How To Kill Off American
Idol - June 16
American Idol is indeed the juggernaut that's been
ruling (some people say bordering on terrorizing) the
nation. This show is so popular, in fact, that this
summer is overpopulated with clones, suck as Rock Star
and The One. Even judge Simon Cowell has gotten into the
act with America's Got Talent. Now granted, that show
looks more like a clone of The Gong Show than American
Idol, but the fact is that talent shows are the rage of
the land.
But when is enough too much? If you are a pessimist, the
answer is yes. We've seen the glut of quiz shows help
kill off Millionaire, and an onslaught of talent shows,
plus Dancing with the Stars 3, is certainly primed to
make American Idol less amazing. It may not wipe the
show out in a season, but it could start to weaken it to
the point where the other networks will start putting
out enough specials to weaken the show - like the did
with Fear Factor in the Fall and with Survivor in the
Spring. All of these talent shows now could mean the
beginning of the end for Idol.
Now if you are an optimist, you can say that this isn't
the first time that Idol has had to deal with shows that
tried to copy its formula during the Summer. Though
Nashville Star is still around, shows like Fame, Star
Search and 30 Seconds to Fame came and went. Even
American Juniors, a drop off of Idol, didn't last past
one season, yet it didn't do any damage to the original,
which has had it's best season since Ruben Vs. Clay
three years ago.
So what's the answer? I think it's between the two. I
think that Idol is ingrained to the point that it's
become a staple of our pop culture - but at the same
time, I think that a glut in any genre will water down
the market. Due to the excellent array of talent that
Idol has displayed this season, I don't think that they
have anything to worry about, but the endless supply of
talent
shows forces Idol to keep on giving us the cream of the
crop, because if they don't, then they just turn
into...the same shows that we watch during the Summer.
Gordon Pepper loves the summer, hates clones, and
will occasionally channel Clay Aiken if you pay him
enough.
E-mail him at
gordon@gameshownewsnet.com.
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