Slashdot Mirror
William Shatner to Star in New Reality TV Series
Gildor writes "The small town of Riverside, Iowa has long billed itself as the birthplace of James T. Kirk. So they were thrilled when William Shatner came there to film a Star Trek prequel about the early life of Kirk. Except there was no movie. After about 9 days, Shatner announced they were actually filming a reality TV mini-series."
According to the article, Shatner, when he announced it was a hoax, gave the town $100,000 as a gift. The crew of the "film" donated $12,000 to the library. Most people where just happy to have him in town...and Shatner said it wasn't going to make fun of anyone - the reality TV show was when a big Hollywood production company comes in to a small town.
They also spent $1,000,000 to make the show, much of that going into the towns economy. What would be REALLY cool was if the reality show went over well and Shatner decided to actually make the movie into a real movie. That could be pretty cool, and it would already have tons of publicity and marketing started for it.
Maybe we DID take the blue pill. You wouldn't remember anyway.
You obviously haven't seen Spike TV's Joe Schmoe, or Joe Schmoe II They're not 'real' reality TV shows. They're set up so that most of the 'stars' of the show are actually actors. There are one or two people on the show who have no idea they compatriots are actually actors, and assume they're just regular people on a reality show like they are. I have a feeling this is going to wind up be Joe Schmoe III. The first two Joe Schmoe's were hilarious, and well written. Defiantely worth checking out (though I haven't been able to find them on BitTorrent)
------------------
"Never Attribute to malice what is adequately explained by stupidity..."
Kirk could be re-visiting his hometown, or, perhaps he's telling the story about his early life as an old man much as Indiana Jones.
This seems to be a going trend for TV producers to claim they are working on project A in order to get people to unwittingly participate in project B... here on Slashdot not to look ago there was a warning story about MTV Networks fooling experts into appearing on a Comedy Central project called "Crossballs"
MTV Networks seems to be making a habit of this. MTV itself fooled a half dozen college students who thought they were interning on a music video project into being the stars of Faking the Video. And let's not forget TNN/SpikeTV's project called The Joe Schmo Show.
There oughta be a law against these things... because apparently basic fraud hasn't caught up to when fraud is being done in the name of TV.
Oh, that's not really fair. Have you read his "Get a Life"? Contempt is the last word I would use to describe his feelings towards his fans. (The book title is mocking his (in)famous joke on SNL, btw.)
They should have done a reality TV show about how the real Kirk will be from a long line of Mexican-Iowans.
Seastead this.
Much as I loved Deforest Kelly, I doubt he's rolling in his grave.
Don't forget, Mr. Kelly had a role in "Night of the Lepus" - a film about mutated giant Bunny Rabbits!!
DeForest was obviously a little desparate for work after the original series.
I think it's interesting. The town doesn't seem to mind all that much. There's only 930 people in the town. Now their famous.
:)
And what if the movie ends up being made? It might if things go right.
Think about a bit bigger picture. And actually, if your religious, we're here for God's entertainment.
One person got paid $5,000 for nine days. The town made $100,000. In two weeks. Not bad. Let's just ssee how it plays out.
Maybe we DID take the blue pill. You wouldn't remember anyway.
I guess you can look at this two ways... One, a good ol' boy playing a friendly prank on his old town, or the one I'm favoring at the moment; Galaxy Quest primadonna trying to make it off the dying embers of his career. I mean, why his town? Why not some other middle America? I'm thinking because that's where his name was the strongest and would be least likely questioned. In otherwords, the easiest marks they could find. Yeah, so they gave em' a $112,000... BFD. That's called a bribe in order not to litigate Shatner's ass for being played the fool, like every other "you're a fool and we secretly know it" show out there. Besides, only $112,000 to the entire town? They're obviously hoping to make $$$ off it's syndication, which means $100,000 divided by 903 people is fucking peanuts.
I know they could portray them as decent folk as Rev. Rich Adam hopes, but these shows don't get viewership off folks being good and decent. They get it by putting people in tight spots and making em look like fools. Oh hey, Guess who didn't attend James Doohan's (suffering from Parkinson's disease, diabetes, lung fibrosis and Alzheimer's disease) annointement to the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Probably too busy getting a great hotel rate.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Now their famous.
Yeah, being made fools of can make people famous in todays entertainment. Briefly. Very briefly. Yay.
I'll pass, thank you.
Does anyone seriously think a movie will come out of this? Come on...
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
There's only 930 people in the town. Now their famous.
Yes - they are famous for being duped. It remains to be seen, but they may yet become famous for being people that the nation laughs at. Fame isn't always a good thing. Fame isn't for everyone. Fame usually doesn't live up to the expectations of those that want it.