Joe Millionaire
Encyclopedia
Joe Millionaire is an American
reality television
show that was broadcast on Fox
beginning in January 2003. It was broadcast in the UK
that same year. A sequel, The Next Joe Millionaire, followed in October 2003.
The show was wildly successful and became a pop culture phenomenon, with over 40 million viewers in the United States tuning in to the season one finale making it the most-watched episode of any reality show since the season finale of the first season and premiere episode of the second season of Survivor.
Evan Marriott has inherited millions of dollars and is searching for a potential bride. He takes a group of hopeful women on several dates to exotic and luxurious locations, eliminating women at the end of each episode until only one woman remains. The main gimmick
of the show is that the entire "millionaire" premise is actually an elaborate ruse. The women are not aware that this bachelor is in fact a working class construction worker
. (The Smoking Gun
later discovered that Marriott had also been an underwear model for California Muscle
.) After all other contestants have been eliminated, the secret is revealed to the last remaining woman. If she decides to stay with Marriott anyway, the couple is surprised with a real check for a million dollars.
The show thus had moral overtones. Viewers could see how differently women treat a man they believe to be rich, and see if these attitudes change once they find out he is not rich. Following this happy ending, one of the disappointed contestants filed a lawsuit against the show's producers, who had supposedly deceived her with the lure of Evan's supposed wealth.
The show made a minor star out of Paul Hogan
, the manservant whose role developed in the words of the network "into the glue that held the show together". Hogan was not actually the host of the program - Alex McLeod
was the program's host, although she appeared only briefly on each episode, for an estimated total of five minutes during the six-episode season.
Runner-up Sarah Kozer
received notoriety when the media reported during the course of the show that she had appeared in bondage
videos while she was attending law school. In the show's sauciest scene Kozer appeared to go into the woods to fellate
Marriott. Marriot and Kozer claim no sex acts occurred. In the VH1
program VH1 News Presents: Reality TV Secrets Revealed she alleges that her statement "let's go somewhere quiet" was in fact spoken while she was receiving a back massage from another female contestant and that the producers dubbed it in during post editing and added kissing sound effects and the subtitles 'slurp, gulp, slurp' to make the scene more salacious. The show's editors corroborated this fact later in an interview for Radar
magazine.
Fourth place finalist Melissa Jo Hunter received celebrity status after Evan Marriott dumped her when she confessed her admiration by giving him a puzzle and a poem. She displayed to Marriott a check for one million dollars that she wrote to herself as a goal setting tactic, however Marriott mistakenly assumed she wanted someone else to cash the million dollar check.
A contestant known only as Heidi made waves when she admitted she already had a boyfriend and would marry a man for his money. An interview segment in which she quipped 'I'm a banker, I can help' about Marriott's supposed wealth seemed to underscore Heidi was a gold digger.
Zora Andrich was the last woman to stay with Marriott and the two were delighted by the million dollar reward. Unsurprisingly their union did not last - she claimed she was attracted to a completely different man and he claimed she lost her sex appeal when the show was over. Consequently they did not see each other afterwards. But the million dollar check was real and the pair split the money. Zora would later explain in the VH1 show VH1 News Presents: Reality TV Secrets Revealed that Marriott told her via cell phone that he did not choose her but Fox insisted he do so.
Joe Millionaire was filmed primarily at the Château de la Bourdaisière
in the countryside of the commune of Montlouis-sur-Loire in the Indre-et-Loire
département in France.
, primarily at the Villa Oliva in Tuscany. Marriott was replaced by 24-year-old David Smith from Midland, Texas, who, viewers were told, had earned only $11,000 the previous year as a cowboy on the rodeo circuit. Needing to find contestants who were unaware of the first show, the producers went to Europe and cast 14 English-speaking European girls from the Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Italy and Sweden. During casting, the women were told by Fox casting agents that the show they were going to appear on would involve a group of European girls interacting with American males on an island somewhere.
There was also a new "hostess," a then-unknown Samantha Harris. The butler was, once again, played by Paul Hogan.
However, the show's popularity, which depended entirely on its charade, dissolved very quickly. As the Associated Press put it, Joe Millionaire “has gone from one of TV’s most surprising successes to the new season’s most spectacular flameout.” FOX’s entertainment chair Sandy Grushow said, "Our instincts told us from the very beginning that 'Joe Millionaire' was a one-time stunt and I think we got greedy." He added, "We tried to sneak it by the American public a second time and we got called on it."
Initially, Fox appeared to promote the show to its American audience as a massive practical joke played on some snobby European women, who were shown nursing champagne-induced hangovers and depicted as turning up their noses at interacting with, or even assimilating the lifestyle of, an American cowboy. Smith was shown as polite and well-mannered, but unable to grasp any of the phrases or words he was taught in the different European languages or remembering the details of the faux-millionaire ruse he was expected to carry out. The show's climax occurred when one of the contestants, Linda Kazdová, from Czech Republic
, was brought back to the show after eliminating herself, and was later selected by Smith as the winner. By that time, though, the show's popularity had irreversibly declined, and no more seasons were produced.
