Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Iowa Gets Video Cameras

Iowa’s known for many things: caucuses, corn, flooding, soybeans, pigs, an education system that used to be number one in the nation but has been declining for several years…corn, again.

We’re also known for being the future birthplace of Captain Kirk, specifically in the small town of Riverside (eight miles south of Iowa City). As Iowa’s most positive claim to fame, it’s about time they got their own show.

On March 29, Spike TV will launch their mini-series (“Invasion Iowa”) where William Shatner leads a cadre of Hollywood types to the Iowan hamlet so they can shoot a major motion picture. This would be the first time Shatner’s ever visited the town.

And what better way to start a relationship than with a lie? The movie’s a fake and the entire point of the series is to screw around with the small town and see how they react to the absurd changes justified by movie production. The last episode will air on April 1st (Whoa! It’s like they planned it that way!)

I love Spike TV, I love Star Trek, I love Joe Schmo (the series that inspired this one) and I really love it when national television covers my home state. Like everyone else in backwater country, I enjoy feeling recognized. Make some more shows about us, America, and I promise we’ll stop talking about ethanol and insisting we should be the first caucus for the presidency.

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