What I Saw

What I really want to talk about today is "The Joe Schmo Show: Season 2." Yep, we're going back to dark days of 2004 for this post.

I was recently told to check out this show. Correction: I was recently told that I needed to see this show. I was told it would change my life.

Five years ago, I didn't know it existed. I remember the first season of "Joe Schmo." It was OK. I laughed a bit. I had no idea a sequel was made. Now I believe that the sequel might be the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. That might be a bit hyperbolic, but I'm dead serious.

The DVDs came out over the summer, but I was told only last week about them. I put the series in my Netflix queue and the first disc of the set arrived at my apartment Saturday. Life has not been the same since. I don't want this to end. I want to savor each and every episode. I watched one at 8 a.m. this morning, and I bet I woke up the neighbors laughing. Loudly. Howling, really. Tears. Lots of them.

So, basically, in case you don't know, the premise of "Joe Schmo 2" is that two regular people are invited to be part of a dating reality show very much like "The Bachelor." The only thing is that everyone else is an actor. Everyone. The bachelor. The bachelorette. The other contestants. The host. All of it. It's very "Truman Show" like. The cast does hilarious things to get a rise out of the two people who believe everything to be true.

I can't even explain the crap that goes down. Basically, every stereotype is amped up. Every thing ridiculous that's a little subtle on a show on ABC is the furthest thing from subtle on this program, which originally aired on Spike. Seriously, I can quite make it clear how amazingly awesome each and every moment is, how much I laugh and laugh.

Here's a clip. Just watch:



On another note, over the last few days, I've seen three movies: "Zombieland," "Paranormal Activity" and "A Serious Man." Let me just say that I wholeheartedly recommend "Zombieland," which is a truly comedic romp of energy. I'm not a big zombie guy, but this one won over my heart. I was laughing throughout.

"Paranormal" is something to see this week, what with Halloween being all the rage and everything. Yet I can't really tell people to check out "A Serious Man," the newest Coen brothers flick. It was weird. And with repeated viewings it might turn out to be good, but I'm not so sure. The jury's out.

I guess that's basically it for today. Mount Eerie and Tara Jane O'Neil are The Space tonight. That's a show you don't want to miss. Seriously.