Contest Searchlight(2002)

Contest Searchlight is a four-episode mockumentary comedy that aired on Comedy Central in 2002. Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke play fictionalized versions of themselves as TV producers running a nationwide contest to find the next big series. When submissions fall short, they cobble together a semi-improvised sitcom called "Jesus and the Gang" from the best rejected pitches. Peter Gallagher signs on to lead, but after a car accident sidelines him, comedian Patrice O'Neal takes over. Chaos erupts during rehearsals as cast, crew and producers clash, and the show is shelved for good. Shot in documentary style without a laugh track, Contest Searchlight blurs fiction and reality so convincingly that viewers actually called Comedy Central in panic after Gallagher's on-screen accident, convinced it was real.