TVSquad

The overnight popularity of singing sensation Susan Boyle following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent all but guaranteed it'd only be a matter of time before the U.S. version of the show tried to manufacture the same energy.

Here are the necessary ingredients:

• One national talent show where Joe Six Pack and Suzy Temp can reach for the polished brass ring of stardom.
• One cynical mob eager to tear down anyone who dares to stand up out of the crowd without meeting nebulous performance standards.
• One defective rube (either chubby, ugly, stupid or -- worst of all -- rural) who seems oblivious to the mob's hostility.
• Three judges who are in on the bit while acting incredulous.

Of course, the rube needs to have genuine talent -- as in the case of Boyle and singer Kevin Skinner from Kentucky from this week's auditions on America's Got Talent.

(S04E04) "Houston, we have a problem." - Piers about the Houston, Tx, contestants

Yesterday, America's got magic. Tonight, America's got a problem. Yet, another episode filled mostly with bad or subpar acts. I don't get why the editors don't ensure a good balance between good and bad acts in each episode. Actually, I don't get why they don't show more of the good acts that are voted through so that we get to know the performers right from the start so they all have an even chance to get our votes. I guess I'm not cut out to be a reality TV show editor!

Let's give our two cents about the bad acts of the night, including Divani; Jolie, Lester and their lawnmower; Rusty "They don't understand Broadway" Reece, and Marti "The most annoying man in Miami" Brill.

(S04E03) "America's Got Magic." - Read on the magic box used by a contestant

America definitely got some magic tonight, as this was the first episode of the season where there were more good acts and not-so-bad ones than there were bad acts.

Before I give my two cents about the performances and let you comment on them, as well, I need to raise the issue of sponsoring. It looks like Orville Redenbacher is now sponsoring America's Got Talent. So far, it was done with some taste -- just a sort of "pop corn" ad telling us to watch the show -- but I'm afraid it may become as intrusive as the "Gone Completely Crakers" were last season. Let's hope we won't get a "Poppin' It" segment similar to the "Crakers" one, as they were boring and used good air time that could have been given to good performances.

(S04E02) "I think you should both get in the suitcase and mail yourself home." - The Hoff to two "dancers" who used a suitcase to hide one of them as part of the act

After last night's season premiere of America's Got Talent, some of the TV Squad readers chimed in with comments to let us know that they didn't like Nick Cannon much as host. At first, I thought he wasn't that bad, yet not that good.

After reading your comments and paying closer attention to him tonight, I must agree that he is not that good and that the camera focuses way too much on his off-stage, not-that-interesting reactions when it should focus on the performance. Let's hope he improves in time and that the writers give him better lines than those we heard Jerry say over and over again in the past seasons.

(S04E01) "This place is absolutely barkin' mad." - Sharon about Seattle

This year's season premiere of America's Got Talent was about the same as last year's and the previous one: same montage of bad and good acts, instant reactions from the host backstage, the same type of comments from Piers, Sharon and the Hoff, and the last act being one where the contestants have a touching story and are great performers.

The main difference was the change in host -- Nick Cannon took over for Jerry Springer -- and the fact that a contestant, whose act was singing and playing guitar, decided to profess his love to The Hoff! That was probably the highlight of the entire two-hour premiere.

"The biggest talent search in the history," as former America's Got Talent host Jerry Springer used to say over and over again, is beginning its fourth season on Tuesday.

Judges David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan will return to give their two cents about the acts performed on stage in front of them. One cast change is the arrival of Nick Cannon as host. Let's hope that Nick won't read the teleprompter too much and will have better interactions with the contestants than Springer did.

Want to know more about this season's AGT? Details coming up!

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle could jump from her runner-up appearance on Britain's Got Talent to perform on the colonial remake, America's Got Talent.

According to producers, they'd love Boyle to sing in front of millions of U.S. viewers. There's no word if they'd consider changing the name of the show to America's Got Talented, Frumpy 48 Year Old Scottish Women Who Had a Nervous Breakdown after Almost Winning the Overseas Show We're Ripping Off.

The self-confessed virgin had rarely stepped foot outside her village in Scotland before taking a shot at fame on ITV. But, her breakout performance made her an online sensation.

With the latest seasons of Survivor, The Amazing Race, and American Idol wrapping up, fans patiently have to wait until the fall or spring 2010 for their favorite shows to return. But why wait? Several reality TV shows debut in the summer both as lighter fare than fall shows and a way to test for target audiences.

