“American Idol” is still the highest-rated show on TV. However, it’s coming off a season during which the quality of contestants was the worst it’s ever been. The four-judge panel wasn’t exactly working out, either. Simon Cowell physically and mentally checked out at the beginning of the season, and Ellen DeGeneres seemed like something of an odd fit.
So…shit is about to be shaken up. Cowell’s already out the door, DeGeneres abruptly quit earlier this week, and while there’s been no official word yet, it looks like Kara DioGuardi appears to have been let go, leaving Randy Jackson as the only remaining judge from last season. Official replacement judges haven’t been announced yet, and the rumor mill has come up with names from Chris Isaak to Jessica Simpson to record executive Clive Davis, although the front-runners appear to be singer/actress Jennifer Lopez (who, after all, is the 21st century version of Paula Abdul) and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
This stunt-casting of sorts generally doesn’t end well. It’s the reality show equivalent of the time-honored tradition of bringing in a cute kid to save a sagging sitcom’s ratings. And as shows from “The Brady Bunch” to “Married…With Children” to “Who’s the Boss?” have proven, that gambit doesn’t work. The noble thing would probably be to end the show, but there’s no way Fox is gonna turn their back on all the money that “Idol” generates.
Once a show jumps the shark, it’s incredibly difficult for it to jump back, and I think most people share in the opinion that “Idol” has seen MUCH better days. The show’s going into it’s 10th season, and hasn’t produced a bonafide star (with the potential exception of Adam Lambert) since season 5. While the replacement judges will cause a bit of a stir, it remains to be seen whether a) there’ll be chemistry similar to that of Paula/Simon/Randy and b) whether they’ll be able to hold the public’s interest for an entire season. I think the bigger question is whether the show can once again come up with interesting contestants. “Idol”, like most reality shows, was interesting for as long as it took for potential contestants to “get it” and play for the TV audience more than they were playing to win the competition. THAT’s something the new judges won’t be able to fix.
3 comments
GG says:
Aug 1, 2010
I don’t think the same rules fit for Idol as the shows you’ve described. Except for the Brady Bunch, the other shows you mentioned were never number one TV shows. And even with the audience being down, it’s still is the number one show on TV. But then again, everyone’s numbers are down.
I also disagree that Simon checked out. I didn’t notice anything different about him at all. In fact, he had to be sharper because he usually had to clean up Ellen’s messes.
Now all that being said, is the show on tired legs? Incredibly yes. But they have to figure out what they want. Will they be happy if like Survivor, it stops being a number one show and it just stays in the top 20? Survivor just had one of it’s greatest seasons ever, but it will never reclaim the audience that simply got bored of the formula.
Everyone has been calling for the demise of this show since about season 4. And it’s still trucking along, still number one, and still making money. I think the key is to look at the touring. Really, the show is a barker for the tour. And I think the tour is starting to suffer.
So, people can continue to give up on the show or say that it jumped the shark (and really, the phrase jumped the shark has jumped the shark), but until people stop watching in droves and it gets knocked down several notches, I’m not sure anyone can say that it’s done.
And do you know what their stiffest competition is? Dancing With The Stars, which is 10 times more awful than Idol ever was and is only competitive now because it’s taken some of Idol’s older female viewers. When are people going to clamor for that show to be over?
blerd says:
Aug 1, 2010
Dancing With the Stars isn’t the cultural phenomenon Idol is. Idol is seen as a vehicle to start careers, whereas “Dancing” isn’t. I don’t think it’s just about ratings. I think it’s about whether the show will be able to maintain ratings and sustain careers at the same time. And I don’t know that it can happen. We’ll see, I suppose.
GG says:
Aug 1, 2010
I agree somewhat with the idea that it’s still a vehicle to start careers, but if anything, you can add the music industry to part of the blame because no one is selling records anymore.
But on the TV side, I’m not too sure that FOX gives much thought to the after career of these artists. If they did, they’d work much harder at giving them avenues to market their work. This is always the issue with the show that I’ve had. They have the biggest TV show of all time and should be able to sell tons of records because of it. But FOX is more worried about the show in that of itself, than the after career of the artists.