Med student wins reality show

A student in the Penn School of Medicine concentrating in neuroscience, Chuck Munyon seems to be an unlikely candidate for a reality show produced by Ashton Kutcher. But last Wednesday, Munyon was announced the winner of WB-17's summer hit Beauty and the Geek.

The show featured seven smart but socially awkward men and seven beautiful, less intelligent women competing in teams of two for a grand prize. Challenges for each team centered around the perceived strengths of the opposite sex.

For winning the competition, Munyon and his partner Caitlin Stoller walked away with a prize of $250,000.

Despite his eventual victory, Munyon had reservations at first about signing up to do the show.

He said that the show was being billed as "Jeopardy with a reality twist," and part of its appeal was the massive winnings of recent Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings.

After weighing the pros and cons, Munyon decided to continue with the show.

"I figured it was a summer reality show on the WB and no one would watch," Munyon said.

Once taping began, Munyon quickly got to know his fellow cast members.

The women "were all a great bit brighter than the credit that producers gave them."

Often in the editing of reality shows, producers try to portray cast members in specific molds, Munyon said.

"Everyone on the show was portrayed in a two-dimensional manner. It was understandable given the time constraints, but unfortunate given that all the people were wonderful," he added.

Munyon also commented on his somewhat-contentious relationship with a fellow contestant, Richard Rubin.

The two clashed repeatedly throughout the show, especially before elimination rounds.

"The thing I regret most ... was that my sense of humor had to go, because my sense of humor is such an essential part of my life; it's how I cope with things," Munyon said.

While it was difficult for Munyon to boil down the experience to its most memorable moments, he did say that some of his best memories were formed off-camera.

"We had a lot of really good conversations in the house," he said.

Munyon's friend and fellow medical student Defne Amado commented on his appearance on the show.

"He's an outgoing guy. I was surprised that he got as far as he did given the population probability," Amado said.

Talking about his experience on Beauty and the Geek, which was taped over three and a half weeks in California, Munyon said, "The biggest fallacy of modern reality television is the idea that people learn instant lessons from the experiences that they have. Unless they are of long duration, this isn't the case."

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