| What was once the Nashville Network (TNN) is now Spike TV, as the network that once put its emphasis on being hick, rather than hip, calls itself the first network for men.
What it really seems to be is the network for one kind of man – the sloping forehead, fart-joke loving, hanging-out-at-Hooters-until-closing-time dude. For these guys, the network has a trio of lowbrow animated series. There’s the potty-humour-laced Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, the loutish and rude Gary the Rat and the can’t-get-enough-of-animated-boobies Striperella, featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson.
Also popping up on Spike TV’s lineup are Hot Babes countdown specials and an original sport series called Slamball. This colossal misfire tries to turn basketball into urban warfare with guys bouncing off trampolines and crashing into each other as they spring towards the net. It’s a game that comes off dumb and silly rather than in-your-face.
But amidst Spike TV’s lineup of throwaway shows come two highly enjoyable guilty pleasures. The first is Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, a humiliation-based Japanese game show that features an absurd physical contest with an English language voiceover track. The gag is that the English voices, supplied by American comedians, are certainly not repeating what the Japanese hosts and contestants originally said.
True comic genius is supplied by Chris Darga and Victor Wilson, who provide the voices of gaudy, kimono-wearing hosts known as Kenny Blankenship and Vic Romano, respectively. Treasured moments come when colour commentary guy Blankenship says stuff like, "Yeah, children are cool, but I’m only nice to kids whose moms are hot." And play-by-play man Romano confidently responds with his trademark, "Right you are, Ken!"
Providing the comedic climax of this addictive TV spectacle is the video montage wrap-up of the 10 most painful game show eliminations of the day. In one episode, a clip of a woman’s face smacking against a gigantic roller was laughably repeated about as many times as the U.S. media showed Britney and Madonna’s MTV Music Awards kiss.
While Most Extreme Elimination Challenge hammers you with razor-sharp one-liners and sight gags, its Spike TV compatriot, The Joe Schmo Show, more subtly lampoons the reality-TV genre. Promoted to death by its network, this show features one real guy surrounded by actors in a rigged and scripted reality show called The Lap of Luxury. It’s sort of like a TV version of The Truman Show in that an elaborate TV world has been created to prey on the emotions and naiveté of a single ordinary guy.
And that’s what Matt Gould, a.k.a. Joe Schmo, definitely is – an ordinary guy. He’s a not-so handsome, blue-collar schlub who hoots and hollers in delight whenever female contestants prance around in bikinis. He also sports an open-mouthed look of befuddlement whenever a bizarre new wrinkle in the story is introduced.
The fictitous participants in the Survivor/Big Brother-like Lap of Luxury game are a well-rounded collection of familiar reality-show casting choices. There’s the yappy asshole, the requisite gay guy, the sheltered virgin female and the unpopular military vet.
The Joe Schmo Show sometimes stumbles by over-hyping the behind-the-scenes drama of trying to maintain Gould’s fantasy world. However, for poking fun at such hallowed reality-show staples as the elimination ceremony, it’s a good time in front of the tube.
On Lap of Luxury, contestants that are booted off have a commemorative plate bearing their likeness smashed into a fireplace as the smug, blow-dried host announces, "You are dead to us." Those moments alone make the Joe Schmo Show a heck of lot more satisfying than a full serving of Slamball – the Spike TV guy who green-lighted that dud is the one who should have his balls slammed. |
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