With the end of the regular television season, and the pending television wasteland that is summer, the networks turn to summer programming to fill the void. CBS is offering us Big Brother: All Stars, which should prove interesting, given that most of the people who have been on that show have been devoid of any redeeming qualities. (I am personally hoping that Mike Boogie comes back, only so we can find out what happened with that Nyquil junkie trailer trash chick he proposed too on the season finale. That, and the guy who held a knife to her throat in a drunken romantic moment. And if you think its creepy to read that statement, try watching it when it happened.)
FOX is offering Hell's Kitchen, which I guess is designed to make people not want to eat out. (Oh my gawd, please tell me you got that on film!)
ABC is, well, since the season finale of Lost I don't think I've tuned into ABC except to check the score in the NBA finals. (Go Mavs!)
Then there's NBC. The Ozymandias of television networks is serving up heaping helpings of competition programs. Treasure Hunters is scheduled to start on Sunday, and with the success of National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code, could prove interesting. I'm going to be cheering for Team Southie, although I really should be rooting for Team Grad Students.
There's also America's Got Talent, being sold as the combination of Simon Cowell's genius and Regis Philbin's, um, whatever Regis has. The commercials for the show promise such illustrious judges as David Hasselhoff, Brandy and some other guy. The show seems to be a modern incarnation of The Gong Show, only sans the wit and whimsey that defined that show. I have a feeling the show was designed to capitalize on the popularity of American Idol, but done in a way that ensures that the people who only watch the first few weeks of Idol to see the truly terrible acts (aka ME) will watch the entire run. So I guess I'll be watching. But it won't be the same without Gene Gene the Dancing Machine.
Speaking of which, why have they not released The Gong Show on DVD? Even a best of boxset would be awesome. Particularly if they include Jaye P. Morgan flashing her assets to the crowd. And the popsicle girls. Now I just have to content myself with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The Gong Show E! True Hollywood story. (Keep in mind that I'm in Canada, where television stations that offer programming people want to watch are restricted by CRTC regulations that require stations to offer Canadian programming instead.)
And finally, NBC has resurrected Last Comic Standing. I loved the first two incarnations of this show, particularly the second season. Then NBC got greedy and hotshotted a third season in the fall following season two, which died a horrible death. It was so bad, the finale only aired on Bravo. After taking last summer off, LCS is back, only with some unfortunate changes. First of all, Jay Mohr is gone, replaced by Anthony Clark from Yes, Dear and Boston Common. Now, Anthony Clark is funny, but he's not Jay Mohr. Jay had a certain, I don't know, a je ne sais quoi, that made him a great host. Maybe it was just because the show was his brainchild, and he was more invested in it, both literally and figuratively. Clark is missing that investment.
The other thing missing from the show is good comics. I just finished watching the second selection episode, and there is something horribly wrong with the choices they made. The comics that had me laughing out loud weren't picked, while the ones who seemed to bomb like the Enola Gay made it through. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. The NBC LCS message board has been bombarded with messages from furious viewers who are making clear their intentions to abandon this show like Fantine with Cossette. Now, some of the comics are pretty good. But some of the comics who were rejected were far superior to the ones who did make it. The worst is the inclusion of a pregnant drag queen who is about as funny as a sack full of dead puppies.
And I know the show is edited, and that the producers have to consider, or think they have to consider, interpersonal dynamics when making their decisions, but their choices have resulted in a show that people don't want to watch, and probably won't. Which is too bad, because the first few seasons of the show introduced me, and a number of others, to a wide range of previously unknown comics. Of course, the show also unleashed Ralphie May on the world to spread his squealing ignorance, but he's been lost in the white noise of Larry the Cable Guy anyway.
I'm not going to make any grandiose claims that I won't be watching Last Comic Standing, but it just became much less interesting. Maybe I'll just use this as an opportunity to catch up on House. Or, you know, go outside or work on my thesis. But that's crazy talk.
No comments:
Post a Comment