Joe Schmo 2

As this is the first episode review, I will start with a general description of the show. Last season Spike TV (previously TNN) created a show that mocked reality TV. Since most reality TV is full of contestants who are more interested in their future acting careers than the show, to mock this spike TV created a show where all the characters except for 1 really were actors. The entire show revolved around the one real contestant, the other contestants were scripted to be the clichéd characters that tend to show up in reality TV (the schemer, the good guy, the gay guy...). It is important to note that the show was not mocking the one real guy, nor were they acting like he was dumb for not figuring it out. It was reality TV that they were poking fun at.

The second season continues this theme. The only difference is they now have two contestants rather than one (Ingrid and Tim). The two real contestants think they are on a show called last chance for love. It is essentially a combined bachelor and bachelorette.

The show starts out with all the contestants meeting, they then line up for a immediate elimination. The bachelor and bachelorette had to eliminate three people based on their first impressions. All six people eliminated were minorities. They break away to the producers who explain this is in response to the fact that minorities always seemed to be eliminated first on dating shows. The first scene also contains the first slip, in the small talk one of the minorities was asked how she was found, she replied that her agent called her yesterday. One of the other actors quickly covers this by asking Ingrid where she was found and she replied she was found outside of work.

The next scene is a mixer where the cast gets the chance to "get to know each other." This is really a chance for the characters to introduce themselves to Ingrid and Tim. They main characters introduced were Rita the Drunk and Ernie the heir (rich guy). They also gave the bachelor (Austin), the bachelorette (Piper), and the "is he gay" guy Gerald.

They show continues with a gift giving scene. Each character (including Ingrid and Tim) were told to give the Bachelor and Bachelorette a gift. This lets Ingrid and Tim see the cheesy behavior of the fake characters. The phrase "planting seeds in the garden of gay" was actually used. I have to say it was the first time I had heard that one. They also broke away from the action frequently to show clips of what Ingrid and Tim thought of the gifts. Tim seemed very amused, while Ingrid tried to see the bright side of the gifts (even the mouse eating frog).

The next scene was a contest called "lap dance for love" the contestants were paired up and were dressed in goofy costumes, they then stripped down to swimsuits and gave a lap dance to either the bachelor (Austin) or bachelorette (Piper) depending on gender. Tim was paired with Eleanor (weepy girl) and Ingrid was paired with Ernie (heir). The game was scripted to allow Ingrid and Ernie to win, which allowed them to have a private date in a hot tub with Austin and Piper.

The show then goes to a goofy scene where a falcon flies in with a note tied to his leg. The host reads the note telling them that one woman will be eliminated tonight, he also tells them that whoever wins the love of the Austin or Piper will also win 100,000. They are also forbidden from telling this to Austin or Piper.

They now cut to the hot tub scene which allows Ingrid to get used to Ernie, Piper, and Austin. It allows for further development of Ernie, and some development of Piper and Austin. However the star of the scene is Bryce (stalker). He is shown spying on the group in the hot tub which creeps out Tim and the other "contestants." They have a discussion about Bryce's past...and a past restraining order is mentioned. Later when Ernie comes back the guys discuss how to get women. Ernie says listening is important, TJ (the playa) says you need to do the opposite of what is expected, and Bryce mentions hypnotism. Gerald is also developed further with his joking comments, though he seems to be moving away from the "gay" character into more of a friend character for Tim.

They now go to the final scene, the eviction ceremony. The girls are told that if they are chosen to go forward they will get a pearl necklace (in a very cheesy speech by the host). Each girl is told to give a speech as to why they should be able to remain. The girls all give speeches that are clearly rehearsed...which seems to puzzle Ingrid. Meanwhile Tim is having a very hard time keeping a straight face. The camera frequently cuts to him showing him struggling not to laugh at the dippy ceremony. Rita (drunk) is the one who is voted out. She staggers out of the room after saying that perhaps the cameras and lights (and maybe the booze) are to blame for them not clicking. Ingrid now asks if the other girls knew about the speech ahead of time, they try to defuse it by saying "you really thought we were good?" She doesn't seem to be satisfied though, and even comments that she felt like she was on the Truman show. They cut to the show writers and staff and show them all freaking out and trying to see if they can pull Tim out of the group, so he is not exposed to Ingrid's questions. This is where the show cuts out, leaving us to wonder what will happen next week.

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Overall this was an excellent episode. This type of show is very hard to do, since the real people they pick have to be able to carry the show. The actors are really just the backdrop for the reactions of the real contestants. Spike TV did an excellent job last year in picking Matt Kennedy Gould, and they seemed to do just as well in picking Ingrid and Tim. Tim in particular is very engaging, and seems to get a kick out of the show so far. They have quite a few cut scenes of him laughing at the insanity that often pops up in reality TV (and is exaggerated here). Ingrid is very attractive, and seems to be interesting as well. She definitely looks on the positive side of things, though given her comments at the end of the episode she clearly will be hard to hide the truth from. The actors have to be extra careful not to give her any other clues or she will figure it out. While the show tried to imply that she no knows...I doubt that this is really the case since in the scenes for next week's show she is having a normal interaction with the other characters. Of course it is clear that she suspects that something is going on. It will be interesting to see how the $100,000 comes into play later. With the way he stressed that they were not to tell Austin or Piper, it is clear that this will be a factor later in the game. I am guessing that one of the actors will let it "slip" and have to be eliminated. Either that or they can use it to create a huge drama (like Matt being told to eat dog crap last season).

As for the actors, some are clearly better than others. Rita (drunk) is clearly over acting. It is a good thing that they got rid of her in the first real eviction ceremony, since she would have given it away if they kept her around. I have known many people who drank to much, but they did not spend 24/7 staggering and falling to the ground. Ingrid even commented on the fact that Rita was having a hard time standing up. Gerald is doing an excellent job, while he does show a "sensitive" side when the script calls for it, he does not over do it. He also does not copy the stereotypical lisp that shows love to use to show that someone is gay...nor does he walk around flopping his arms. Eleanor is the most subtle of the group. Her bio says she is the sensitive weepy character, yet she does not walk around bawling. In fact I did not notice her cry once...though she did seem sensitive. She also made it clear that she was fond of Austin, but did not go over board like Bryce (stalker) did in his declaration of love for Piper. Speaking of Bryce he seemed to be a little too far over the top. Tim even commented that he does not understand how Bryce could have made it though the psychological screening. While having extreme characters is funny for us, Spike TV runs the risk of giving it away the secret if they are not careful.

Overall I think the show was very entertaining. There were tons of jokes, and they had me laughing even though I knew that they were scripted. They need to be more careful about giving away the secret though. After being so careful in Joe Schmoe 1, they seem to have gotten complacent. Of course part of that could be that they think it will be more amusing for the audience if there are a lot of close calls.

I would strongly recommend watching this show to anyone...particularly those who love to poke fun of relationships shows like the bachelor.