I’ve seen islands, hotels, cruises and plain old houses being the backdrop of reality shows. Some have drama, some flat out stink. None have the comedy factor that Joe Schmo does. They put a regular guy, Matthew Kennedy Gould, on what he thinks is a cutthroat show called Lap of Luxury, where the prize is 100 G’s for the last one standing. Really they’re just jerking his chain because everyone else is acting. Comedy ensues and some of the most priceless one liners I have ever heard. First of all, they vie for the immunity robe in the competitions. It looks like something a pimp would wear, and the holder is named Lord of the Manor. The first competition featured holding onto adult film star Tawny Roberts, who just happened to be wearing only a bikini bottom. Amazingly, Matt, who had drawn her breast to hold, was the first to let go. That move left the cast and surely the audience at home stunned. It left me on the floor laughing at him.

When getting ready to be voted out, Ralph Garman (The Smarmy Host) tells the group that one of them will “Go back to working for the man”. Then when the votes are cast to evict someone, he tosses a plate with their image engraved on it into the fire and says quite simply, “You’re dead to us”. How funny is that?

In the first episode, “Gina the schemer” (played by Nikki Davis) was shown the door. Her final blow was casting a vote for Matt, who reacted with shock that she turned on him. The next elimination it was “Earl the veteran” (played by Franklin Jones) who left, setting off a chorus of cries from Matt and the cast. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry myself, as Matt contemplated quitting the game, saying it wasn’t worth the money to go through that. Drama and comedy, what more could you ask for?

Other characters include Brian Keith Etheridge as “Brian the buddy”. You might recognize him from Jimmy Dean commercials, chasing around a squirrel in the park. David Hornsby plays “The Hutch” or “asshole” and you might see him on The Mullets on UPN this fall. Melissa Yvonne Lewis is “Ashleigh the rich b*****” and Angela Dodson is “Molly the virgin”. The two of them pine for Ralph, and Matt has a crush on Melissa/Ashleigh, but you won’t confuse this show with Paradise Hotel. Kristen Wiig portrays “Dr. Pat the quack” who is just plain weird. Lance Krall is “Kip the gay guy” who isn’t really gay.

None of them are going to win Emmys, but as an ensemble working with Matt’s reactions to the events it works pretty well. Matt is the entire show. His responses to what is going on around him are priceless. I’m done for now, just watch the show. You’ll be glad you did.