American Idol Preempts House
Jan 17th, 2006 by Alex
The geniuses at Fox have removed House from the air for the multi-week debut of this year’s installment of American Idol. What the hell were they thinking?
So what if Hugh Laurie’s character is more arrogant that Simon Cowell? At least the scripted antics of Dr. House and his merry (and attractive) team are entertaining; more than I can say for Mr. Cowell, whose quasi-scripted exchanges with host Ryan Seacrest grow more and more tiresome as the years go on.
This is now the FIFTH year of American Idol, which will progress as follows:
- Seacrest will flub several pre-written jokes, which wouldn’t have been funny if told correctly.
- Randy Jackson — who turns 50 this year — will likely refer to everyone as “dog” unless he’s managed to come up with a new moniker for the contestants this year.
- Paula will likely find some new scandal to keep herself in the spotlight, on top of the weekly media blitz.
- Simon will the pompous ass that he was hired to be.
That’s it. No mystery. No smoke and mirrors. Fox has decided that this is the formula for success, year after glorious year. The American people will rejoice, be glued to their television sets as they observe countless others attempt to become famous. For those with actual vocal talent and stage presence it’s a high-stress opportunity for a record contract. Those coming to the table with less — with our without intent — will have slightly less than their fifteen minutes (pending that commercial break) at the expense of their dignity.
The bottom line is this. Despite the many medical dramas on the air, House continues to be a creative and entertaining execution of a basic television premise. American Idol is an aging cookie-cutter, hyped-up, flashy-looking variation of the corporate-sponsored talent show. Aside from ranting, I’ll most certainly be changing the channel for the next few weeks.
