Fox Goes Ape S(^_^) -
January 11 I
really shouldn't be shocked to see promotions for
"Skating with Celebrities" on FOX. That is to say, I'm
not surprised that FOX completely aped a format that's
doing well for another network and decide to use it for
their own gain. If you don't believe me, consider the
following:
FOX tried to create their own "nasty" version of
Millionaire, and we got "Greed". It got people talking,
and it was good watching for a high school kid who had
nowhere to go on a Friday night, but going to air 17
days after creating the format meant several things were
not tied up, from music cues to more serious things,
like how to deal with the jackpot question. What's that
about piss-poor planning? It could have lasted longer,
but it didn't. They had another go of it with "It's Your
Chance of a Lifetime." If you can imagine "Millionaire"
but with betting, you're 9/10ths of the way there. Neat
idea, but five shows and out isn't a great showing.
FOX has certainly shown a propensity for ganking an
idea, tweaking it a little bit, rushing it to air, and
then catching holy hell for doing it wrong. "The
Chamber" had a nifty premise, but their pissing match
with ABC meant one of the shortest runs in game show
history. Perhaps that's not a bad thing.
They did have better luck with "Trading Spouses," but
really the only change from "Wife Swap" was the addition
of prize money and expanding each 'round' from one
episode to two. That and having more extreme matches.
"The Rebel Billionaire" was a not so thinly veiled
takeoff on "The Apprentice," and "Joe Millionaire" a dig
on all of the recent dating shows. And of course,
there's "Idol," but once you get into ratings that reach
the stratosphere, I guess we don't get to poke fun
anymore.
I'm forced to come to the not-so-startling conclusion
that the FOX Network couldn't come up with an original
idea if (fill in the cliche here)? Are we really that
hard up for entertainment these days that we'll accept a
knock-off of a successful show?
I'll give FOX credit where it's due: they've had their
fair share of original programming ideas that took off:
"House," "X-Files" and "That 70s Show" (even if I
despise the last entry). Their first breakout hit,
"Married...with Children" would certainly qualify as
original as well. So, given that FOX has shown that they
can create original programs, why are they falling back
on the creations of others so recently? Let's remember
that TV is about entertainment second, and money first.
Sure, we'd like it to be otherwise, but it's just not
so. If FOX can draw eyeballs with their own twist on a
previously done show, there's no reason for them to not
go that way.
Enjoy "Skating with Celebrities" if you want. I'm sure
FOX's core audience will stick it out, laugh at D-level
stars falling all over themselves, and it'll get renewed
next year. I won't be there.
Travis Eberle still hasn't gotten over the
cancellation of Greed, even if the game bit. Console him
at traviseberle@gmail.com |