PASADENA, Calif. — How's this for the concept for a TV show — two sort-of funny guys climb in a motor home, travel to a small town, recruit people off the streets and, using the locals as actors, shoot a short movie parody.
Weird, you say? Unusual? Loopy, even?
Absolutely. And, while we're not talking high art here, TNN's new "Small Shots" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.) is also a good deal of fun.
The show is the brainchild of creators/producers/stars Chris Cox and Matt Sloan, who did indeed climb into that motor home and set the project in motion.
"We said, 'Hey, we need to go to small-town America to make real people stars,' " Cox said, "because, you know, Tom Cruise — when I see him, I don't believe it."
"I don't believe it either," Sloan added. "I mean, when Tom Cruise sneezes in a movie, it's because he's told to. When one of our people do it, it's because they have allergies."
They have no pretensions about themselves or their show, which is wonderfully refreshing — particularly in a medium where pretense often reigns supreme. And this is reality TV that's not mean-spirited — nobody gets called names by the host, nobody is voted out of the movie, nobody is tempted to turn their back on their "committed relationship."
"In all seriousness, we felt that there was a need to go out and give people a shot to do entertaining reality programming that was funny. Because there's a lot of this competitive thing with 'Survivor' and 'Last Man Standing' and all of this stuff. And we thought, 'Hey — what about just having a good time?'"
Some of the most fun moments on "Small Shots" involve people looking at Cox and Sloan like they're crazy. (The jury's still out on that one.) And watching the non-actors audition for parts can be a hoot.
But we're laughing with the people, not at them — an important distinction, they say.
"Part of our goal is to make the people we use look good in the film," Sloan said. "I think our show is more about celebrating people and their dreams . . . than making fun, really."
Most of "Small Shots" is about the making of the short film parodies, which run 2 1/2-3 minutes — casting, rehearsing, occasional field trips. (In Wednesday's premiere, the cast visits an allegedly haunted house to prepare for their roles in "Silence of the Yams" — which recasts Hannibal Lecter as a vegetarian.)
Not all the jokes work, of course. "Small Shots" tends to be amusing rather than hilarious, although there are laugh-out-loud moments. There's a particularly great gag in the second episode's short film, "Non-violent Gladiator."
(Other upcoming titles include "Amish Matrix," "Castaway 2: Wilson, I Love You," "Elderly Boogie Nights," "Charlie's Middle-Aged Angels," "Jurassic Dog Park," "The Great, Great Godfather" and "Hip-Hop Music Man.")
Basically, "Small Shots" is just a big goof on Hollywood. And that alone makes it fun.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com