'Joe Schmo' Won't Get Fooled Again

By Stephen M. Silverman And Sona Charaipotra

Monday October 27, 2003 07:33 AM EST

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The joke is almost over for Matt Kennedy Gould, the central figure on Spike TV's elaborate reality prank "The Joe Schmo Show," which will have its series finale on Tuesday.

After eight episodes, Gould, a law-school dropout, will find out that he really wasn't vying for $100,000 on a goofy reality show called "Lap of Luxury" -- he was just the unassuming victim on this reality series (think "Big Brother" meets "The Truman Show") where all the other contestants were actors in on the gag.

For his part, Gould, 28, tells PEOPLE he had no idea he was being duped.

"You don't believe me, but I'm telling you I didn't ask any questions," says the Pittsburgh resident. "The only questions I asked were ones like, 'Can you please give my mother an emergency number?' Stuff like that."

Gould simply thought the reality show would be a good way to visit L.A. -- and meet some beautiful women. "We found out that it was Spike TV, so I knew there was gonna be scantily clad women," he said of the men's network. "I'm not gonna lie. I like women."

He also had big dreams about cash prizes, as he participated in wacky games such as "Hands on a High-Priced Hooker."

"I just expected to be playing for a $100,000 prize, guaranteed $10,000," he says. "Hanging out in L.A., being on camera, making jokes. That's all I expected."

And about all he got: "They didn't fly me first class, nope. Hey! I never thought about that. And here we come back to the whole anxiety. I dropped out of law school because of anxiety, and here I am doing something that has me far more anxiety-ridden than any year of law school."

Live and learn.