The Joe Schmo Show

WOW! From someone who really wants "Reality" shows to be taken off the air and all copies of all their tapes be destroyed utterly I really enjoy this show. I usually avoid "Reality" shows like the plague because of the fact that they appear so phony and the people on them really annoying but this one parodies those shows to the "T". Of course they will have to figure out a way to keep future "Joes" in the dark as to the real purpose of the show. After seeing this people will know that the show "Lapp of Luxury" is a fake and is really "The Joe Schmo Shoe". Unless when the producers poll potential candidates they (the applicants) have never seen any reality shows. It's possible but they have probably at least heard of the big ones like "Survivor" and "Big Brother". The producers will also have to keep finding new actors for the other "candidates", which isn't as difficult as finding the "Joes". I think being one of the actors on "The Joe Schmo Show" would be better than being a real contestant on any of those quote "Reality TV" shows.

I saw the first Joe Schmo, and thought it was a great concept. Who among us isn't a bit sick of the plethora of reality. In practice, it was pretty damn decent.

My favorite part of the first one was Ralph, the Smarmy Host, so how pleased am I that he's back as Derek Newcastle? Very!

The new version is a parody of reality love shows, this one called, "Last Chance for Love." Two innocents (using that term loosely) are on the show with such stereotypes as the Heir, the Stalker, the Bitch, and the Drunk Girl.

I think that this season may be even stronger and funnier than the first, as they have already experimented with the formula and now can perfect it. And watch out for Ingrid-- she'll school you good...

I love this show. Genius idea if you ask me. I've never watched any of the reality shows...I've seen bits and pieces, and to me- that has to be the dumbest stuff on tv ever. This makes fun of all of that stuff, so I enjoyed it a lot. Even if it wasn't making fun of "reality" shows, it would be entertaining. Matt is clearly a really nice guy, and that helps the show a lot. He's so cool in general, you can't help but like the guy and want to see what happens. The actors do a fantastic job, all playing over-the-top stereotypes of reality show contestant personalities. The gay guy, the jerk, the rich snotty girl, the old guy, etc.

In Matt's defense...I'm not sure why some call him dumb. I don't think ANY of us would ever think that we were being set up on a fake show and the rest of the contestants were actors. Why would that thought even come to mind if you were on a show like this? You're just thinking you're on a show with some normal people and some not so normal people...none of our reactions would be- "wait, are all you guys actors?" He surely wouldn't have recognized any of the other actors from previous work, since none of them have had any leading roles in a thing- I looked at all the actors pages on this site, and the hutch has done some work, but not much, and not too many people would recognize him from his past work.

Very nice idea, well played out so far...but you can't help feel bad for good ol' matt who is being duped. Then again, he's on tv, he's going thru this adventure, and I'm sure they paid him in the end- so I guess it's not TOO bad of a deal for him.

The Joe Schmo Show seems stupid at first. When picking up the cheesy-looking DVD box set for sale (at the low, low price of $9.99), the show looked like typical mindless entertainment. However, the Joe Schmo Show proves to be rather brilliant at points. Matthew Kennedy Gould is a reality show participant who believes he's in a real contest- but the entire show is staged and fixed to test his reactions and to put him through the wringer. Along the way, the writers provide a hilarious parody of our horrid American reality shows. The show's host is an absolute riot. Pick it up and laugh- it's a shame that the series only ran two seasons.

<<They're going to study up some on reality shows before they go on one, they would hear of "Joe Schmo," and they'd wonder if something was up.>>

Jane Schmo (Ingrid) said in an interview that the only reality shows she has watched were "The Real World" and "The Bachelorette", and Joe Schmo (Tim) hasn't even mentioned any reality shows he has previously watched.

The first season of "Joe Schmo" peaked at 3 million viewers, which is only about 1/4 of the "Bachelorette" audience. You have to think that the "Joe Schmo 2" producers made absolutely sure that neither Joe nor Jane Schmo had heard of "Joe Schmo" or Spike TV, and because "JS" didn't get huge national ratings, that shouldn't be too hard.

<<I wonder if they also know that Spike TV is hosting it, or how Spike TV would hide that fact?>>

Most reality shows, just like sitcom pilot episodes, are not tied to their eventual network when they are produced. Potential reality shows are filmed and then production companies shop them around to various TV networks. There is no reason for Joe and Jane Schmo to even be told that this particular show will end up airing on Spike TV. The producers could simply say, "Once we're done filming 'Last Chance for Love', we will be meeting with TV executives to try to sell it for future airing."

On top of that, Jane Schmo (Ingrid) probably has never heard of Spike TV because a) she is not in their target demographic (young men) and b) she has spent the past few years traveling the world and reading books about Madeleine Albright in her spare time, not watching wrestling on Spike TV.