If one recalls, several summer reality TV shows have eventually moved to prime real estate in the fall or spring. If rumors are true the summer favorite So You Think You Can Dance will be the next to move, airing in the summer and fall.

Here are some alternatives for your favorite reality TV shows.

NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.

Returning: Heroes, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, SNL: Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Law & Order, Southland, Dateline NBC

Returning mid-season: Chuck, 30 Rock, The Celebrity Apprentice

Gone: Life, Medium, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim, Kings, Knight Rider

New: Trauma, The Jay Leno Show, Parenthood, Community.

New for mid-season: Day One, 100 Questions, Mercy, The Marriage Ref

Not reflected on the schedule, but will be returning in the summer: America's Got Talent, Friday Night Lights (which will once again be aired first on Direct TV).

Watch this space for more details on the new shows...

More on the schedule and comments after the jump.

Last week, we learned that Jerry Springer would not return as host of NBC's America's Got Talent due to other commitments. TV Squad readers and I made a few suggestions to the network as to who could take on the role: David Hasselhoff, Brian Dunkleman, Neal Patrick Harris, and George Hamilton. The network went with option 5: Nick Cannon.

As you can see, the audition and elimination process to find a new host was quite fast when compared to the months it takes to discover the next greatest sensation in America on the show! For sure, Cannon didn't have to perform in front of a live audience and the show's three judges -- Piers Morgan, David Hasselhoff and Sharon Osbourne -- to get the job.

Back at the very end of August, it was announced that NBC's America's Got Talent was renewed for a fourth season. When I wrote about this renewal, I included a few ideas to revamp the series because even if AGT is one of the most popular summer shows, it doesn't mean we like everything about it!

Let's go down memory lane and remind ourselves of the first suggestion I wrote in that post:

• Change the host. Jerry Springer reads the teleprompter way too much. Also, his interactions with the contestants are sometimes painful to watch because Springer doesn't know what to tell them or how to act around them.

Could it be that the show's Powers That Be read my post? (Please don't burst my bubble here and let me think for a few seconds that I actually played a part in making my suggestion come true.) AOL announces today that Jerry Springer is leaving AGT!

... Twelve shows a stinkin'

That aroma tickling your nose is not one from an oven full of fresh gingerbread cookies. No, it's from a television full of burned-out ideas and gutted hulks of viewers who can't take the crap that is heaped upon them. That's because, more than ever, there is a lot of stink on the television landscape. Most of it is due to inordinate amounts of reality programming which has flooded the market. The rest is due to the lack of new ideas for an industry that is rapidly changing.

In order to start our annual Festivus countdown we have compiled a scientifically proven list of 12 shows just stinking up the flat screen. And, when I say 'scientifically proven' I mean I just asked a bunch of people off the street about shows they disliked. So, it's as accurate as it possibly can be. Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll have opinions, one way or another, on these shows and others not on the list. So, if you have your nose plugs, let's begin.

If you've been reading my America's Got Talent reviews over the summer, you know I was not happy with last week's results. But since I'm a passive viewer (aka I do not vote), I had to accept America's choice as best new act in America. Since the finale aired, I've been reading comments TV Squad readers left on our site and what the Entertainment Weekly AGT reviewer and readers had to say about the winner. Reading those comments left me with one question: who voted for the winner anyway?

(S03E17) "The best new act in America." - The Narrator

Not to worry, I won't spoil who won the America's Got Talent before the jump. So since I have space to kill before I chit chat about the result show, let's use it for stats, shall we?

The first episode of the season aired on June 17, meaning that we spent 3 months and a half watching the competition unfold. In total, we've spend 31 hours and 13 minutes (including commercials) watching acts ranging from the awful to amazing as well as listen to the judges comments and Jerry reminding us that it's "One winner, one nation." Why 13 minutes? Well, the president's address last week cut the Top 5 episode short to 43 minutes according to NBC.

Now that I've used a few lines with stats that make us sound like people who didn't have much to do over the summer, let's get down to business....

The stars were out at NBC's big fall kick-off party, but no one was having as much fun as Jerry Springer and Piers Morgan.

The two opposing sides of some very emotional dice on America's Got Talent actually get along famously ... when they're not still bickering over whether a certain 4-year-old contestant should've gone home.

We talked to Jerry and Piers about what they're looking for on the show, whose name gets chanted the most and why Springer has become a total softie.