Dude, Have You Seen Puck Recently?

Bryan Christian — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:27:00 GMT

TMZ has a Puck squad, apparently, a crack team of journalists who spend their days trailing the ex-Real Worlder as he, um, goes to clubs and brags about impregnating lesbians and pays his traffic tickets. Bravo, TMZ -- we were hurting for an example of how not to age!

Video Weekend: Top 7 Reality-Show Contestants Who Weren't There To Make Friends

Ben Kallen — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:28:00 GMT

Last week, we showed you the hilarious video above -- a montage of dozens of reality-show contestants all delivering the same message, that they're not there to "make friends."

But which ones really meant it? Here's our video guide to the Top 7 most antisocial, exploitive and downright devious reality-show contestants ever.

7. Wendy Pepper. On the first season of Project Runway, 40-year-old Pepper was called "backstabbing," "cunning" and "a cockroach" by the younger contestants. No, they didn't like her very much, especially after a few profane tirades and some biting public critiques of their work. When the Washington Post later asked her to explain her behavior, of course, there was only one thing for her to say: "I wasn't up there to be friends."

Below, Pepper explains her strategy of exploiting fellow contestants' weaknesses:

6. Lisa Fernandes. One of the final three contenders on the most recent season of Top Chef, Fernandes actually seemed like a good cook, at least when it came to Asian cuisine. But her dyspeptic personality, pugnacious attitude and endless capacity for casting blame made her pretty much despised by her fellow contestants. Heck, she didn't even seem to want the judges to like her.

In this clip, Lisa tattles on fellow chef Andrew for a minor rule-breaking incident, seemingly driving him insane in the process:

5. Jonny Fairplay. The Survivor contestant with a nickname that proved the exact opposite of his personality, Jon Dalton constantly lied and switched alliances to improve his odds in the game. Even genial Jeff Probst came to hate the guy, later calling him an "absolute jackass." In perhaps the most devious move ever attempted on reality TV, Fairplay tried to gain sympathy by having a friend falsely inform him that his grandmother had died. Take a look:

4. Puck. MTV casting agents went looking for a punk type for The Real World: San Francisco. What they ended up with was David "Puck" Rainey, an obnoxious, hygiene-challenged bicycle messenger who wore a swastika T-shirt, needed constant attention and antagonized his housemates, particularly AIDS educator Pedro Zamora. He became the first cast member ever to be evicted from the show.

That didn't mean MTV was done with him, though. Below, Puck's infamous spit fight with fellow contestant David on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge:

3. "Evel Dick" Donato: Brought on to reconnect with his estranged daughter during a gimmicky season of Big Brother, Evel Dick was, well, an evil dick. This aging Hollywood rock scene hanger-on treated the contestants he didn't like, and especially the women, with a viciousness that bordered on abuse. He claimed his habit of screaming at the others was part of his "strategy" -- but that didn't explain his obsession with unpopular fellow contestant Jen. He constantly got in her face, berated her with foul language, poured a glass of iced tea on her head, and at one point seemed to be trying to burn her with a cigarette. (Why didn't the producers kick him out after all this? Oh, yeah -- it helped the ratings.) Outrageously, this behavior worked, since the douchebag ended up winning.

Below, a relatively calm example of Dick's hateful misogyny packaged as entertainment:

2. Richard Hatch. The first winner of Survivor was so devious, dishonest and manipulative that it wouldn't have surprised us if the other contestants had taken him out to the middle of the ocean and left him there. (Walking around naked didn't help his social standing, either.) And yet, after screwing over virtually everyone on the island, he managed to talk a majority into voting for him to win. So while he had few friends in the end, he did have a million bucks. (The IRS later proved less susceptible to his gift of gab after he "mistakenly" neglected to pay taxes on the money.)

Here's Hatch at his best during an immunity challenge: First he tries to annoy the hell out of everybody, then he throws the competition, and then he makes fun of the saps who remain:

1. Omarosa. This Apprentice contestant wanted to be seen as cold, calculating and downright evil -- how better to catch the eye of Donald Trump? It worked so well that she was given a spot on Celebrity Apprentice, despite never actually having done anything other than create conflict in the boardroom. Now she's well-known enough to go by a single name -- just like Madonna, Cher and Stalin. This video montage shows why anyone naive or unlucky enough to work with her should be very, very afraid:

Okay, who'd we miss? Let us know in the comments.

Previously:
"I'm Not Here To Make Friends!"

The Remote Island : Puck

Dude, Have You Seen Puck Recently?

Video Weekend: Top 7 Reality-Show Contestants Who Weren't There To Make Friends