Contest Searchlight (Documentary, English)
Genres: Comedy
Status: Ended
Premiered: 2002-08-14
Ended: 2002-09-04
Network: Comedy Central
Country: US
Airs on: Wednesday
Air time: 22:30
Runtime: 30 minutes
Contest Searchlight is a four-episode fictional comedy television series, it is a documentary-style parody or mockumentary of the HBO 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 City 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.