Trivia / EDtv

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $80 million. Box office, $35.2 million. It couldn't get the same critical and commercial attention of The Truman Show (see below) and was part of a string of flops Universal had until The Mummy (1999)
• California Doubling: While most of the shooting was on location in the Bay Area of California, a couple scenes were shot in Florida.
• Dueling Movies: With The Truman Show. Although fundamentally different to anyone who's seen both, the two were widely compared at the time due to their close release dates and (at the time, very unique) plots about a guy whose life is turned into a television show. The main difference: Truman's was set up before he was born, with actors playing the roles of family and friends, and Truman didn't know about any of it. Ed's was set up in his thirties (at his volunteering), involved all his real friends and family, and was completely in the open. Both were visibly prescient about (and arguably semi-responsible for) the forthcoming rise of reality television, with Truman being the groundbreaking speculative conclusion and Ed the more true-to-life concept.... for now.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey look very believable as brothers.