Contest Searchlight was a four-episode fictional comedy television series that aired in 2002 on the Comedy Central network. It was a documentary-style parody or mockumentary of the HBO (and later Bravo) network's non-fictional series Project Greenlight.
Contest Searchlight starred Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke, playing slightly fictionalized versions of themselves, as TV producers holding a nationwide contest to select a new television series to produce for the Comedy Central network. When none of the proposed submissions prove acceptable, Leary and Clarke end up combining several of the finalist's proposals to produce a new, semi-improvised ensemble sitcom entitled "Jesus and the Gang." The new show ostensibly stars New York theatre and television actor Peter Gallagher (again playing a fictionalized version of himself), but when Gallagher is hit by a car during the filming of a network promotion, the lead role is shifted to comedian Patrice O'Neal. During rehearsals for the premiere episode, the actors, crew and producers all start fighting each other (and themselves), and "Jesus and the Gang" is permanently shelved.
As noted above, Contest Searchlight was shown in a pseudo-documentary style, and there was no laugh track or other obvious sign that this was, in fact, a fictional series. Following Peter Gallagher's exit from the show, both he and Comedy Central received a number of panicked calls from viewers who believed that Gallagher really had been hit by a car.
A fully produced version of the "Jesus and the Gang" theme song appears as the eighth track on Leary's 2004 album, Merry F#%$in' Christmas.
Famous quotes containing the words contest and/or searchlight:
“Another danger is imminent: A contested result. And we have no such means for its decision as ought to be provided by law. This must be attended to hereafter.... If a contest comes now it may lead to a conflict of arms. I can only try to do my duty to my countrymen in that case. I shall let no personal ambition turn me from the path of duty. Bloodshed and civil war must be averted if possible. If forced to fight, I have no fears from lack of courage or firmness.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The press is no substitute for institutions. It is like the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one episode and then another out of darkness into vision. Men cannot do the work of the world by this light alone. They cannot govern society by episodes, incidents, and eruptions. It is only when they work by a steady light of their own, that the press, when it is turned upon them, reveals a situation intelligible enough for a popular decision.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)