WB network plots beauty, geek reality series

LOS ANGELES -- Take seven brainy nerds and seven dim beauties, add Ashton Kutcher as a matchmaker and what do you get?

A television reality series, of course. Kutcher, the brains behind MTV's "Punk'd," is producing the new series for the WB network this summer.

The goal of "Beauty and the Geek" is to couple seemingly mismatched pairs and see which can work best together, said David Janollari, the network's entertainment president, on Saturday.

"It's really looking at stereotypes of people and how we look at beautiful women and not-so-beautiful men," he said.

They will go through a series of competitions: combining wits on a camping trip, learning how to dance and working at a deli (the guys help the girls figure out how to make change).

"Beauty and the Geek" joins NBC's "Tommy Lee Goes to College" as the two most colorful reality series planned by the networks this summer. The NBC series follows the rock star as he enrolls in college in Nebraska.

The WB is trying to recover from a down year in both ratings and buzz among its youthful target audience. Its hottest series now is the young drama "One Tree Hill."

Within the next two months, the network will bring back the drama "Summerland" and introduce a reality series, "Starlet," where aspiring actresses are put through a boot camp run by actress Faye Dunaway.