So hopefully everyone caught the premier of VH1′s new series, "The Pickup Artist," starring our beloved Mystery, along with his wingmen Matador and J-Dog.

Before the show came on, I was really excited.  I was hoping this was going to be Mystery’s big break.  After all, the potential for this type of show is massive, and something like it has been talked about and fantasized within the community for years.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this will be the show everyone hoped it would be.

Read on…

The Good:
So we’ll of course start with what I thought was good about the show.  First of all, I think the guys they picked to be on the show were good casting decisions.  They really run the gamut of every type of "community" guy I’ve ever met.  But all of them seem to be good natured guys in genuine need of a real life change.  After meeting them all in the show, I found myself looking forward to seeing their transformation from AFC to PUA.

Secondly, they picked a good location.  Austin is a great city for pick up!  Though it’s not quite as glamorous as New York or LA, I’m sure it was much more budget friendly for this show.  However, there are tons of beautiful girls in Austin, and a great bar/club scene there.

The show also takes a sympathetic look at what we teach in the seduction community, which is nice for a change.  So many mainstream media outlets like to look at this pick-up stuff as a way of manipulating women instead of what it really is:  Male Self-Help.  I liked that Mystery himself pointed out this is about improving the guys’ lifestyle and making them better people.  That’s not a "dumbing down" for mainstream TV, that’s actually the real deal.

The hidden camera stuff was good too.  Sometimes you couldn’t quite see the girls they were talking to, but you got a real feel for how it is to go into a club and start approaching women.  For those of you who have yet to go in the field and talk to girls – that’s what it’s really like!  They’re not overtly mean to you, they just kind of turn their back and ignore you if you’re not doing well.  So I thought that segment of the show captured everything perfectly.

Also, the part where Mystery and the others were watching the guys crash and burn was great!  It was really funny to hear the terrible mistakes the guys made, and the reactions on Mystery’s face… priceless!

Finally, I thought Mystery came off well.  Although, he didn’t come off as very relatable.  He was actually quite stand-offish, way moreso than he usually is in a regular workshop where he’ll pal around and kid with people.  I get what the directors of the show were going for, but I would have liked to have seen him have more personal interactions with the guys.

Also, I thought Matador and J-Dog came off well.  I’ll be interested in seeing how their roles expand in upcoming episodes.

The Bad:
Okay, now I’ll get into what I DIDN’T like about the show.  First of all, it was way too cookie-cutter reality TV.  I felt like I was watching an episode of Beauty and the Geek without the Beauties.  I really, really, REALLY don’t like the whole elimination deal, and I’ll tell you why…

First of all – after getting to meet all the guys on this show, and seeing how in need of help they are, it’s just going to be MEAN kicking them off without helping them achieve real success first.  The whole competition thing about becoming a "Master Pickup Artist" is just lame.

This show is trying to be "Beauty and the Geek" when it needs to be more like "Cool Eye for the Awkward Guy."  We need to see these guys be nurtured and transform into people who are able to achieve their goals.  I want to see the 45 year old virgin get laid and get married.  I want to see the fat guy get a chick and feel good about himself.  I even want to see the annoying Indian guy mellow out and have a good time.

But chances are, none of that will happen, because guys are going to get kicked off in a very unceremonious way.

Also – the house they’re living in.  It’s nice, but… BUNK BEDS?  How are you supposed to take a girl home and bring her up to your BUNK BED?  Give the guys their own rooms, for the love of Pete!  Part of what made Project Hollywood so awesome was the fact that it was a place you could bring girls over to, and the environment would help you "close the deal."

The Austin PUA House is cool and all, but I’m guess no girls are pulled back there at all.

Another thing I disliked was the female announcer’s voice.  I would have much rather heard Mystery himself narrating the piece.  As it was, we didn’t even get to SEE Mystery until about a half-hour into the show.  Mystery has such a great personality, and he didn’t even get to share it with the audience yet.

And when Mystery did do some narration, they had him in a weird candlelit room that looks like something out of "Uncle Dracula’s Saturday Afternoon Movie."  C’mon!  This is MYSTERY!  One of the world’s greatest Pick-Up Artists!  Have him Narrate as he lounges in a bed with two hot chicks for Christsakes!

One of the things I was also surprised at was the lack of tactics in the first episode.  I’d think the show would want to hit the ground running.  Mystery’s intro to his usual seminars is so captivating, I would have liked to have seen him go through his history and talking about his own story.  I’m sure we’ll get more tactics as the show goes on, but still, a little more instruction would have been good.

Finally – J-Dog’s hair.  Dude, I love ya, but what’s up with the black stripes?  =)

The Ugly:
Well, the fact that the show is on Monday Nights isn’t the best.  That, and the fact that it’s on during the summer are working against it.  The show seems to oscillate between brilliant TV and contrived reality smut.  Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s the first episode and the show has yet to find it’s stride.  I’m still hopefull that the show will become great as we get more into it.

However, I still have the nagging feeling that we’re going to see a lot of guys leave this show without really seeing any improvement, and in my opinion, that will reflect poorly on Mystery as a teacher.  Int he previews, it looked like he was being down right mean to some of the guys he was kicking off, which I’m sure doesn’t help their self esteem any.

If the show does get picked up for another season, I’d like to see it take a more positive turn.  I mean, it’s great to go vacation in a mansion, learn to pick up chicks, and possibly win $50K, but shouldn’t the ultimate reward be feeling great about yourself and overcoming an irrational fear of women?  It seems to me like that journey would be just as dramatic as seeing who gets kicked off next week – which is done on EVERY reality show out there.

So there you go, my final thoughts on the Pickup Artist:

Enjoyable and fun, interesting, but could be even better than it is.

So what did you guys think?  Let me know!