Can’t get enough reality television
Posted on April 15, 2004 @ 4:37 pm
Mark me down as a fan of meta-reality television — i.e. shows that not only skewer the conventions of the reality television genre, but also give the media whores desperate enough for their fifteen minutes of “fame” that they would appear on reality television in the first place their just desserts. That’s why it warms the cockles of my heart to read about the WB’s upcoming Superstar USA and the second season of Spike TV’s Joe Schmo.
As the name suggests, Superstar USA is a take-off on the never-ending talent show that is American Idol. The twist? Superstar USA’s panel of three judges (including such music industry luminaries as Tone-Loc and Vitamin C) “mock the vocally gifted while Paula Abduling* the truly tune-challenged.” Of course, the contestants aren’t in on the joke. Eventually, the “winner” — that is, the very worst of the worst — brings home the title of Superstar USA, as well as a $100,000 grand prize in exchange for being made a laughingstock on national television over the course of several weeks. Sounds fair enough to me.
Meanwhile, Joe Schmo 2 will spoof romance/relationship shows like The Bachelor and Average Joe, introducing an unsuspecting Jane and Joe Schmo into the faux reality show-within-a-show, “Last Chance for Love.” Much like the first Joe Schmo, all the other “Last Chance” contestants are actors following a script full of shocking plot twists and everything else we’ve come to expect from the genre. Kevin Kay, Spike TV’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Production, has the following to say in the network’s press release: “We know that guys despise reality relationship shows, so what better genre to mess with on behalf of guys everywhere.” Again, that sounds fair enough to me.
Personally, I just hope that they figure out a way for the first season’s Pimped-Out Immunity Robe to make a return appearance in Joe Schmo 2.
*For those keeping score at home, I guess “Paula Abduling” is now a verb.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture |
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Remember the Battle of the Network Stars and all of the various spinoffs in the 1970s? They’d get Cheryl Ladd in a tight t-shirt and make her run around on an obstacle course. Saturday Night Live did a sketch about it called the “Battle of the Network Ts and As.”
The voiceover said, “Battle of the Network Ts and As! You’ll see the nicest Ts and the firmest As!” as they did close ups of women in t-shirts and shorts jumping up and down. Very funny at the time. Little did we know…
The reality shows like Fear Factor and Survivor are the same thing — except they’ve figured out how to do it without expensive celebrity talent.