The Joe Schmo Show Season One Uncensored!, Spike TV’s
first attempt at a reality show, aired last fall on Tuesday evenings. The difference
between this reality show and all the others you find on TV is that this one
isn’t real. The catch is, however, that one person thinks it is. The
Joe Schmo Show places Matt Kennedy Gould, a.k.a. “Joe Schmo,”
in a house in which nine actors attempt to keep Matt convinced that he is on
an over-the-top reality show called “The Lap of Luxury” and competing
for $100,000.
The nine actors in The Joe Schmo Show each play the role of
role of a stereotypical reality show character. The nine characters are Ashleigh
“The Rich Bitch,” Hutch “The Asshole,” Molly “The
Virgin,” Earl “The Veteran,” Gina “The Schemer,”
Kip “The Gay Guy,” Brian “The Buddy,” Dr. Pat “The
Quack,” and Ralph “The Smarmy Host.” The ultimate goal for
these characters is to set up believable, entertaining storylines and play out
over-the-top contests to see how far they could push Matt without him discovering
that the show isn’t real. For the most part, the actors do an excellent
job of developing their characters and pulling Matt into the predetermined storylines
without tipping him off that the show is scripted. The key to the show’s
success however is the selection of Matt as their “Joe Schmo.” Matt
is an outgoing, caring, and trusting person who is quick to make friends with
his housemates, quick to jump into the storylines that develop, willing to stick
up for others, and most of all truly isn’t in it for the money. Matt’s
enthusiasm and willingness to give his all in the often outrageous games that
he must participate in make for a number of entertaining situations. His character
and generosity quickly make a strong impression on the viewer, as well as on
the actors and producers of the show.
If you only saw previews and commercials for The Joe Schmo Show
when it aired last year, you may go into the show as I did; expecting that its
intent is to make a fool of Matt by putting him in embarrassing situations in
an attempt to make him look ignorant for not realizing that it’s all fake.
It quickly becomes apparent however that this is neither the intent of the actors
nor the producers. Throughout the entire series, Matt is portrayed as a generous,
caring, “real” guy who is impossible not to like. In the actors’
commentaries and interviews throughout each episode, they continually repeat
what a great guy Matt is as they become more and more concerned about carrying
out their goals without hurting him emotionally or carrying out any of the story
lines to the point where they start to become “mean” or portray
Matt in a negative manor.
The Joe Schmo Show is not for someone that strongly dislikes
reality shows, but if you are someone that is at least vaguely familiar with
the popular ones and may be getting a little sick of them all, there’s
a good chance that you’ll enjoy the show’s humor. First, there are
overly dramatic eviction ceremonies in which each person left in the house votes
on who should be evicted (the outcomes of these votes are predetermined each
time of course). The host plays up each eviction as dramatically as possible,
asking the evicted person to address the group and then leave the mansion immediately.
The host then throws a plate with their picture on it in the fireplace, symbolizing
their broken dreams and telling them to return to work for “the man.”
There are also immunity challenges, where the winner wears a “pimped out”
red robe for the rest of the day and cannot be voted out in the next eviction
ceremony. The winner of each challenge is always predetermined, however Matt’s
unpredictability throws wrinkles in the producers’ plans from the very
first episode. As mentioned previously, each of the characters (including the
host) are meant to portray stereotypical reality show contestants. Some of the
important story lines that they play out and involve Matt in include a love
triangle involving the host, mistreatment of “The Gay Guy” by “The
Asshole,” and a one-night-stand between “The Asshole” and
“The Quack.”
There are a couple of improvements in The Joe Schmo Show Season One
Uncensored! over what aired on Spike TV. Male viewers like myself are
likely to appreciate the fact that things such as men in thongs, which appeared
in the underwear swapping game, are still blurred out but the topless actress
in the game “Hands on a High Priced Hooker” is completely unedited.
Additionally, the three disc set includes a Bonus Materials section on the third
disc where you will find four selections of additional material not aired in
the series. The first selection is “Deleted Scenes,” which includes
five scenes not shown in the eight episodes of The Joe Schmo Show.
The scenes are only one to two minutes in length each, and are all rather uneventful.
As the producers ultimately decided, none of them really add anything to the
episodes. Three of the scenes are simply events that happened in the house involving
Matt and the actors. Another is a discussion in the production trailer where
Ralph (the host) discusses a possible story line that would involve a sexual
encounter between Molly and himself. The final scene is simply Kip and Dr. Pat
singing a possible theme song for the show.
The second bonus material selection is simply an uncensored video of three
models getting covered totally in chocolate in preparation for a game in which
Matt and the actors have to lick chocolate off of the models. Other than a nice
look at the attractive models wearing only chocolate and underwear, this video
isn’t very exciting and will likely lose your interest quickly. The forth
selection is a short video explaining what was used to make the fake meals for
“The Gross Food Stunt” in which Matt and the actors had to eat what
looked like extremely disgusting dishes to win flat screen televisions. You
will not find this video very entertaining unless you are particularly interested
in what the “gross food” was actually made of. The final Bonus Material
selection was by far the most interesting. It includes seven short videos which
have additional footage from the actors’ evictions. These videos include
footage from the eviction ceremony, an interview with the evicted actor (as
the actor, not in character) giving their feelings on the eviction, Matt and
anything else that took place in their time in the house, and an interview with
Matt following the eviction giving his thoughts on it and on the character evicted.
I found these interviews interesting as they gave more insight into the actors’
thoughts on Matt as well as his candid thoughts on them before he learned of
their true identities and the show’s actual premise. I think it is unfortunate
that these interviews were tucked away in the Bonus Material section and not
added into the episodes as they would have certainly added to the show. Overall,
I was not very impressed with the Bonus Materials except for the “Eviction
Ceremony Additional Footage.” Due to its substance, I give the Bonus Materials
a C+.
All in all, I enjoyed The Joe Schmo Show Season One Uncensored
and would recommend it anyone who doesn’t vehemently hate all reality
shows. Matt Kennedy Gould is an excellent selection as “Joe Schmo,”
resulting in games, story lines, and relationships that are humorous, moving,
and ultimately very entertaining. The actors selected do a great job of developing
their characters and their intended relationships with Matt, and the writers
and producers do an excellent job of pushing the envelope with Matt without
making him suspicious of the show’s true intentions and without portraying
him in a negative or ignorant manor. If you enjoy reality shows or at least
enjoy poking a little fun at them, I’d definitely recommend giving The
Joe Schmo Show Season One Uncensored! a try. I give it a B due to the
fact that many will dislike it simply on the premise that it is a reality show.
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