After being preempted by last week's The GQ Men of the Year Awards, Spike TV's popular The Joe Schmo Show "fake" reality show will conclude on Tuesday, October 28 at 9PM ET with a two-hour series finale as the gullible (but likeable) Matt Kennedy Gould will finally learn the truth behind the fake Lap of Luxury reality show in which he has been competing.
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While the finale promos seem to promise plenty of fireworks when Gould learns the truth, apparently time (or perhaps more probably the prospect of additional fame and fortune) seems to have healed Gould's initial hard feelings over the massive prank. Gould, who refused to participate in any The Joe Schmo Show promotion before the show premiered, apparently has had a change of heart and is now, like most other reality TV contestants, looking to exploit his fifteen minutes of fame.
Gould, the 27-year-old law school dropout-turned-pizza-boy from Pittsburgh who endeared himself to millions of viewers with his repeated "I just want a house, a dog, and a girl" mantra and seemingly "everyman" attitude, has now apparently had a bit of a change of heart regarding his future ambitions. In an interview published this week, Gould tells the Miami Herald that having now shed twenty pounds, he's decided to embark on that most typical of reality TV contestant pursuits -- a Hollywood acting career. "Of course, you get the feedback because people stand to make money off you," Gould says, "but I got it from people in the acting world in Pittsburgh who think I do have something to offer."
Gould apparently just doesn't get it -- what he had to offer, what made him near-unique among an ever-increasing swarm of reality show contestants was his sincerity, openess, vulnerability, and kindness. Not his acting skills (how can the show have demonstrated his "acting" skills when even he acknowledges he never put together all the pieces of the puzzle?) Now he's just going to be another desperate former reality contestant hitting the bright lights in the big city looking to exploit his modest fame. Apparently "joe" was too good to be true. Perhaps the next Joe Schmo will "get it."