Are You Hot?: The Search for America's Sexiest People is an American reality television series that premiered February 13, 2003 on ABC.[1] A panel of judges including Lorenzo Lamas, Rachel Hunter, and Randolph Duke evaluated contestants on the sole criterion of their physical attractiveness.[2] It was cancelled after one season due to low ratings.
| Are You Hot? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality |
| Presented by | JD Roberto |
| Judges |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Mike Fleiss |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | February 13 – March 20, 2003 |
The winner of the lone season was New Orleans native Chantille Boudousque.[3]
While aired on prime time, many male contestants appearing bare-chested were censored at times due to lower body hair being exposed.
Format
editFrom coast to coast, thousands of hopefuls gathered to get the chance to compete for the crown of the sexiest man or woman in America.[4] Talent, personality and strategy are not required, only physical beauty and innate sexiness.[5] TV viewers had their chance to vote on the Hot Zone/Round One participants from each regions as they face a celebrity panel of experts including: Rachel Hunter, Randolph Duke and Lorenzo Lamas.[6]
Lawsuit
editA lawsuit filed by Howard Stern and his production company claimed that the premise and format of Are You Hot? was lifted from the Stern radio show's regular segment The Evaluators as former Stern TV producer Scott Einziger was a producer and exec on Are You Hot?[7][8]
ABC and Stern settled the suit[9] since the ABC/Einziger version of the show was a ratings failure.
Parodies
editIn 2003, the series was spoofed by SNL for its "TV Funhouse" segment as Are You Hot?: The Search For America's Sexiest Cartoons, in which a 2D version of Lorenzo Lamas judges 11 popular cartoon characters, including Betty Boop, Popeye, Cinderella, Olive Oyl, Strawberry Shortcake, Droopy, Marvin the Martian, Dagwood, Optimus Prime, Yosemite Sam, and Barney Rubble.[10]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ Chillin' with Are You Hot's Lorenzo Lamas | EW.com
- ^ This Looks Terrible! Are You Hot? — Nathan Rabin's Happy Place
- ^ "Chantille Boudousque". IMDb.
- ^ 'Are You Hot?' Reality Show Review: Revisiting the 2003 Now - Thrillist
- ^ TV Guide
- ^ "Are You Hot?". Variety. 2003-02-13. Archived from the original on 2023-02-23.
- ^ Howard Stern sues over Are You Hot | EW.com
- ^ Are You Hot? takes a pointer from Howard Stern | EW.com
- ^ "Howard Stern settles 'Are You Hot?' lawsuit".
- ^ TV Funhouse: Am I Hot? - Saturday Night Live on YouTube