Riverside feels 'Wrath of Con'

William Shatner’s low-budget sci-fi flick, “Invasion Iowa,” that was supposedly filming in Riverside, turned out to be an elaborate hoax.

To borrow the phrase from MTV, the entire town was “punk’d.”

Yes, William Shatner is there, and yes, there is a film crew, but the whole thing wasn’t for a movie, but for a “reality” show on what it’s like when a Hollywood film crew descends on a tiny Midwestern town.

The ruse was revealed last night by Shatner and producers at a town gathering at Hall Park, and Shatner held an official press conference in Riverside at 11 a.m. today. —Riverside feels ‘Wrath of Con’ (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Local officials were apparently alerted when Nimoy showed up with a beard (reprising his role as the evil, mirror universe Spock).

A brief story about the supposed movie ended up on the Associated Press wire.

I didn’t check at the time when I blogged it, but the IMDB has no entry for “Invasion Iowa,” or Aint It Cool News. Typically, by the time the mainstream press covers a movie project, the film geeks have already posted at least something about it.

I really enjoy Shatner’s hammy style, but this seems mean spirited. I’m not a fan of the “reality TV” genre, at any rate.