Janet Van Ham Tim Walsh, Ingrid Wiese and Amanda Naughton, right, were the Schmos in Spike TV's "Joe Schmo 2." Click photo for larger image.

She's a schmo, but an incredibly kind, sweet and fun-loving schmo.

Upper St. Clair native Amanda Naughton discovered she'd been had on last night's season finale of Spike TV's "Joe Schmo 2," which filmed in March.

Naughton and fellow Schmo Tim Walsh followed in the pioneering Schmosteps of Mt. Lebanon native Matt Kennedy Gould, who starred in the first edition of the faux reality series last summer.

"Joe Schmo 2" parodies "reality" dating shows, most notably "The Bachelor," while making chumps of one man (Joe Schmo) and one woman (Jane Schmo), the only two cast members who don't know that all the other contestants are actors working from a script.

Naughton, who graduated from Upper St. Clair High School in 1997 and the University of Michigan in 2001, joined the show after Ingrid Wiese, the first Jane Schmo, figured out what was going on. Wiese was drafted to join the other actors in performing from a script outline for the two Schmos. All three won $100,000 each for their troubles.

Naughton lives in Northern Virginia and works in government relations for a fuel information company. She said she had no hard feelings about being the Schmo. On last night's finale, Walsh seemed more hurt.

"I lucked out by the fact that the people I got closest to were real -- Ingrid and Tim," Naughton said. "Tim really got close to a lot of the actors in their characters, and I think that was a little bit harder."

She called "Joe Schmo 2" the "experience of a lifetime," and admits that although she was duped, she did think the show was odd during filming.

"The entire experience was strange," she said. "They didn't show a lot of the stuff. We'd crack up about the fact that there was a revolving door [among the constantly departing and returning cast members]. We'd joke, 'If you're leaving tonight, we'll probably see you in about two days.' "

Naughton met her predecessor, Gould, at a Pittsburgh restaurant after "Joe Schmo 2" taped to commiserate about their "Schmo" experiences.

"Matt and I are very lucky to have grown up in an area where we were able to be gullible," Naughton said yesterday. "I really account my great childhood to the fact that I trust people and will take people for their word and just try to have a good time with whoever I meet."

Walsh and Wiese also live in the Washington, D.C., area and remain friends; all three see one another often. Despite some online fan speculation, there was no love connection between Naughton and Walsh.

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)

'Jeopardy!' holds auditions

Last week, while in Pittsburgh, "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek intimated that there would be at least one local player on the college championship series that will tape at the University of Pittsburgh in October. Now we know how that will come to be.

The "Jeopardy!" Brain Bus will be in town to audition college students Oct. 2, 2 to 4 p.m., as part of the Rock 'n' Row Weekend along the Allegheny River Downtown.

All ages are welcome to play a "Just For Fun" version of the game, but anyone auditioning to be on the show must be a full-time undergraduate student with no previous degree. The first 1,000 people to show up will be guaranteed an opportunity to take a pretest that could lead to an audition.

(R.O.)

The witch is back

Shannen Doherty, last seen acting as a witch on The WB's "Charmed," will attempt to pull a Heather Locklear by joining the cast of Fox's drowning soap "North Shore." Locklear rescued a similarly foundering "Melrose Place" and built it into a huge hit for Fox in the early '90s.

Doherty joins the "North Shore" cast Sept. 20 as Alexandra Hudson, devious sister of good girl Nicole (Brooke Burns) and illegitimate daughter of hotel magnate Walter Booth (Christopher McDonald).

(R.O.)

Football pre-emptions

With preseason Steelers games on KDKA the next two Saturdays, CBS programs, including "Big Brother 5," will air at their scheduled times on sister station WNPA.

Some of Channel 19's regular programming will air Sunday, with "Enterprise" on at 7 p.m. and "Stargate SG-1" at 11:30 p.m.

(R.O.)

Rosie heads to sea

HBO and Rosie O'Donnell have joined forces to produce a documentary about a vacation cruise for gay and lesbian families.

The documentary, scheduled for next year, will tell the story of the inaugural R Family Vacations cruise, in which about 500 gay and lesbian parents took their kids to Key West, Fla., and the Bahamas. R Family Vacations was founded by Gregg Kaminsky and O'Donnell's partner, Kelli, to provide family-friendly vacations for the gay and lesbian community.

The still-untitled documentary, directed by Shari Cookson ("Living Dolls"), chronicles the maiden voyage of R Family Vacations aboard the Norwegian Dawn. About 1,600 people took part in the cruise.

(Zap2it.com)

HBO likes 'Big Love'

"Big Love," a drama series about a polygamist and his three wives, has made it official with HBO.

The pay-cable network has ordered 11 episodes (including the pilot) of the series, from creators Will Scheffer ("In the Gloaming") and Mark Olsen. It's expected to premiere sometime in 2005.

Bill Paxton ("Thunderbirds") will star in "Big Love" as a Utah man who practices polygamy. Jeanne Tripplehorn ("Sliding Doors," "The Firm"), Chloe Sevigny ("Shattered Glass") and Ginnifer Goodwin ("Ed," "Mona Lisa Smile") play his wives.

(Zap2it.com)