Ideas for the next Joe Schmo Show?
How about a fake American Idol? No actors are involved this time. Every contestant is a real regular Joe. Each week, a good singer is voted off until they finally crown the WORST singer ever.
They already did this type of show. It was a rip off of American Idol where they made bad singers think they were very good and the worst singer made it to the end which is when they told the winner the truth.
shareIt was called WB Superstar USA. I have some old episodes on tape. One of the funniest shows ever. Youtube it.
"What?" - Don Draper
[deleted]
The WB's Superstar USA is a television show which spoofed the popular show American Idol. Essentially that show's polar opposite, Superstar USA told contestants they were looking for the best singer when they were actually looking for the worst. Hosted by Brian McFayden (Ryan Seacrest's double), people first audition before three judges (the sarcastic Briggs, who also produces the show and could be considered the "Simon" of the show; rapper Tone Loc, the show's answer to Randy Jackson; and singer Vitamin C, put into Paula Abdul's role) in four cities across the United States. Finalists were chosen based on the lie that they were the most likely to be able to parlay their win into a successful recording contact based on talent. However, the audition process was the opposite of American Idol as good singers were mocked and told no while bad singers were given gushing praise and passed to the next round.
Said finalists were subjected to makeovers where they were encouraged to emulate pop stars. Contestants would then be falsely encouraged and praised by the judges as well as the stylists, choreographers and vocal coaches; in particular, they would be encouraged to try and stretch their vocal range far beyond what they could actually reach. Contestants with charistmatic personalities, such as the singer/songwriter pro-cheerleader Nina "Diva", were heavily encouraged to follow all of the producer driven directives.
Eventually the contest was "won" by a singer named Jamie Foss, a buxom young blonde girl (who bore a resemblance to Jessica Simpson) who could barely carry a tune. Throughout the competition she was constantly mocked by judges with thinly veiled references to the largeness of her breasts. She was awarded $50,000 in cash and a $50,000 budget to produce a record, which has not yet surfaced. The truth was revealed to her on stage in front of the audience she had just sung for, but Foss did not seem very upset with the truth.
One producer, worried that the live audience members would not be able to respectfully compose themselves during the final performances, deceived the audience by falsely informing them that the singers were all terminally ill young people, who were having a wish fulfilled by a charitable organization. The LA Times reported the organization named by the producer was the Make a Wish Foundation, which later received an apology from the WB. In an interview with USA Today, executive producer Mike Fleiss straightened out the details: "First of all, it was me. But I did not say 'Make-A-Wish.' I said, 'Who's heard of the One Wish Foundation?' and people raised their hands. There is no One Wish Foundation. It was a prank on top of a prank. It was the only way to get it to work." Mike Fleiss wanted to gain ratings for the WB network which quickly changed its name to the CW network after all the defamation of character and false presentations of said performers- half who were professionally hoaxed and the other half brought on for entertainment purposes.
Source: Internet
You could have America's Next Big Star, with maybe Deborah Gibson, Jaleel White, and Ralph Garman playing a Simon Cowell "super agent" character, mentoring wannabe stars and starlets.
"You want to be a star, you have to be in London on Monday, LA on Tuesday, and Tokyo on Wednesday. To mimic this hectic schedule, you need to stay awake for 72 straight hours while strapped to a broken lounge chair."
Another idea: A fake "The Apprentice" with a fake Donald Trump-esque billionaire. Has that been done before?
shareYes it has been done before. It's called "My big fat obnoxious boss". Not only have it been done before, but it's AMAZING! I've watched each episode like 20 times. No joke! Unfortunately i only got it in low quiality and there's no DVD out
shareWasn't that show cancelled before it finished? I watched it too, thought it was funny, but then they pulled the plug and never aired the last few episodes. I had to read about what happened on the internet, I think they might have aired web-episodes.
Very resourceful, guys!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Big_Fat_Obnoxious_Boss
Not sure. I'm from Denmark and the entire show aired here with all episodes. The ones I got on my computer have some episodes in horribly low quality. It's too bad, because I would definintely buy the dvd if it was out there. I even contacted one of the producers on facebook, but he never responded :-D
shareSomething with trying to find the next big stand-up comedian. There could be some fun situations like the actors/contestants stealing each other's material and a challenge where they have to withstand having tomatoes thrown at them.
They could find a legitimately once-popular-but-now-way-past-his-prime comedian to be the season's version of Lorenzo, and Ralph as host could play a guy who once opened for this over-the-hill comedian.
Maybe they could even have the reveal take place in a big venue full of fans who were let it on the joke beforehand.
Another idea: A fake America's Got Talent
shareHow about a fake modeling competition? Those are pretty popular. They could have both a Joe Schmo and a Jane Schmo. Or, maybe even just a Jane Schmo to make it different from the previous seasons. Ralph could maybe pretend to be a famous photographer...the contestants would have to do crazy photo-shoots and challenges.
Welcome to Fright Night....for real.
Cool idea.
shareI have an idea...have the fake show be named "The Ultimate Reality Show". Each day will be a different challenge, each one a ripoff of famous reality shows.
One day could be a drive-around scavenger hunt (Amazing Race), the next day work in a restaurant kitchen (Hell's Kitchen/Top Chef), next day try to sell something ridiculous on a street corner (Apprentice), next day a singing or talent competition (American Idol/America's Got Talent/take your pick).
It could keep things fresh and interesting, the Schmoe would be put through the ringer, and the producers could have a lot of fun parodying a slew of shows.
Interesting...
shareI think a Mole type Joe Schmo would be interesting, but I guess the Mole just isn't popular enough for that, not to mention it hasn't been on since 2008 in the U.S.
Wonder if Ralph Garman can still host the Joe Schmo Shows now that he's so recognized.
Maybe he can still be involved but be in the control room next time. So, we still get to see him when they show the "behind-the-scenes" drama.
When Chase kept figuring stuff out, I read a post that speculated that he DID know all the time and was punking the actors.
How about doing that for REAL? Make it so that EVERYONE is an actor, even the Schmo. Then he can go around and freak out all the other actors. At the reveal when the question is inevitably asked, "Who here is an actor?!" the Schmo would also raise his hand dealing the final freak-out, including to the audience!