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I spent years
avoiding all the reality shows that have
crept onto our television screens. Granted,
most of them were nothing more than glorified
game shows that employed any number of ‘real’
people to go through tests and contest,
with the remaining ‘player’
crowned the winner. This was the basic premise
of “Survivor”, which until only
a few weeks ago I had never seen. What followed
was nothing less than a rash of horrendous
‘reality’ shows that pandered
to the lowest common denominator. From what
I could tell, almost all of them were nothing
more than trash TV. The thing that really
got me about ‘reality TV’ is
that I have yet to determine what is funnier.
The fact that bottom-feeding producers actually
came up with ideas like “The Bachelor”,
“The Bachelorette”, “Big
Brother”, “Temptation Island”,
“The Apprentice” and “The
Littlest Groom”, or the idea that
millions of Americans were bored (or stupid)
enough to watch them. I’m leaning
towards the latter due to some conversations
I’ve had with a few friends who believe
these ‘reality shows’ are really
real, and there is nothing staged.
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Of course, these are the same people who believe
in professional wrestling, the Easter Bunny, low
cost lawyers and George W. Bush.
Even after finally succumbing to the allure of
“Survivor” (well, actually if I hadn’t
had to review the first season set, I probably
still wouldn’t have watched it), I continue
to make every effort to keep away from these awful
shows.
If ever I have been tempted by any show, it would
have to be “The Joe Schmo Show” which
aired on Spike TV (not to be confused with Spike
Lee - not that ANYONE could make that mistake).
Why on Earth would I be tempted to watch this
show, you might ask? Well, mainly it had the only
premise that sounded like it would appeal to my
somewhat twisted sense of humor. You see, “The
Joe Schmo Show” was television’s attempt
to make fun of the ‘reality’ TV genre.
But what made it even better than your average
parody, was that is was presented as an elaborate
hoax.
The idea was to see what would happen if you took
an average Joe, as in ‘Joe Schmo’
if you will, and put him in the middle of a reality
series called “The Lap of Luxury.”
In it, contestants would live in a mansion, compete
against each other, and vote members off until
only one remained. The ‘Joe Schmo’
in question was Matt Kennedy Gould, who was found
by a scout while shooting some hoops. Everyone
else on the show was an actor. Everything was
scripted, but the idea was to be able to keep
the truth from Matt until the very end.
I missed the series, but was happy to learn it
was being released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment.
I really didn’t know entirely what to expect,
so what I got was a hysterically funny surprise.
The first episode sets up the premise and introduces
us to the ‘guests’ and the ‘host’.
I would love to take the time to mention all of
the actors that made up the cast, but let me just
say they all played their parts well. It was kind
of fun to see the little cutaway interviews where
we learned how nervous they all were that someone
would blow the illusion.
I ended up watching all seven episodes in one
night, and I have to admit it was truly a funny
and innovative way to poke fun at the ‘reality’
show trend. It was great to watch Matt react to
all the insane things that were going on, including
all of the ridiculously stupid contests. I’d
like to think I would have caught on. I mean really,
licking chocolate off of nearly naked models to
uncover letters to a word? What kind of contest
is that?? There were times I had to wonder if
he really didn’t know what was going on,
but in the end it was obvious that the hoax worked.
What I liked best about the show, was that in
spite of the fact that the whole thing was an
elaborate joke on Matt, it was never mean- spirited.
Sure there were certainly some humiliating moments,
but I was impressed by how he took them all in
stride. Matt was a truly nice guy, who had a much
higher sense of right and wrong than your average
‘real’ reality show contestant.
The 3-disc set offers up all seven episodes, plus
a few interesting extra features. All are on the
last disc, and you get everything from ‘uncensored
deleted scenes’ to cast interviews. One
particularly interesting feature that showed what
was really used to create the food for the ‘gross
food stunt.’ And for guys, there is a 5
minute look at the painting of the chocolate covered
models. Admittedly, even though I’m a guy,
it got a little boring after the first minute
or so.
Finally, there is a commentary on the last episode
by Joe Schmo himself and the show’s creator,
Rhett Reese. This is especially revealing as we
get to hear some of what Matt was really thinking
during some of the sequences.
Surprisingly enough, I do recommend “The
Joe Schmo Show” to those of you with a really
good sense of practical joke style humor. I will
warn parents however, that the show is uncensored
and definitely not for kids. Of course something
I found interesting is that in this DVD release,
while they didn’t blur out women’s
breasts, they did blur out the manly bits. (For
which I’m eternally grateful, but still,
it’s a little bit of a double standard don’t
you think?)
Now that the show has run and is on DVD, I was
initially kind of sad that they wouldn’t
be able to do it again and make a “The Joe
Schmo 2.” But then, I saw a commercial a
few days ago for a second series. This time around
there are 2 ‘Joe Schmos’ (a male and
a female) and they’re making fun of shows
like “The Bachelor” and “The
Bachelorette.” Admittedly, these shows are
already atrocious enough, but this… this
should be funny.
Extras: Uncensored Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary
on the Shocking Season Finale, The Making of “The
Meal” - The Gross Food Stunt, Extended Cast
Interviews, The Extended and Unblurred “Chocolate
Sauce on Models” Sequence
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 6/22/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR (Parental Advisory: Explicit Content,
Contains Adult Language and Situations)
Website
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We'll give The Joe Schmo Show: Season 1 a B.
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