I’ll just get right to it and you feel free to jump right in too…
American Idol- I’d raise the age limits from the current 16-28 to 18-30. I don’t think 30’s too old to begin a pop career but I do think 16-17 is too young to endure Simon and America’s rejections (I’m thinking Sanjaya, John Stevens, etc.). I think the pool of 29 and 30 year olds would more than make up for any talented teens.
The Daily Show- still one of my favorite shows, but the departure of Colbert, Carell, Rocca, etc., is felt and the others just haven’t quite made up for it (imo). They need one really great star correspondent/commentator and I have a suggestion: Wallace Shawn. I think he’d be a perfect match.
My Name is Earl= no real changes, just a suggestion: I’d like to see more episodes with Joy’s parents. Not regulars by any means, but semi-regulars like Earl’s mom & dad. The Christmas episode with Joy’s compulsive gambler “don’t you judge me!” mom made me remember why I thought Brett Butler was hysterical back before she made every episode of Grace Under Fire a sermon while totally imploding off-stage, and while you wonder how a seemingly nice normal middle class couple like the Hickeys produced Earl & Randy there’s no problem imagining Joy stemming from the loins of the philandering Waterbed King and his gambling queen.
Digging for the Truth- show Josh Bernstein nekkid. You think I’m tuning in (along with a couple million other viewers) to learn stuff I already knew about pyramids and to see “that don’t even make good nonsense” genetic testing on a queen who wasn’t biologically Merovingian to find out if Merovingians were descendants of Hebrews? Hell naw… I wanna see that boy strip to a thong and climb on a camel.
Battlestar Galactica - Show some cylons, or space fights, or something, anything other than soap opera garbage.
I’d also recommend the entire production staff be required to re-watch the miniseries and first four episodes so they can see how far their show has fallen. The verisimilitude that they had in the beginning, wherein the Galactica seemed like a real military ship, is utterly absent in almost all season 3 episodes.
This may not be a variation on the current incarnation, but I’d like to see an American Idol for those over 30, actually. There are a lot of talented people out there who may not be so young, but their age works in their favour, since their voices have matured to the point where they can nail some things that younger people cannot. In other words, I’d like to see and hear a real-life Mr. Tanner (from the Harry Chapin song) or his female equvalent belt out a classic. There are really good performers on American Idol, and the rejected ones, especially in the early rounds, are fun to watch; but I’m getting a little tired of pop-tart-wannabe after rap-star-wannabe after hip-hop-wannabe. Bring on the 45-year-old trucker who, after singing along it for 20 years in the cab, can bring the audience to tears with his a capella rendition of “Danny Boy.” (And I really do know this guy.) Or the woman who improves Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.” Or the guy who just nails standards by Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, and the like. Sadly, these talented folks, and others like them, will never get a shot on American Idol or any show like it because of their age.
I know, I know: American Idol is designed to launch a pop career, and you generally have to be young to do that. But I’d still like to see something for the talented older folks.
Get rid of the kids. Get rid of the “cheats.” Quit milking every question for 15 minutes. Just quickly run down a list of questions. Make the contestants decide if they want to keep going BEFORE they see the next question.
I would make similar suggestions for all these primetime game shows. Make them HARD. Quit milking the stupid drama, and for the love of God, quit trotting out the idiot family members.
I love that idea, Spoons. Too bad old people aren’t sexy enough, so it’ll never get made.
I like the idea of making the BSG guys watch their own product, too, so maybe they will stop with the shaky camera at some point.
I think the “Supernatural” boys (and the BSG guys) should do shows with their shirts off much more often. I would approve Speedo scenes for all these guys.
I’d be a whole lot more enthusiastic about continuing to watch Lost if the show had more nudity (or, considering that it’s ABC, semi-nudity). Come on now, a bunch of folks marooned on a deserted island wouldn’t be clothed all the time, would they? (Especially Sayid, Locke, Sawyer, and Desmond). I thought they were off to a great start when the hatch implosion denuded Desmond, but by golly he got dressed again mightydamnquick. If this show isn’t going to give us satisfying plot resolutions, at least it can give us some eye-candy.
More nudity on “Rome”? Are we watching the same show? Or do the characters start wearing more clothes and stop having quite so much sex in the second season?
Totally with you on the three more seasons thing, though.
I don’t think Atia has gotten nekkid all season, and it took until the most recent episode for Pullo to flaunt his butt and show his junk. But Jocasta has remained discreetly clothed, even in an orgy. :smack:
Good Eats - nudity (for the wife, you understand.)
Boomer Idol! You may have something there! The Boomer bump is still the strongest demographic and now that’s where all the extra cash is - their babies have left home and it’s all about them now.
Plus, a huge part of these shows is the vicarious/identification aspect; it’s hard to feel sympatico with someone who’s half your age and weighs 110 lbs…
I’d be a lot more interested in Donald Trump’s The Apprentice if contestants were chosen by interviews in which the applicants’ appearance is not known to the interviewer. They had a token fat guy once, but I’d like to see people of many different levels of attractiveness and a wider range of ages. The way it is now, the show is like a coed version of America’s Next Top Model.
Take the current run of serious , night time shows, and have them, once a year, separate from any on going story arcs, or on going themes, completely parody thems selves. Lots of chances for in jokes about the show and characters, plus even some shots at the actor’s them selves…
Actually, for American Idol I’d like to see the voting re-vamped a little. I like the judging/selection process they’ve been using on Grease: You’re the One That I Want. The public votes over the phone for who they want to keep, and then the judges “save” two out of the bottom four, instead of just automatically dumping the last place contestants. I think it gives the experts a bit of a veto, and I think over the long run provides a more talented upper echelon of contestants.
For example, a system like this would have allowed the judges to boot Sanjaya, and give Brandon another shot at redeeming himself (he won’t win, but he deserves another chance more than Sanjaya does).