A theme throughout the second series was the place of materialism and surface beauty in world culture. The show presented the world as a tapestry lain out for the contestants to frolic in
, not as a real environment where real people live. Discerning viewers could also note the manner in which creatively deceitful audio editing, heard in many of the voice-overs from contestants, characterized much of the production. The 'Joe Millionaire' series was a benchmark of a whole era of Fox Television reality shows that followed a similar formula—perpetrating a big scam on a group of unsuspecting contestants, with the audience watching them go through embarrassing situations, only to provide a 'happy ending' by awarding the eventual survivors a large sum of money.
Instead of sharing a million dollars, like Andrich and Marriott had in the first show, Smith was awarded a ranch in Texas, while Kazdova was given a check for $250,000. As with the first installment, the couple's post-show interaction was short-lived, as Smith and Kazdova were separated by distance shortly after the show aired. After an unsuccessful attempt at a show business career, Smith abandoned the rodeo and currently works in sales for an oilfield compressor leasing company and as a volunteer county marshall in his native Texas, still living on the ranch he was given at the end of the show. Kazdova went back to Prague to continue her education and currently resides in San Francisco, working as a marketing manager for a telecommunications firm. Several of the other contestants -- Giada Benedetti, Olinda Borggren, Alessia Loungo DiGiacomo, and Yassmin Pucci -- went on to film and television careers in their native lands.
The Next Joe Millionaire drew less than 7 million viewers a week with a season finale attracting only 9 million viewers.
In 2010, 'Entertainment Weekly' listed 'The Next Joe Millionaire' as being among the '50 Biggest Bombs In The History Of Television'.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show that was broadcast on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
beginning in January 2003. It was broadcast in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
that same year. A sequel, The Next Joe Millionaire, followed in October 2003.
The show was wildly successful and became a pop culture phenomenon, with over 40 million viewers in the United States tuning in to the season one finale making it the most-watched episode of any reality show since the season finale of the first season and premiere episode of the second season of Survivor.
Premise
The basic premise is that bachelorBachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
Evan Marriott has inherited millions of dollars and is searching for a potential bride. He takes a group of hopeful women on several dates to exotic and luxurious locations, eliminating women at the end of each episode until only one woman remains. The main gimmick
Gimmick
In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is typically thought to be of little relevance or use. Thus, a gimmick is a special feature for the sake of having a special feature...
of the show is that the entire "millionaire" premise is actually an elaborate ruse. The women are not aware that this bachelor is in fact a working class construction worker
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
. (The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources...
later discovered that Marriott had also been an underwear model for California Muscle
California Muscle
California Muscle, Inc., is a clothing company that sells men's underwear and swimwear. The company received some exposure in the media when its underwear was featured on the Showtime show, Queer as Folk, and when one of its models, Evan Marriott, was selected as Joe Millionaire on the Fox TV show...
.) After all other contestants have been eliminated, the secret is revealed to the last remaining woman. If she decides to stay with Marriott anyway, the couple is surprised with a real check for a million dollars.
The show thus had moral overtones. Viewers could see how differently women treat a man they believe to be rich, and see if these attitudes change once they find out he is not rich. Following this happy ending, one of the disappointed contestants filed a lawsuit against the show's producers, who had supposedly deceived her with the lure of Evan's supposed wealth.
First season
A theme throughout the first season was Marriott's attempt to ascertain which of the twenty contestants were sincere and which ones were simply seeking a wealthy mate.The show made a minor star out of Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan (butler)
Paul Hogan is a former Australian Consul turned celebrity butler. He is most famous to television audiences for portraying “the Butler” on the TV series Joe Millionaire...
, the manservant whose role developed in the words of the network "into the glue that held the show together". Hogan was not actually the host of the program - Alex McLeod
Alex McLeod
Alexandra Ann McLeod is an American television host and entertainment news correspondent best known for being the original host of TLC’s hit cable show, Trading Spaces...
was the program's host, although she appeared only briefly on each episode, for an estimated total of five minutes during the six-episode season.
Runner-up Sarah Kozer
Sarah Kozer
Sarah Ann Kozer is a television personality best known for her appearance in the reality television series Joe Millionaire, finishing as the runner-up to Zora Andrich.- Personal life :...
received notoriety when the media reported during the course of the show that she had appeared in bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
videos while she was attending law school. In the show's sauciest scene Kozer appeared to go into the woods to fellate
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
Marriott. Marriot and Kozer claim no sex acts occurred. In the VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
program VH1 News Presents: Reality TV Secrets Revealed she alleges that her statement "let's go somewhere quiet" was in fact spoken while she was receiving a back massage from another female contestant and that the producers dubbed it in during post editing and added kissing sound effects and the subtitles 'slurp, gulp, slurp' to make the scene more salacious. The show's editors corroborated this fact later in an interview for Radar
Radar (magazine)
RadarOnline is an American online publication. It started as a magazine first printed in 2003 as a test issue, relaunched twice in 2005 and 2006, and ceased publication in 2008. The magazine published articles on entertainment, fashion, politics, and human interest...
magazine.
