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. Reality television is a genre of television programming in which the fortunes of real life people (as opposed to fictional characters played by actors) are followed. ... Parody of Back to the Future In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... The Truman Show is a 1998 movie directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol, and starring Jim Carrey. ... Matt Kennedy Gould was the victim of a television hoax by The Joe Schmo Show in 2003. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real. ...

The show was canceled after the second season due to the hoax only being valid for so long before people would catch on to it, similar to what happened with Joe Billionare.

Contestants on the first Joe Schmo

The other "contestants" are stereotypes of common reality TV show participants. This article needs cleanup. ... For the 1996 Blur single, see Stereotypes (song). ...

• 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"). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... Lance Krall Lance Krall is an American comedian and actor, television writer, director, and producer. ... Former crewmembers of the battleship Missouri pose for photos shortly after the Anniversary of the End of World War II ceremony, held aboard the famous ship. ... Look up quack in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Marriage counseling is a type of psychological counseling where a married couple meet with the psychologist, social worker or other type of mental health professional for counseling to hopefully heal their marriage. ... Kristen Carroll Wiig (born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, and impressionist. ... Wealth from the old English word weal, which means well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ... Look up bitch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Buddy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Buddy may refer to: Friend Buddy (Looney Tunes), an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ... In Roman times, Vestal Virgins were strictly celibate or they were punished by death. ... Ralph Garman (b. ...

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. A plasma display is an emissive flat panel display where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or, incorrectly, Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

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. A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ...

Kristen Wiig, who landed a regular spot on Saturday Night Live in 2005 has enjoyed the highest-profile post-schmo career to date. Kristen Carroll Wiig (born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, and impressionist. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 90-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ...

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. Invasion Iowa is a television mini-series that aired on Spike TV beginning on March 29, 2005 and on ITV4 beginning on 3 November 2005. ...

Slate's Meghan O'Rourke has suggested that Gould himself was an actor as well, and that the real Joe Schmo was actually the American television audience. http://www.slate.com/id/2088906/

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. shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bachelor is an American reality television dating game show that debuted in 2002 on ABC. The series has been renewed through spring 2007, titled The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. ... The Bachelorette is a reality television dating game show that debuted in 2003 on ABC, which took the runner-up date from the first season of The Bachelor (Trista Rehn), and let her choose a husband. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ...

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. Pizza box redirects here. ...

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. Ralph Garman (b. ... Jessica Makinson is an American actress. ... Jonathan Ormond Torrens (born 25 October 1972 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) is a Canadian actor and television personality who plays J-Roc on Trailer Park Boys. ... On The 70s House Natasha Leggero (born March 26, 1977 in Rockford, Illinois) is an American stand-up comic and character actor. ...

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. For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...

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, Natasha Leggero, 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 Leggero had created for the show. On The 70s House Natasha Leggero (born March 26, 1977 in Rockford, Illinois) is an American stand-up comic and character actor. ...

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.

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. Current TVNZ logo Television New Zealand (TVNZ) is the main broadcaster of television in New Zealand, established in 1980 through the merger of Television One and TV2 (formerly South Pacific Television). ... Touchdown Television is a New Zealand-based television production company. ... Living The Dream was the New Zealand version of Spike TVs Joe Schmo Show, produced by Touchdown Television for TV2. ... La Sexta is a Spanish television station. ...

External links

• The Joe Schmo Show at the Internet Movie Database
• The Joe Schmo Show at TV.com
• SpikeTV's Schmo Blog
• Joe Schmo 2 Episode Reviews and Descriptions