Living the Dream (TV series)

Living the Dream was the New Zealand version of Spike TV's Joe Schmo Show, produced by Touchdown Television for TV2.

Description

It was a reality TV show (actually a parody of reality game shows) that began airing in August 2004 and involves a setup that is reminiscent of the movie "The Truman Show".

One man, Sam Chambers, thinks he's on a reality TV show called "Living the Dream". However, all of the other members in this reality TV show, including the , are actually actors and the entire show is an elaborate hoax centred around the main character. All of the events and games played are staged to give a particular outcome designed to elicit a response from the main character for comedic effect.

The other "contestants" are stereotypes of common reality TV show contestants. They are (real names follow character names/descriptions):

* "Mick the Prick" - Jason Fitch
* "Rima, the Schemer" - Awanui Simich-Pene
* "Billy the Gay Guy" - Jeremy Birchall
* "Mule the Former SAS Soldier" - Stephan Hall
* "Betty the New Age flake" - Kirsty Cooke
* "Tiffany the Rich Bitch" - Sarah Thomson
* "Ben the Best Mate" - Charlie McDermott
* "Mary the Virgin" - Victoria Blackman
* "Mark Ferguson, the Smarmy host" - Himself

At the end of the show, Chambers received the $50,000 prize for which he was "competing" as well as all the other prizes given away in the show.

Sam's colloquial exclamation "Crikey!" became the show's catch phrase.

External links

* [http://www.tv.com/living-the-dream/show/29013/summary.html Living the Dream at TV.com]
* [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tv2_story_skin/438986?format=html TV2's Living the Dream page]