The Joe Schmo Show

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Joe Schmo Show was a reality TV show (actually a parody of reality game shows) on the American cable network Spike TV that began airing in September 2003.

The show's concept is reminiscent of the movie The Truman Show. One man, Matt Kennedy Gould, thinks he is one of nine contestants on a reality TV show called Lap of Luxury. Unbeknownst to Gould, everyone else on the show, including the host, is actually an actor, and the show itself is in fact an elaborate hoax designed to elicit comedic reactions from Gould.

[edit] Contestants on the first Joe Schmo

The other "contestants" are stereotypes of common reality TV show participants.

Steve "The Hutch" Hutchison, the Asshole - David Hornsby
Gina Price, the Schemer - Nikki Davis
Carlos "Kip" Calderas, the Gay Guy - Lance Krall
Earl Bradford, the Veteran - Franklin Dennis Jones
Patricia Lane (a.k.a., "Dr. Pat"), the Quack Marriage Counselor - Kristen Wiig
Ashleigh Rivera, the Rich Bitch - Melissa Yvonne Lewis
Brian Keith Etheridge, the Buddy - Brian Keith Etheridge
Molly Crabtree, the Virgin - Angela Dodson
Ralph Garman, the Smarmy host - Ralph Garman

Two actors made brief appearances in supporting roles: Ryan Raddatz played Molly's boyfriend (who feigned shock at seeing her in a bikini) and Steve Ireland played a network lawyer (who negotiated with Joe to finish the "Food not fit for a King").

The show experienced an unexpected shift during an early episode. Earl ("the Veteran") had bonded with Gould. When Earl was "voted" off the show, Gould began to tear up, which spread to many of the other contestants. By the end of the day, contestants were genuinely consoling each other, Gould was sobbing in his assigned bedroom, and the show's executives allegedly questioned the future of the show.

Gould's sensitivity came to the forefront in a later episode featuring a Sumo wrestling contest. Gould knocked down Dr. Pat and she injured her head and had to be taken to hospital. Gould eventually won the contest but was disturbed by the injury to Dr. Pat. The next day when Dr. Pat returned to the show, Gould gave her the all-expense-paid vacation he had won earlier.

In the show's finale, which aired to over 3.4 million viewers (the all-time record for a show on TNN/Spike up to that time), Gould learned the truth and received the $100,000 prize for which he was "competing," along with the vacation and a new plasma TV. He later recorded commentary that was included in Mo' Joe Schmo, a rebroadcast of the series. The Joe Schmo Show was released on DVD with additional and uncensored footage in 2004.

Gould's plaintive cry, "What is going on?," delivered upon his discovery that the show was a fraud, became a popular catch phrase. Spike TV has since used the phrase at the end of the network's other original productions, some of them involving Gould himself.

Kristen Wiig, who landed a regular spot on Saturday Night Live in 2005 has enjoyed the highest-profile post-schmo career to date.

The Joe Schmo Show was created by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who were also responsible for Joe Schmo 2 and the Spike TV reality miniseries Invasion Iowa.

[edit] Joe Schmo 2

In 2004, Spike TV aired a second season of The Joe Schmo Show, called Joe Schmo 2 and tagged, "The Schmo must go on." Rather than duplicate the premise of the first season, producers satirized reality dating shows such as The Bachelor and The Bachelorette with a fake show called Last Chance for Love. Producers also set out to fool not one, but two people, a man (Tim Walsh) and a woman (originally Ingrid Wiese, but see below). The series premiered on June 15, 2004.

The original "Joe Schmo," Matt Kennedy Gould, taped a cameo appearance during an episode of Joe Schmo 2 as a pizza delivery man, but the segment was cut when the network decided to shorten the episode.

