The Assistant is a reality television show that parodied

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 other reality shows such as The Apprentice

The Apprentice (U.S. TV series)

The Apprentice is an American reality television show hosted by real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump, created by Mark Burnett and broadcast on NBC...

, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette

The Bachelorette

The Bachelorette is a spin-off of the American competitive reality dating game show The Bachelor. In its January 2003 debut on ABC, the first season featured Trista Rehn, the runner-up date from the first season of The Bachelor, offering the opportunity for Rehn to choose a husband among 25 bachelors...

, Survivor

Survivor (TV series)

Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...

, American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

, and Fear Factor

Fear Factor

Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...

. Its eight episodes originally aired on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. It featured comedian

Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 Andy Dick

Andy Dick

Andrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...

's search for a new personal assistant. The beginning of the first episode parodied The Bachelor, with the twelve contestants arriving in limousines, and Dick waiting outside to greet them with his maid and butler. A "rose ceremony" immediately followed, and one contestant was eliminated.

Dick assigned the Hollywood hopefuls to some absurd tasks such as pretending to be him in an interview with a Japanese television station, bringing him coffee by traversing on a beam over a swimming pool, breaking up with his girlfriend, and attempting to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

.

Contestants were usually "clipped" in elimination ceremonies parodying those on other reality series. Like some other programs, The Assistant also included double elimination episodes and brought back fired candidates. Driving home Dick's message that they were starting from the bottom, candidates slept in Dick's garage. He also woke them with a flashing, siren-generating alarm, was prone to tantrums, and griped that, "This reality show is ruining my life!"

Andy Dick actually had a relationship with one of the contestants on the show. Andy and Sarah Beckworth dated for a while after the show's end. The end of the relationship led to a breach of contract lawsuit with MTV which prohibited relationships with the contestants.

Though the show was satire, the twelve contestants were real and the winner, Melissa Ordway

Melissa Ordway

Melissa Ordway is an American actress and model. She has modeled in many campaigns and acted in such films as 17 Again and on television in Privileged.-Background:...

, was awarded several prizes including a job at MTV. The runner-up was Mark, who had been fired, but was brought back in the seventh episode. The show was not renewed after its first season.

Contestants eliminated and reality show parodied

(in reverse order of elimination)

• Melissa Ordway
  Melissa Ordway
  Melissa Ordway is an American actress and model. She has modeled in many campaigns and acted in such films as 17 Again and on television in Privileged.-Background:...
  
   (Winner)

• Mark Rogers
  • The Apprentice
    The Apprentice (U.S. TV series)
    The Apprentice is an American reality television show hosted by real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump, created by Mark Burnett and broadcast on NBC...
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 4 (brought back Episode 7)
  • Eliminated Episode 8

• Tanika Kennedy
  • Fear Factor
    Fear Factor
    Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 7

• Mykell Wilson
  • American Idol
    American Idol
    American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 6

• Colin Blake
  • American Idol
    American Idol
    American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 6

• Anna Enger
  • Unaware, surprise lie detector test, Eliminated Episode 5

• Stefani Fischer
  • The Amazing Race
    The Amazing Race
    The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 5

• Ebony Boykins
  • Survivor theme, Eliminated Episode 3

• Nikeda Stanback
  • Who Wants to be a Millionaire theme, Eliminated Episode 1 (brought back Episode 3)
  • Survivor theme, Eliminated Episode 3

• Sarah Beckworth
  • America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 2

• Jeff Jimenez
  • America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model
    America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry....
    
    theme, Eliminated Episode 2

• Andrew Sturgis (Andrew Rodgman)
  • The Bachelor theme, Eliminated Episode 1

External links

• The Assistant on mtv.com
• All Episodes of The Assistant at Andy Dick's website
• http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-07-22-andy-dick-dating_x.htm on USA Today