is Mystery, a well-known leader in the “seduction community” (their term, not mine), who plies the noble trade of instructing the hapless on how to be less so, particularly in regard to women. He speaks deliberately, is irritatingly sure of himself and dresses ridiculously (last week, he paired what appeared to be shiny vinyl pants with a furry top hat; tonight he sports goggles similar to those Snoopy wears when fighting the Red Baron). It should come as little shock that in his previous life, Mystery was a magician.

Mystery is accompanied by two wings, or assistants: the stoic and flamboyant Matador, who is the show’s secret star, and Tara, a young woman of great empathy and curvature. (Last season’s second male wing, the creepy J-Dog, is nowhere to be found.) Tara, who helped with some challenges in the first season, lends an imprimatur of female approval to the show, a necessary corrective that would be welcome if it weren’t so ridiculous.

Some of this show’s most amusing moments come from watching Mystery’s reactions to watching his charges in the field via hidden camera. Sometimes he’s stern. Sometimes he’s incredulous. Sometimes he realizes a particular student is taking to the teachings perhaps a bit too easily.

“Wow, look at that,” he says, watching Brian approach a table full of models in tonight’s episode. “He has no fear,” echoes Matador.

They both snicker a bit: They’ve created a monster.

Do you guys agree with the sentiments of this writer?