The Joe Schmo Show (2003)

Comedy · Reality-TV

An average, everyday person finds themselves selected for a reality TV show with a large prize at stake. Little do they know they're the only contestant: all the other "competitors" are actors and the whole show is just a set up to test how they react to different scenarios and moral dilemmas.

IMDb rating: 8.1 (1,805 votes)
Episode average: 7.2 -0.9 vs IMDb
Seasons: 3
Language: EN
Type: TV series

U-shaped trajectory: strong first and last seasons, a sag between. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every U-shaped show in the explorer →

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 3 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (2003)

8.18 avg 9 episodes 7.3 → 9.5

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Episode #1.1	7.3	66
2	Episode #1.2	8.1	55
3	Episode #1.3	7.2	53
4	Episode #1.4	8.4	53
5	Episode #1.5	7.6	51
6	Episode #1.6	8.7	67
7	Episode #1.7	9.0	65
8	Episode #1.8	7.8	48
9	Episode #1.9	9.5	79

Season 2 (2004)

5.54 avg 9 episodes 5.3 → 6.1

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	On with the Schmo	5.3	37
2	A Bottle of Red, a Bottle of White	4.5	31
3	The Crisis	5.5	30
4	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	7.9	40
5	Porked and Beans	5.2	30
6	Requiem for a Frog	4.2	28
7	Cruiser	7.0	36
8	T.J. Needs T.P.	4.2	29
9	Finale	6.1	30

Season 3 (2013)

7.80 avg 10 episodes 7.4 → 9.4 42 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Bounty Begins	7.4	54
2	A Date with Lady Justice	7.3	36
3	Schmo in the Wild	7.3	32
4	Say Hey to Ray Ray	7.7	29
5	Bring Your Convict to Work Day	8.8	40
6	An Actor Among Us!	8.0	29
7	Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?	9.6	49
8	Fear No Evil	4.5	28
9	The Rise of the Lamas	8.0	28
10	The Reveal	9.4	52

The Joe Schmo Show (2003)

Cast

Seasons

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