Tool Academy

Arrogant Man

VH1's Tool Academy is a bit like Charm School for men. It focuses on helping so called "tools" turn their lives around and become better boyfriends and more humble men. The first season of the show debuted in January, 2009.

Tool Academy - Series Basics

The basic premise of the show is that nine men with reputations for mistreating their girlfriends - and generally being arrogant and unkind to people - go through a series of classes, counseling sessions at the Tool Academy in an effort to learn to change their behavior. Their girlfriends stay with them at the Academy and take part in the counseling and challenges. Each week, the person making the least progress is dismissed from the Academy and the last man standing wins a grand prize of $100,000. Contestants are dismissed using the show's tagline, "Sorry, but you're just a tool." When a contestant is eliminated, his girlfriend must then decide whether she is going to stay with him or if she will go home alone.

It was the girlfriends themselves who nominated their partners for the show. The contestants actually did not know they were entering the Academy. They were lured to the site of the show under the pretense that they were to appear in a "Mr. Awesome" contest. The first episode featured the men competing in what they thought was the Mr. Awesome show and then being surprised with the news that they are actually entering the Tool Academy.

The episodes of the show all center around the couples working on one aspect of their relationship while the men work on one aspect of their personalities.

The Cast

The cast for the first season of the show is as follows, grouped together with their girlfriends:

  • Dimtri and Jill
  • Celebrity and Cameron
  • Shawn, Jamie and Aida (see below for more details on this triangle)
  • Josh and Ashley
  • Matsuflex and Jenna
  • Tommy and Krista
  • MEGA and Margo
  • Robert and Karine
  • Joey and Ashley
  • Trinia Dolenz - show counselor
  • Jordan Murphy - host

Major Plots Lines and Twists

There were some big surprises and twists along the way in the Tool Academy. These were some of the most memorable moments and storylines on the show:

The Shawn, Jamie and Aida Triangle

The contestants were brought to the show by their girlfriends, who had grown tired of their behavior. Jamie brought her boyfriend of six months Shawn to the Academy, and all the other contestants simply assumed that they were in a committed relationship. Everyone was shocked when, a few episodes in, Aida showed up and to be Shawn's girlfriend of six years. Jamie knew Aida as Shawn's "psycho ex-girlfriend."

After much discussion, Jamie - the girl who had originally brought Shawn onto the show - ended up leaving him there. Shawn and Aida remained in the Academy together because they decided they wanted to work on their long term relationship and stay together.

MEGA and Margo

This show was supposed to be all about the boys, but living in the house and going through the process alongside their boyfriends meant that the girls did not escape the attention of the judges. MEGA was deemed to be making progress by the judges, but he was ultimately sent home when the judges decided it was Margo, his girlfriend, who was the real tool. Her abrasive personality rubbed everyone the wrong way from the very beginning, and the judges objected to her aggressive behavior.

Tommy and Krista

Tommy and Krista were consistently one of the most disliked couples on the show. The guys gave Tommy a hard time for not having a job and the ladies did not like Krista's bad attitude. When Tommy was kicked out of the house for being a tool, everyone thought that they were a match made in heaven, but Krista decided to not stay with Tommy because he couldn't tell her why he had been kicked out of the Academy.