''Invasion Iowa'' is a television series that aired on

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

beginning on March 29, 2005, on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult clas ...

beginning on 3 November 2005 and

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Serv ...

in April 2007. The series depicts events from September 2004, in which

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

played a hoax on the small town of

Riverside, Iowa Riverside is a city in rural Washington County, Iowa, United States, along the English River on Iowa Highway 22. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,060 at the time of the 2020 census. It is pa ...

by claiming to film a science fiction movie there. Unbeknownst to the residents of Riverside, the movie was in fact fake, a satire on the genre. In front of and behind the cameras, Shatner and his purported entourage performed a parody of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. Producers designed the various plots and gags to elicit reactions from the townspeople. Shatner played the part of the eccentric star. Improvisational actors pretended to be members of his entourage. Residents of Riverside were encouraged to audition for parts in the movie and take jobs on its crew, only to bear witness, firsthand, to an elaborate send-up of tinseltown. Producers chose Riverside because it is the self-proclaimed future birthplace of Shatner's most enduring character, Captain

James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...

. ''Invasion Iowa'' was created by

Rhett Reese Rhett Reese is an American film producer, television producer, and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, his early credits included ''Clifford's Really Big Movie'' and ''Cruel Intentions 3''. He has collaborated with Paul Wernick, writing the film ...

and Paul Wernick, who also created Spike TV's earlier "reality parody" series, ''

The Joe Schmo Show ''The Joe Schmo Show'' is a reality television hoax show created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The series was broadcast in the U.S. on the cable network Spike. The show's premise is that a target person or people are led to believe tha ...

'', and its sequel, ''

Joe Schmo 2 ''The Joe Schmo Show'' is a Reality television#Hoaxes, reality television hoax show created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The series was broadcast in the U.S. on the Cable television, cable Television network, network Spike (TV network), S ...

''. In May 2009, the series was released as a two-disc region-1 DVD set.

External links

*
Critic Doctor
Spike (TV network) original programming 2000s American reality television series 2000s American parody television series 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings Reality television series parodies American mockumentary television series Television series about television Television series by GRB Entertainment Television shows set in Iowa Washington County, Iowa {{US-comedy-tv-prog-stub