"I prefer to say 'minds uncluttered by literature'," says Melville, the reality show's executive producer for Channel Seven. "There's lots and lots of young women who seek affirmation, and one of the ways to seek affirmation is being on telly. We want girls who are articulate about their feelings, and who are sociable and have empathy with - for them - difficult-to-understand boys.

"We tell them in the screening process that you won't get famous by being in this show. People enjoy watching you for a few weeks and then, because television is ephemera, they forget you. Come on if you want to have a great time and a really memorable life experience in a safe environment.

"The girls love it because they get hair and make-up every day, spray tans two or three times a week. They love dress ups, walking down the big staircase and looking elegant and people fussing over them. For a few weeks they are treated like a princess."

He uses the term "geek" for the male participants because it's part of the show's title, but he's confident the boys are not offended.

"They're not all on the spectrum, which is what some people think ... They're quite happy to play along because it's an experience they'll be able to talk about all their life.

"The best way to find a geek is to go to Comic-Con, or stores that sell or trade computer games, and the maths, physics and chemistry departments of major universities. If you put up a sign where they are likely to pass – a cafe at the uni near their school – they are intrigued. They are incredibly logical, proud of their academic achievements, and all of them, during our selection process, have confessed they are not great with girls."

Melville describes himself as a "documentarian", most recently producing the travel shows of Manu Feildel and Anh Do, but he agreed to be Seven's representative on Beauty and the Geek because "it's kind of a guilty pleasure watching it and there's nothing mean in it".

The show, based on an American version created by the actor and producer Ashton Kutcher, pairs up couples from its groups of beauties and geeks to compete in a variety of challenges. Last time, the contestants were sent to a tropical island. For this sixth season, the eight geeks will go to Las Vegas and be paired with American women.

"The most successfully transformed couple, who have taught each other and learned a new way of looking at themselves, win $100,000," Melville says. "I couldn't see any negatives, really. Personally I don't want to make mean shows, because I keep seeing my own kids in these people."

This season's geeks include 19-year-old commerce student Nick, who says he fears being rejected by women so hasn't put himself "out there" more. "I haven't had a relationship per se," he says, "but I did have a girlfriend in Year 5 if that counts."

Shaun, 21, is a naval avionics technician and big Star Wars fan: "I have a Darth Vader costume." Tate, an engineering student and video-game enthusiast, sports a tattoo of a mathematical formula. "I'm very awkward," the 21-year-old says.

All Melville expects of the participants is that they interact with each other. "The girls' range of conversation is limited to three or four subjects: makeup, hair, pop culture and family and friends. With the geeks, their conversation centres around the particular discipline they've excelled in. Their non-academic conversation is usually about sci-fi or gaming. All they have to do is give each other what they know, even if it is just 'don't wear double denim'."

Does he want the participants to have sex? "Oh no, no. If it occurs, it's not part of the storyline. The audience would never know. In Big Brother it is part of the storyline. Or it was.

"I think respecting their privacy is very important. I know it's the weirdest thing for me to say when I work in television, but we watch them very closely. With romance, it can all go pear-shaped.

"Within the storyline of Beauty and the Geek, they'd possibly see a couple becoming closer and hugging. Maybe a stolen kiss. It's a romantic comedy derived from a social experiment. I live in a chocolate-box world."

Beauty and the Geek starts on Thursday, October 9, at 8pm on Seven.

An affair to remember

If Eddie McGuire (back when people liked him) challenged Kristina Keneally (back when she was a force to be reckoned with) in a state election, you'd have pretty much the scenario in the new mini-series, Party Tricks, starting tomorrow. Except that Keneally would never have had an affair with McGuire. Leaving that absurd notion aside, Keneally and McGuire proved very helpful when Rodger Corser and Asher Keddie researched their roles as competing politicians.

Corser is best known for playing tough cops in such series as Underbelly, Rush and Water Rats.  He's never played a politician before.

"As there's more grey creeping into my hair, maybe I start to get less sort of action cop and more sitting-behind-desk kind of roles," he reflected. "Mind you, my character is not officially a politician. He's a candidate. Asher is the incumbent who has been in politics for 15 years. My guy is more of a media personality.

"There's an affair these two had, back when they were at university. This affair is brought to the forefront because, out of nowhere, my character is airlifted in to run for premier.

"I went and met with Eddie McGuire. His brother Frank is a member of state parliament in Victoria. Eddie has a history in business and the media. He's around the workings of Melbourne. It's not a big stretch to see him in this kind of role. I'm sure he's been courted."

Corser says it's high time Australian viewers were offered a political melodrama in the style of The West Wing or House of Cards.

"There's been a hole in Australian drama where this show can fit," he says. "We've had a lot of true crime, shows based on real people, shows based on nostalgic things like Puberty Blues, a lot of Gallipoli shows around at the moment. When you think of Australian political drama up to now, it's been kind of gritty and based on a real story, like Hawke, or more on the satirical side, like The Hollow Men, which I really liked.

"This is a little bit different, set at the top of end of town. It's a sort of a higher concept kind of show. It's about a relationship within a high-pressure work environment. The affair is the skeleton in the closet that might bring both of them down."

Will viewers find the story believable? "The show itself is definitely heightened. For all these things to happen at once is a little bit coincidental, I suppose you'd say, but all the things in isolation have happened in some way in Australian politics. The fact that I was imported in from outside state politics – Campbell Newman did that. The fact that politicians have a relationship – Gareth Evans and Cheryl Kernot did that.

"It's just that we've made them all happen at once, against the background of an election campaign, which gives the show a really great pace. You're heading towards this finishing line, which is the last show, election day. When you see what the result is, there's definitely scope for a second season. The writers have barely started delving into this world. Every day when you open the newspaper there's more material."

Did playing a pollie give Corser any interest in running for office?

"None whatsoever. It's really tough, I think. We got the research from Kristina Keneally on the amount of work they put in and the amount of scrutiny these people are under and the pressures put on family life of being in the public eye. It doesn't matter what side of politics you're on, people are going to be having a shot at you, that's just the nature of it.

"I do have respect for people who put themselves out there like that. There's enough exposure for your family in what I do. You'd really feel exposed in a career like that."

Party Tricks begins on Monday, October 6, at 8.30pm on Ten.

Compromising promises

Most Australians would go out of their way to avoid having to "interact" with most of this country's politicians, but if the pollies looked like Rodger Corser and Asher Keddie, our attitude might be different. At least Channel Ten hopes so. To accompany the mini-series, Party Tricks, Ten is offering viewers the chance to have live Twitter conversations with the characters, though we suspect their responses might be written by the show's creator, Michael Lucas, rather than by Keddie and Corser. If you'd prefer looking at them over tweeting them, Ten has set up "personal campaign websites" for Corser's and Keddie's characters – DavidMcLeod.TV and KateBallardMP.com.au.

This is what Ten says you'll see on the sites: "exclusive campaign commercials, candid interviews with key campaign staff, newspaper articles from the campaign trail and leaked videos of both candidates in compromising positions".

Beat that, Eddie Obeid.