TBS has announced a revival for The Joe Schmo Show, bringing back the same concept with an all new cast of actors… along with a new Schmo. One key change that happens this time around is that Ralph Garman won’t be featured in the revival. In all three of the show’s prior iterations, Garman had played the host, portraying a separate character for each season. A teaser for the revival reveals that Cat Deeley is the new host and there was no trace of Garman anywhere to be seen.

Speaking about the reboot with The Hollywood Reporter, Garman explained the full story of why he’s not involved with the new Joe Schmo Show. He says he was approached about appearing in the new season, though the pitch was for a brief cameo rather than serving as host. From the start, that had Garman feeling “disappointed,” though he was still open to coming back for the cameo for the sake of the fans who’d be happy to see him.
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“[Producer Dave Kneebone] called me and said they were bringing it back, and that they weren’t interested in having me host again, which was obviously disappointing,” Garman said. “But they had an idea where they wanted to do a cameo appearance with me in the new show. Obviously, I was a little crestfallen because I was hoping to come back in my usual capacity. But I thought about it. I said, ‘It might be fun for the fans of the original series to see me in this one.’”

Garman didn’t want to say what exactly the idea was for the cameo, as it might divulge spoilers from the show. It was something Garman said he’d be open to, but the talks took a turn quickly when he was then informed that the project was already almost wrapped with filming. That had Garman feeling like he was only thought of at the last minute, feeling that it seemed to “just be an afterthought.” Even so, Garman said for the show’s producers to speak about the potential cameo further with his manager and that they could go from there.

Related: The Joe Schmo Show Will Return With All-New Season on TBS

The Joe Schmo Revival Starts Fresh

TBS

After those talks, Garman says he didn’t hear a word back until a week and a half later when he was given a surprise phone call. He was told that he was on the call sheet for the next day and needed to get tested for COVID, and that lack of communication only added to the frustration. When the show’s producers then provided him with an offer for the cameo that he found to be insulting, Garman realized it was best at that point to simply walk away.

“I don’t know where the breakdown in communication was, but they came back with an offer, which, frankly, was adding insult to injury,” Garman explained. “I got the sense that I was not a priority on anybody’s list, obviously, by the fact that I wasn’t contacted between these two phone calls. But then when I saw what they were offering to pay me, I was like, ‘Wow.’ You get a feeling in your gut about things, and I said, ‘This really feels wrong to me.’ So I went back and said, ‘No, I’m gonna pass.’”

He added, “And then they came back and said, ‘What can we do to make you happy?’ And by this point, I was unhappy. (Laughs.) I was like, ‘You know what? You do your Joe Schmo — go do your thing. I did three that we’re very proud of, and let’s just walk away.’ So the cameo that could have been, never came to be.”

Garman adds that The Joe Schmo Show is still a big part of his life, and he would have been happy to come back, especially as host, if circumstances were different. While he wishes everyone at the revival well, Garman also admits that the way things were handled with his potential cameo has him feeling like he probably won’t be watching the new season.

“After everything, I kind of feel like, best of luck to ’em,” he said. “We did ours; these people are gonna do theirs. I’ll probably pass [on watching it].”