It turns out that making sure all of the ingredients for a successful reality show are in place (to achieve the exact right amount of shirtless yelling) usually doesn't require scripted fakery -- it's just a matter of being very, very careful about who they cast. They are, after all, trying to cast certain "parts" (the Nice Girl, the Troublemaker, the Black Guy).
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The Future WWE Champion Guy.
Pat was designated as his season's "Bad Boy." "There was a casting call at the bar, and me and my buddy were just like, 'Hey, wouldn't it be funny if one of us were picked?'" he says. "I think I had a dirty white stained t-shirt on, nothing cool." They filled out a questionnaire in line, then went inside. "There were a bunch of casting directors sitting people down in groups of ten, asking questions like 'Describe yourself in one word,'" he says. People clearly knew what the producers were looking for -- "Everyone was like 'Crazy! I'm crazy! I'm wild, you never know what I'm going to do!'" -- but just like your English teacher told you, it's all about showing and not telling. Pat finally exploded in eye-rolling frustration at one timid girl who described herself as "Um, aggressive, I guess?" He chided her, "'What do you mean 'aggressive'?! If you were aggressive, you would be aggressive."
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It's the difference between drunkenly talking about
chucking a fire extinguisher into the ocean and actually doing it.
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