Joe Schmoe 3

[starvenger 0]

From Zap2It.com

 

Shatner, Spike Pull 'Schmo' Job on Entire Town

(Wednesday, September 29 02:27 PM)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) William Shatner was in Iowa this week, telling an entire town that he had just played an enormous prank on it, and the results would be airing on television early next year.

Shatner, who won an Emmy this month for his work on ABC's "The Practice" and stars in its spinoff, "Boston Legal," fronted the hoax for Spike TV and "Joe Schmo Show" creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The result, "Invasion Iowa," will debut on the cable channel in early 2005.

 

"Invasion Iowa" will tell the story of a fake film production in the town of Riverside, Iowa -- a town of 978 south of Iowa City that, in "Star Trek" lore, is the birthplace of Shatner's character, Capt./Adm. James T. Kirk. The production spent 10 days in town, hiring locals as actors and crew members, before revealing the prank.

 

"I fell in love with the people of Riverside," Shatner says. "And the hardest part of this whole experience was containing my empathy for the individuals who listened to and identified with the soap opera that we played out in front of them."

As with the two "Joe Schmos," the people playing Shatner's assistant, "spiritual adviser" and various other entourage and crew members are acting, and Shatner plays an exaggerated version of himself as the writer-director-producer-star of an independent sci-fi film.

 

"This is unlike anything that's ever been tried in the history of television," Reese says. "It was truly a breathtaking experience."

 

The goal, the producers say, was to poke fun at the excesses of Hollywood, using locals as both characters and audience. Shatner presented the town with a check for $100,000, to go toward city services, for its trouble.

 

I gotta say, that's just fucking brilliant...

[Mik 0]

Awesome.

[Guest Fook]

Sounds great

[razazteca 0]

I liked the idea.........when it was called Faking the Video on MTV. [/David Spade voice]

[Mik 0]

Yeah, but with the Joe Schmo guys I can only imagine the awesomeness involved.

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

I have high expectations for this. It better not disapoint. Or I'll... I'll... Oh I dunno. Hope its good.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

That's great...I was sad that Joe Schmoe was over, but it's nice to see the producers are up to their old tricks. Plus, Shatner. They can't fail.

[Red Baron 0]

Wow.

 

This can only lead to one thing.

 

Pure awesomeness

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Um...did anyone watch this?

[dubq 0]

I liked the idea.........when it was called Faking the Video on MTV. [/David Spade voice]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Faking the Video was retarded, this show actually sounds watchable.

[Chazz 0]

Um...did anyone watch this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Didn't this already air on Spike In Early March?

[razazteca 0]

How many episodes was shown?

[MDH257 0]

How many episodes was shown?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

4 episodes, 5 hours.

 

Invasion Iowa Episode Guide

 

I think Spike gave up on it. It was supposed to air weekly like Joe Schmo, but Spike told them to edit it down and instead of 8-10 hours, they showed 5 hours and aired it all in one week.

[Jericholic82 0]

I never even saw it or knew that it aired. that sucks