They said it couldn't be done. But it will be. The Associated Press reports that Fox TV chairman Sandy Grushow has confirmed that the network will produce a second edition of Joe Millionaire, even though potential contestants are unlikely to be fooled by a repeat of the show's underlying fraud regarding "Joe"'s wealth. Instead, a different gimmick has been developed.
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Said Grushow, "It can't be done identically to the first one for all the obvious reasons, [but we have] come up with a notion that carries all of the same values forward. We're obviously optimistic that it will perform extremely well when it returns."
As noted previously, the success of Joe Millionaire helped propel Fox to a first-place finish among viewers 18-49 in the February sweeps. Thus, Fox had hinted previously that Joe might return in revised form.
More intriguing is Grushow's comment about carrying the same values forward. We presume that he means the new show will also be built not on the trust and warmth so necessary to establishing a loving relationship, but instead on fraud and humiliation. We can't wait to see it.
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