Zap2it - TV news - ‘Schmos’ Make Peace with Faux-Reality Fame

I watched the finale last night of Joe Schmo 2 and, although not nearly as good as the first season, it was still entertaining with a ton of laughs. You could tell Tim was pissed when he realized the proverbial joke was on him…and he made Valerie, the actress who played bachelorette Piper, cry. Not good, TDubbs.

This show was so much fun. There were a couple of “characters” I didn’t really care for, like Rita the Drunk (thank goodness she was tossed the first episode) and even Ambrosia as “the Bitch” was kind of contrived. Joe Schmo 2’s executive producer said the show was, “First, a parody and secondly, a practical joke…putting someone into a ridiculous situation and screwing with them.” I think this is a great concept but if it were me…and I had to do this again…I wouldn’t do the “romance” reality genre again. It’s one thing to tempt people with money like on the first season’s Lap of Luxury because most normal people don’t get emotionally attached to a large sum of money, but it’s different with matters of the heart.

I told my husband if they decide to go for a Joe Schmo 3 they should do something along the lines of The Apprentice…it would give them a whole new set of “challenges” and games and well, it’s cheaper than flying all of them to Vanuatu.

We’ve watched every reality show cliche, from the Meet My Folks lie detector tests & meeting of the parents to Ingrid’s grandfather “dying” Survivor-style to Bryce’s Big Brother-esque banners. For true reality television aficionados, they even threw in a Temptation Island twist where we learn Piper & Austin used to date and are now trying to figure out if they want to be together with each other or with the other suitors. The finale even gave us the now-classic Average Joe stunt of putting the suitors in fat suits and bad wigs while pretending to be relatives for the benefit of the bachelor or bachelorette.

If you asked me what my favorite scene was for the whole season, it would be the one that you never see on reality shows but always hope for. When Eleanor the Weeper is “betrayed” by Austin the Bachelor & Cammy the Buxom Moron (”You used one of my coupons? With Cammy????”) and then Austin asks Eleanor to stay, she’s obviously upset and replies, “No, I will not accept your pearl necklace. In fact, you can take your pearl necklace and your half-hearted locket and shove them up your ass.” That kind of thing just doesn’t happen on real reality shows, which I find just tragic because, come on, how much fun would that be to see some of these jerks get what they deserve?

But alas, eventually the Falcon Twists and “connections” must come to an end, and all three of our Schmoes…Tim, Amanda & Ingrid get all of their trips and checks for $100,000. I was confused when Amanda was talking about not having to work 2 jobs anymore, then later she said “3 0r 4 jobs” so I really don’t know what she does. But, all three of them live in DC and if Tee Dubbs Pub ever actually opens up, I’ll be on a plane out there so I can order me up a Bryce Stalkertini.

If you missed the entire season of Joe Schmo 2, you could probably get away with just watching the finale and still know what was going on. If you see a replay, check it out. It’s only 2 hours of your time.