The series took an unexpected twist within minutes of the hoax starting when Wiese began to be suspicious of some of her fellow contestants (especially when one, who had only been hired for the first episode and was not aware of the nature of the program, stated that her agent had arranged for her to appear on the show). Things reached a head when the character of "Cammy", who was supposed to be telling her a secret, paused in telling her story in order to allow the cameraman to change batteries. Wiese began openly questioning the contest, eventually stating during an interview segment that she didn't believe it was real. At this point the series temporarily took on a more standard "reality TV" element as it alternated between the hoax and showing the producers and writers debating how to handle Wiese, particularly since Walsh had, up to that point, not yet begun to question the hoax. Ultimately, the producers decided to reveal the hoax to Wiese (during an activity in which Walsh was not present) and gave her the choice of leaving the show, or staying with the show and becoming one of its characters, with a promised $100,000 payout at the end of she was successful in helping fool Walsh. This aired at the start of the fourth episode and Wiese chose to join the cast. In order to maintain the original premise of there being both a male and female star, the producers brought in another woman (Amanda Naughton), who had thought she was an unsuccessful applicant, to serve as the second "schmo." The faux bachelor and bachelorette were asked to choose one of two doors in order to bring a new contestant into the game. Walsh and Naughton were told that one door hid a male suitor and one door hid a female; in actuality, the choice was scripted and Naughton was the only new contestant present.

The cast members (including Wiese) played broad stereotypes of dating-show personalities.

Ambrosia, The Bitch - Gretchen Palmer
Austin, The Bachelor - Tim Herzog
Bryce, The Stalker - Kevin Kirkpatrick
Cammy, The Moron - Jana Speaker
Derek Newcastle, The Pompous Host - Ralph Garman
Eleanor, The Weeper - Jessica Makinson
Ernie, The Heir - Steve Mallory
Gerald, The Gotta-Be-Gay Guy - Jonathan Torrens
Ingrid, The Schmo Turned Actress - Ingrid Wiese
Piper, The Bachelorette - Valerie Azlynn
Rita, The Drunk - Natasha Leggero
T.J., The Playah - Jon Huertas

Producers also gave Wiese storylines of her own including one in which her character is accused of faking a death in the family in a bid to win Austin's affections. At one point she was temporarily evicted from the house, but was later allowed to return; Tim Walsh was also evicted at one point, but this was part of the ongoing storyline and he, too, rejoined the contest soon after.

The show's major ongoing plot involved the character of Bryce, who begins stalking Piper, the Bachelorette, even after he is evicted twice from the show.

The series ultimately resolved itself at a "promise ceremony", attended by all the previous contestants on the show, where Piper and Austin, whom it was revealed were in fact an estranged couple, were given the choice of either promising themselves to Amanda and Tim (the last two contestants), or marrying each other. Realizing their love had not died after all, Piper and Austin agree to marry, but the ceremony is interrupted by the manic Bryce, who proclaims his love for Piper and states that none of this is real. At which point the hoax was gradually revealed to Amanda and Tim. After a tense moment (the producers were prepared for the usually easy-going but sometimes irritable Tim to react badly to the revelation), Tim breaks the tension by exclaiming, "Jackpot!"

All three "schmos" (Walsh, Naughton, and Wiese) received the same amount ($100,000) that Gould earned in season one, plus a few vacation packages they won playing contests during the show. A Third World child was also genuinely adopted in Walsh's name as part of one of the contests.

Garman wore a fake beard and dyed his hair blond so he would not be recognized by the new contestants. During the finale, however, Naughton recognized one of the actresses who had been eliminated prior to her arrival, because she had seen the woman perform as a stand-up comic. Fortunately, this did not derail the resolution because Naughton did not know the false identity that she had created for the show.

Much of the final episode detailed the immediate aftermath of the revelation on Amanda and Tim. In particular the actress who played Piper the bachelorette was shown tearfully expressing remorse at the hoax. Both Amanda and Tim were shown taking the revelation of the hoax in relatively good (if somewhat stunned) spirits.

[edit] International versions

The Joe Schmo Show was produced for TV2 in New Zealand by Touchdown Television as Living The Dream in 2004. The same year, France released "Gloire et Fortune, la Grande Imposture". In 2006, the show arrived in Spain with the name of "El Show de Cándido" on the Spanish tv channel La Sexta by Globomedia (Promofilm). Despite the obvious, sometimes "word-for-word" copying of the American version of the show, most of the show's writers and editors received no compensation.