Yeah. I saw that episode at the house of a member of our staff, and a few of her friends were there. And the women, when they saw him going down that path, were like, "Don't do it, don't say that, don't go there." And he did. But he wasn't doing it to be an asshole. He thought it was a compliment.

We didn't get to see a lot of what brought them there or what had happened between them before. Why didn't we see more of the history between the couples? Is that a choice you made?

Well, that was always tough with first episodes of reality shows. You need to establish characters but you also want to get right to the action. And a lot of people involved were concerned because they thought "Big Brother" ... shot itself in the foot. Because it had so much back story and people didn't care. They wanted to get going. The people at Fox wanted to model it after "Survivor," which basically started with people jumping out of that boat the first season.

I fought against that because, as a story person, character is very important. And, because there is no million-dollar payoff, you're going to need to invest in the couples, and know why they are there. But I lost that battle. There's a lot of good back story that never made it.

Why did the characters do it, if not for money?

I think anyone who is willing to go on a reality show has a little bit of extrovert in them, a little bit of exhibitionist in them. When we were casting, there was still a lot of hoopla about the first "Survivor." But I don't think any of them thought it would be as hard as it was. They thought it would be a lark and that they'd get an exotic vacation in a place they'd never been before out of it. Out of all of them, I think Kaya took it the most seriously, as some kind of opportunity to figure out what was in his heart.

Why did they all choose the same language in the final episode? Why did they keep talking about "making connections" and phrase things in the same way?

That was nothing that was scripted or told to them. I think it was a combination of being asked certain questions which I think shaped certain things in their minds. I also think that the island was isolated. They had nothing else to think about 24 hours a day. So they probably over-thought it.

How did Billy and Mandy get involved?

We had a casting director in Atlanta and they came to an open call. At least for me, when I first saw them, I said they have to be on the show. I think Mandy is stunning and she was so outgoing and so sweet. And I thought she's going to be a star. Not necessarily a movie star, but she'll be our Colleen or our Sue, the person people talk about.

Billy, you're either really attracted to him or not at all. The people who he didn't appeal to thought he looked mean, and that people wouldn't be drawn to him. But I liked the contrast in terms of story. We may see Mandy having the time of her life and then we cut to Billy being miserable, and it makes it a better story.

Was it clear from the beginning that he was going to have a bad time or that it was going to be hard for him?

In my mind it was similar to the Valerie-Kaya situation, but not as extreme. There was a moment in the casting interview when the director asked them to describe their fantasy person. And it wasn't supposed to be your mate, it was supposed to be some other person. Mandy started describing Billy, and then apologized. She said she knew she wasn't supposed to describe Billy but that's who it was. And Billy's face just lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. So, again, it made us think that he was a little further along. He already knew that Mandy was the one for him.

Now playing: Read all the recent movie reviews by Salon's critics