TBS Network will be rebooting two of its signature shows, “The Joe Schmo Show” and “Dinner and a Movie.” Both of these relaunches were announced by Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. Networks Group, during the company’s Upfront presentation in New York City.
“The Joe Schmo Show” originally ran for 3 seasons on Paramount Global’s channel, Spike. The series poked fun at the reality TV craze by having a regular guy believe he is competing on one. The twist is, his fellow contestants are actually a cast of highly skilled improv comics. And everyone is in on the fact that the competition isn’t real, except for one person.
This series has had a recent spike in relevance again given the success of Amazon’s Freevee prank show “Jury Duty.” Which operates on a similar premise except it’s a trial and not a reality TV competition. “The Joe Schmo Show” reboot will see the return of the original creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Since the series ended that pair haven’t done much career-wise, except write a little indie flick called “Deadpool.”
“When The Joe Schmo Show launched 20 years ago, it was ahead of its time,” said Jason Sarlanis, President, Turner Networks, ID and HLN, linear & streaming. “In rebooting this classic for a modern, savvy audience, it gives us the opportunity to comment on the often absurd and hilarious tropes of reality television in ways our viewers will love.” The new series is hosted by “So You Think Can Dance‘s” Cat Deeley, and is expected to launch sometime next year.
TBS’s “Dinner and a Movie” ran for 16 years on the network. The series had two celebrity hosts show a movie while they prepared a dish related to the film. For example; when they showed the film “Drumline” they made “The Beets Go On.” Which was also a playful reference to the Sonny & Cher song “The Beat Goes On”.
“Dinner and a Movie” original ran from 1995-2011 with several different hosts. While chef Claud Mann and comedian Paul Gilmartin were fairly consistent hosts throughout its run. The lineup also saw Annabelle Gurwitch from 1996–2002, Lisa Kushell from 2002–2005, and Janet Varney from 2005 until the series ended.
With the success of shows like “The Last Drive-In” with Joe Bob Briggs it seems that the public is once again interested in films hosted by celebrities/critics. Currently, there isn’t really any information on the “Dinner and a Movie” reboot. Aside from it will follow the same formula of celebrities watching/commenting on movies while making a dish semi-linked to the film.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about “The Joe Schmo Show” and “Dinner and a Movie” as they become available. You can check out a trailer for the revamped “The Joe Schmo Show” below:
