Genius, or Utter Failure?

I watch way too much TV.

Well, let me amend that a bit. I watch too much of certain kinds of TV. But thankfully my intake of 'reality shows' is limited to Cops and the occasional Cheaters. I will admit that I would watch the odd episode of the real world or Road Rules, but that was a long time ago. Now, I'm wondering how long it will be before Fear Factor will run out of bugs to eat, and simply turn the last stunt into a good old-fashioned game of Russian Roulette.

But Spike TV is rolling out something that frankly intrigues me.

They're calling it "The Joe Schmo Show" and the premise is fairly simple. A group of people are picked to live in a house as part of a competion for 100 grand. There are eviction ceremonies and immunity contests, like a bunch of other shows.

The "catch" is that the entire show is rigged and everyone knows about it.

Except for one guy.

Apparently, this 'Joe' was some guy delivering pizza who decided to audition for a new reality show.

Now, I'm of two minds about this. Either this could be a brilliant satire, pointing out all of the things that make reality tv so compelling and repellent at the same time, or it could be the meanest ever practical joke. But like most things, it will probably be a little of both. For me, if they can convince me that the show is real, I'll be into it.

From what I've read, the show was pretty convincing since the 'Joe Schmo' character wasn't giving any interviews for the show.

Take care,
Mike G.