The Joe Schmo Show

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.

this is the funniest television show i've seen in ages. if you haven't seen an episode yet, trust me, give it a chance. the show's posing as a reality show with eleven fake contestants and one real one. the eleven are really actors, while matt, the sole contestant, is the show's basis.

all the actors play a different type of character from different backgrounds, a gay guy, white trash, a geek, a southern bell, and a couple others. each actor stereotypes their characters to the max, while matt hasen't at all a clue he's being played. sorta like the truman show, but on crack.

the difference between this game and others, is that it's really based on a 'joe schmo' - the average guy. he isn't very good looking, nor wealthy in any means. he's just a nice guy, or like two of his fellow 'competitors' refer to him as 'just the nicest guy in the world, the kinda friend all girls love.'

trust me, watch it. shame though, that it's on spike. bet if it was on nbc or cbs, it'd be recognised as the next best thing.

A average, everyday person finds themselves selected for a reality TV show with a large prize at stake. Little do they know they're the only contestant: all the other "competitors" are actors and the whole show is just a set up to test how they react to different scenarios and moral dilemmas.

A show that that uses reality TV as a basis for a competition but has the opposite effect, and degree of quality, as reality TV. While reality TV is cheap, dime-a-dozen broadcasting bringing out the worst in people, The Joe Schmo Show was a clever, quality production showing the best in people. Watching Season 1 gave me a new, positive view on mankind: whatever the producers/writers threw at our hero - all manner of moral tests - he passed with flying colours, always doing the honourable thing.

Wonderfully life-affirming and a great a parody of the blight that is reality TV.

For those of us who have become annoyed with the producers, screenwriters and excessively-enthusiastic viewers of the reality game shows that have come out in the last few years (starting with SURVIVOR) , this show is a welcome alternative. Although one person is putting on an act using his real first name, the stars are pretending to compete with each other on a nonexistant reality show called LAP OF LUXURY while lying about their names, ages, homes, occupations, families, incomes, backgrounds, education and personal experience. Only one guy doesn't know that it's not for real. Everybody else struggles to keep a straight face and prevent Matt (a law student turned pizza deliverer from Pittsburgh) from getting suspicious. Instead of going to the watercooler each morning and hearing people gossip about "who got voted off this week", we'll hear about the clever joke that's being played- which I'm sure for many of us is a vast improvement and possibly even a sadistic thrill.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoy this show. We are hooked and are watching the second season as well. I do have to say, I find Matthew Kennedy Gould more entertaining and likable than the two Schmos they have on the show during the second season. Could Matthew Kennedy Gould be much nicer or more genuine. This is a man we would love to meet and become friends with! As a warning, if you are not a fan of reality TV, leave this show alone as well. The spoofs of the stereotyped characters are right on, but if you didn't like those people to begin with, you're not going to like these overblown versions either. I must admit, these people really do play their characters well. If you like reality TV you may find yourself trying to decide who will get "kicked off" the show tonight!