In the episode, a man discovers that for the past five years, he has been under constant video surveillance and the footage broadcast 24/7 as a hit TV show.
[1] Unlike The Truman Show, however, "Special Service" consistently treats its premise as humorous and implausible, a satire of the human tendency to assume that events revolve around oneself.
John meets with the network manager, who is outraged at him, saying that after five years the show has only just reached the break even point.
John's life is mostly allowed to run unscripted, but if the ratings struggle the producers intervene to add interest.
As the cameras are removed, John discovers the fan mail and gifts that accumulated over the past five years.
Archie pulls him into the closet again and suggests that the manager may have lied about taking John off the air, to trick him into being unaware again.