The Next Best Thing

I love summer TV. Right now I have two two tuner Tivo systems and whenever a new season starts (spring, summer or fall), I pretty much check out anything the networks are throwing against the wall. When all of your favorite shows like 'Lost' and 'The Office' go off of the air you have to lower your standards and start dumpster diving to find something new to watch.

In the past few years the networks have moved away from showing re-runs during the summer and now offer new programming specifically targeting the lowered expectations of summer couch potatoes.

My favorite summer show is 'So You Think You Can Dance'. I've been watching it since the first season and it is beginning to grow into a tremendous showcase for talented dancers and choreographers. What I like most about the program is how well it displays the range of dance performance and how powerful this art form can be. I used to have season tickets to 'Dance Saint Louis' and it was my favorite form of theatrical entertainment. Having moved so far out of the city, however, I hardly ever get to see live dance any more. That said, I will be attending a ballet at Opera Garnier in Paris in a few weeks and I'm really looking forward to that.

"So You Think You Can Dance" continues to showcase amazing dancers and incredible choreographers. The only real rough spot has been the hip-hop choreography which has been consistently boring. This evening was the first episode of the new season with all of the finalist dancers who, universally, were wildly talented. Really the only major difference between one couple and the next was the choreography; some of which was spectacular.

All that said, 'So You Think You can Dance' is not my new secret guilty pleasure. There is a new talent show (if you can call it that) on ABC called 'The Next Best Thing'. From the title alone you would have absolutely no clue what this show is about. On top of that, it is on ABC. I virtually never watch anything on ABC other than 'Lost'. Whenever they offer something new, I try to give it a shot but I am almost always disappointed.

However, that has not been the case with this new show. What concerns me, now that I am enjoying it, is that it will be yanked away, perhaps cancelled even from the depths of weak summer programming before it can reach its fitful conclusion.

"The Next Best Thing" is a reality/talent show that is awarding $100,000 to the best celebrity impersonator they can find. At first, this sounds like a recipe for disaster but, surprisingly, it is not.

The show revels in the bad auditions yet, unlike other similar shows, it doesn't torture you with the experience. They are short, and sweet, and always punctuated with entertaining comments from the three celebrity judges; each of whom are truly talented comics. From the always funny Jeffrey Ross, to the gifted impersonator himself Elon Gold, and the stunningly beautiful and always easy on the eyes Lisa Ann Walter.

Here is a show where we can expect hundreds of horrible Elvis Presley impressions and, sure enough, we get them. However, instead of a slow painful dirge of tired and putrid impressions we instead experience either a montage of Elvisi like a hall of mirrors or a handful of fat blubbering fools skewered by Ross in his classic celebrity roast style.

The show has surprisingly high standards and though there may be thousands of Elvis wanna Be's audition virtually none of them get through. When they do finally let someone into the competition, you will do a double, triple, and quadruple take of amazement at the impeccable performance this one man, or woman, brings to the stage.

So, I am writing this post to ask, please don't cancel this short lived piece of popcorn summer fluff because I am quite enjoying it. If, for no other reason, than having Lisa Ann Walter on my 73" high definition TV critiquing a seemingly never ending mirage of Cher's and Dolly's passing from stage left to stage right.