Joe the schmo gets a show – and more

It was bound to happen. After watching three years ofprogressively worse reality television, the genre has reachedit’s evolutionary peak (or low) in “The Joe SchmoShow.”

The program, which premiered Tuesday on Spike TV (formerly TNN),pits a group of contestants in a house where they must livetogether, compete in off-the-wall contests with names like”Hands on the High-Priced Hooker,” eliminate one oftheir housemates every week and put themselves on display in hopesof winning $100,000. Sounds like every other painful”reality” experience.

But here’s the (now obligatory) catch — everyone onthe show is an actor except for one unsuspecting schmuck —Matt Kennedy Gould — who thinks he’s actually competingfor a cash prize.

The entire purpose of this show is to make a fool out of Gouldon national television because he doesn’t suspect the secretwe’ve been let in on from the beginning. Yeah, it’s ahorribly cruel trick, but in its own ironic way, it may be the mostgenuine thing on television this fall.

The fake cast is comprised of all the reality TV regulars.There’s Ashleigh, the spoiled rich sophisticate; “TheHutch,” a rip-off of the “Real World SanFrancisco’s” Puck seemingly named after dining roomfurniture; Molly, the virgin with the body of a porn star; and Kip,the obligatory homosexual. Rounding out the cast are Gina, thescheming Richard Hatch protege; Dr. Pat, the slightly unqualifiedrelationship therapist; Earl, the crotchety veteran; and Brian, thenice guy.

The circus is led by ringmaster Ralph Garman, who, dressed infull riding regalia, rode up to the mansion on a white horse. Theman oozes a smarm reminiscent of “Survivor” host JeffProbst’s dripping condescension or the cold detachment of”Joe Millionaire’s” butler Paul Hogan.

At the end of each episode, he leads the now archetypal ceremonywhere the cast votes one of its members out of the mansion withdelicious overly-dramatic authority. (In the first episode, herevealed the name of rejected housemate, Gina, before taking aceremonial plate with her face off the mantle and smashing it onthe fireplace and proclaiming her “dead to us.”)

But the most inspired casting choice may be Gould. The man isthe all-American schmuck. A Pittsburgh native, Gould dropped out oflaw school, moved back in with his parents and earns a livingdelivering pizzas on the weekend. (This might explain why heunquestioningly accepts that a reality show at this stage of thegame would offer a prize as meager as $100,000.)

But his less than attractive qualities extend beyond his livingsituation and means. His eyes go googly like a hornyteenager’s at every mention of well-endowed roommates Mollyand Ashleigh. He immediately recognizes “the high-pricedhooker” of last week’s elimination game as porn starTawny Roberts. He bends over backwards to befriend cast members whowere designed to be offensive.

Within the show’s first 15 minutes, viewers are likely tobuy into the same understanding of Gould as the program’sproducers. He’s just as much a stereotype as any of the fakecharacters on the show.

But for all of his goofy awkwardness, the fact that he has thusfar thrown his heart into “the game” and generallymeans well in regards to his roommates makes Gould an endearing”character.” (It also helps that he’s the walkingembodiment of the “heterosexual male disaster” that isSpike TV’s target demographic.)

It’s easy to see why the cast and producers think thatthey can reduce him to as flat a stereotype as the mold from whichthe other cast members came. The demographers at Spike TV certainlythink they can.

In fact, this reduction is more than simple-minded thinking.Through their on-camera interviews, it becomes fairly obvious thatthe only way they can live with the cruelty of their undertaking isby thinking of the show in high-minded terms and as Gould asanother character to be manipulated.

In a scene early in the show’s premiere, the actors aresitting in a trailer talking with the directors about what theycall “the experiment” and about the thrill of havingthe opportunity to be in character 24/7 with immediate access totheir audience.

But it’s against the background of such flat charactersand tepid acting that Gould’s humanity shines through whereit wouldn’t on any other reality show.

Gould takes the time to take aside “the jerk,”Hutch, to advise him to straighten up his act because he’smaking the other cast members angry. After asking Kip, thecaricature of gay Miami, if he was gay in front of the whole group,Gould realizes that the question was probably too abrupt andapologizes.

Surprisingly, Gould comes off as one of the realest characterson reality television. He has emotions, he regrets thingshe’s said, and he takes responsibility for those actions.

Quite contrary to what the producers intended, the fun in”The Joe Shmo Show” comes in watching Gould embrace hisreality and confound the cast and directors when he exceeds theirsimplistic expectations of his chracter.

Whether this is enough to carry the show through its entireseason remains to be see.

“The Joe Schmo Show” airs at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays onSpike TV (Channel 65, Park Cities).