Fourth place finalist Melissa Jo Hunter received celebrity status after Evan Marriott dumped her when she confessed her admiration by giving him a puzzle and a poem. She displayed to Marriott a check for one million dollars that she wrote to herself as a goal setting tactic, however Marriott mistakenly assumed she wanted someone else to cash the million dollar check.
A contestant known only as Heidi made waves when she admitted she already had a boyfriend and would marry a man for his money. An interview segment in which she quipped 'I'm a banker, I can help' about Marriott's supposed wealth seemed to underscore Heidi was a gold digger.
Zora Andrich was the last woman to stay with Marriott and the two were delighted by the million dollar reward. Unsurprisingly their union did not last - she claimed she was attracted to a completely different man and he claimed she lost her sex appeal when the show was over. Consequently they did not see each other afterwards. But the million dollar check was real and the pair split the money. Zora would later explain in the VH1 show VH1 News Presents: Reality TV Secrets Revealed that Marriott told her via cell phone that he did not choose her but Fox insisted he do so.
Joe Millionaire was filmed primarily at the Château de la Bourdaisière
Château de la Bourdaisière
The Château de la Bourdaisière is a castle in the countryside in the Commune of Montlouis-sur-Loire, in the Indre-et-Loire département of France.Its origins date back to the 14th century when it was a fortress belonging to Jean Meingre...
in the countryside of the commune of Montlouis-sur-Loire in the Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
département in France.
The Next Joe Millionaire
The second installment, following the same premise, was set in Northern ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, primarily at the Villa Oliva in Tuscany. Marriott was replaced by 24-year-old David Smith from Midland, Texas, who, viewers were told, had earned only $11,000 the previous year as a cowboy on the rodeo circuit. Needing to find contestants who were unaware of the first show, the producers went to Europe and cast 14 English-speaking European girls from the Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Italy and Sweden. During casting, the women were told by Fox casting agents that the show they were going to appear on would involve a group of European girls interacting with American males on an island somewhere.
There was also a new "hostess," a then-unknown Samantha Harris. The butler was, once again, played by Paul Hogan.
However, the show's popularity, which depended entirely on its charade, dissolved very quickly. As the Associated Press put it, Joe Millionaire “has gone from one of TV’s most surprising successes to the new season’s most spectacular flameout.” FOX’s entertainment chair Sandy Grushow said, "Our instincts told us from the very beginning that 'Joe Millionaire' was a one-time stunt and I think we got greedy." He added, "We tried to sneak it by the American public a second time and we got called on it."
Initially, Fox appeared to promote the show to its American audience as a massive practical joke played on some snobby European women, who were shown nursing champagne-induced hangovers and depicted as turning up their noses at interacting with, or even assimilating the lifestyle of, an American cowboy. Smith was shown as polite and well-mannered, but unable to grasp any of the phrases or words he was taught in the different European languages or remembering the details of the faux-millionaire ruse he was expected to carry out. The show's climax occurred when one of the contestants, Linda Kazdová, from Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, was brought back to the show after eliminating herself, and was later selected by Smith as the winner. By that time, though, the show's popularity had irreversibly declined, and no more seasons were produced.
A theme throughout the second series was the place of materialism and surface beauty in world culture. The show presented the world as a tapestry lain out for the contestants to frolic in
Escapism
Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life...
, not as a real environment where real people live. Discerning viewers could also note the manner in which creatively deceitful audio editing, heard in many of the voice-overs from contestants, characterized much of the production. The 'Joe Millionaire' series was a benchmark of a whole era of Fox Television reality shows that followed a similar formula—perpetrating a big scam on a group of unsuspecting contestants, with the audience watching them go through embarrassing situations, only to provide a 'happy ending' by awarding the eventual survivors a large sum of money.
Instead of sharing a million dollars, like Andrich and Marriott had in the first show, Smith was awarded a ranch in Texas, while Kazdova was given a check for $250,000. As with the first installment, the couple's post-show interaction was short-lived, as Smith and Kazdova were separated by distance shortly after the show aired. After an unsuccessful attempt at a show business career, Smith abandoned the rodeo and currently works in sales for an oilfield compressor leasing company and as a volunteer county marshall in his native Texas, still living on the ranch he was given at the end of the show. Kazdova went back to Prague to continue her education and currently resides in San Francisco, working as a marketing manager for a telecommunications firm. Several of the other contestants -- Giada Benedetti, Olinda Borggren, Alessia Loungo DiGiacomo, and Yassmin Pucci -- went on to film and television careers in their native lands.
The Next Joe Millionaire drew less than 7 million viewers a week with a season finale attracting only 9 million viewers.
In 2010, 'Entertainment Weekly' listed 'The Next Joe Millionaire' as being among the '50 Biggest Bombs In The History Of Television'.
See also
- The Bachelor
- Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? is a Fox network reality show in which multi-millionaire Rick Rockwell asked Darva Conger to marry him...