Man O Man: Executive producer Karen Greene reminisces about ‘90s TV show

MORE than 20 years after it aired, the executive producer of Man O Man has told news.com.au secrets from behind the scenes.

“THIS is Man O Man, the show where we try to find the man who has absolutely everything.”

And what a show it was.

Hosted by Rob Guest, the program aired on Channel Seven in 1994 and according to executive producer Karen Greene, it was an “instant success”.

“The premise was about turning the tables on traditional female beauty pageants in a somewhat absurd way,” said Greene to news.com.au.

“There hadn’t ever been anything like it before on television, It was irreverent, funny and somewhat risqué.”

The Aussie show, which was based on a German cable program called Mann O Mann, featured a group of men vying for the affection of the rowdy female audience.

“It commenced with the 11 guys each introducing themselves and as true first impressions count, the audience were asked to vote for their favourites with the two least popular being pushed in a pool by one of the models,” said Greene.

“Being unceremoniously dumped merely for opening your mouth was seen as rather brutal, but it went along with the comedic tone of the show.

“The other rounds involved the guys performing a talent act of some sort, the whackier the better.

“There was a dance round, questions from the audience, a karaoke round along with other various improv acting challenges and the final was generally having to pose next to a professional body builder — the signature tune for this being Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy ... naturally.”

At least he gave it a go.

It’s hard to believe that 11 different men were willing to humiliate themselves on national television each week and Greene admits it was a struggle at first.

“In the pre-production casting period we did find it difficult to find enough guys who were prepared to sing, dance, act and get their gear off all with the underlying threat of being pushed in a pool for not being popular enough with the ladies ... weird huh?

“All that changed when the show was on air and that ceased to be an issue. A lot of the guys came from fledging acting/modelling or comedy improv backgrounds and they would have seen the show as a good opportunity to add to their show reel.”

Of the many weird and wonderful talents that men demonstrated on the show, one in particular stands out in Greene’s memory.

“One of the guys had a special talent for ironing and wanted to show the girls how quickly and immaculately he could iron. It was an unlikely, somewhat ridiculous act but it was perfect for the show.”

Two episodes of Man O Man were filmed every second week at the Channel Seven studios in Melbourne and the set was designed to look like a nightclub, complete with a heated to pool to push the dumped contestants into.

Takes you back, doesn’t it?

“The pool still exists under the floor of what is now called Studio A,” said Greene.

“I have been the executive producer of Dancing With the Stars for the last six years and it’s nice to know that under our dance floor the Man O Man pool still remains.”

For each episode approximately 80 enthusiastic women in their finest ‘90s attire would fill the audience to judge the men on stage.

“We provided each table of four with one bottle of champers,” said Greene

“Once the bottle was empty though it was not replaced. We always kept a sharp eye on those who were keen on swiping another table’s bottle if it was up for grabs.”

According to Greene, most of the women were well behaved, but did they ever get up to some funny business with any of the male contestants?

“Not that I’m aware of,” said the TV veteran.

“We made sure that the audience had well and truly left before releasing the guys, just in case there were some overly keen fans.”

And now the big question: with Australian viewers currently obsessed with reality TV shows and reboots being all the rage, could Man O Man make a comeback?

“Never say never I guess,” said Greene.

Seriously guys, who wants to start the petition?

Channel Seven, do us all a favour and bring this show back!