The Joe Schmo Show

[Guest pshaw]

With all the discussion about "Queer Eye" and "Boy Meets Boy," I'm a bit surprised that there's been no mention of Spike TV's "The Joe Schmo Show." It has been hyped to death by that network, but I was happy to find that it was worth the hype. It's a fake reality show with a twist - there is only one person on the show ("The Lap of Luxury") who is real and not clued in on the fact that the whole show is fake. Everyone else is an actor playing a character straight out of the other reality shows, including "The Gay Guy," "The Schemer," "The Rich Bitch," "The Grizzled Veteran," "The Quack Psychologist," "The Born Again Virgin," "The Asshole" and, of course, "The Smarmy Host."

 

The Gay Guy is played quite flamboyantly by a straight actor, but to even things out the Macho Asshole is played by an actor who, when out of character, easily sets off my gaydar. One could get offended by the gay stereotype, but EVERYONE on the show is a stereotype. Matt, the Joe Schmo of the show (i.e., the REAL guy) is a likeable Midwestern lunk (far from hunky) who throws the cast and producers a few curves now and then, forcing them to scramble and revise the show so that he doesn't catch on that it's all a fake. I watched the first two back-to-back episodes with a couple of friends and we all thought the show was a hoot.

 

Awhile ago I mentioned that Spike TV also has another one of my favorite shows, "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge." The show is made up of episodes of a 1980s Japanese competition show that has comedic English dialogue dubbed in ... "Iron Chef" meets "What's Up, Tiger Lily." The dialogue is full of sexual innuendo, much of it gay-oriented. Some of the brutal competitive events include "Pole Riders," "Holes of Glory," "Sinkers and Floaters," "Jerk and Release," and "Wall Bugger." The show is dumb as a box of rocks, but fun.

[bigguyinpasadena]

So YOU'RE the person watching spike tv!!!

[Guest pshaw]

Perhaps so, although I'm not sure that the 2 hours of programming a week that I watch is going to do much for their success. I will leave "Gary the Rat" and endless reruns of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to others.:-)