TVSquad

Food Network is either creating a new reality food competition program that sounds remarkably like a miniature version of Top Chef or this is the biggest coincidence in the world of cable television. Food Network has put out a casting notice that calls for professional chefs who are interested in testing their skills in the kitchen against other chefs by having their food judged on taste, creativity and presentation by experts.

They're looking for four contestants; each week one will be eliminated till a winner remains. The winner will then be -- wait for it -- top food maker. No, that part I made up. They're not saying what the winner will be called or even what the best chef will win. The details aren't spelled out in the casting notice.

Like Jason wrote in his reviewcap of the American Idol finale, I too think that America got it right. But more than that, I think the outcome of last night's vote has some deeper significance to AI's future.

First of all, it was not only a record-breaking number of votes, but the outcome was more distinct than in years past. That means that America really wanted David Cook to win. That's not to say David Archuletta can't belt out a good tune, but for America to pick the more original contestant who brought a unique style to everything he sang is notable.

The relevance to future Idols is this: If America actually picked the more talented contestant, the singer most likely to have a bang-up career, the hipper, cooler dude who should have had more appeal, then the future is bright for AI.

Watching American Idol this season, I've come to the not-so-astute realization that we can't all like everyone who makes it to the top ten each season. There are different musical styles, personalities and, let's face it, some pretty crappy singers who make it through.

So I've begun to fantasize about an all-star AI top ten. Imagine if everyone that you really liked from the top ten of all the past seasons of AI were in the top ten together. I know the top ten can't be all the handsome rocker men I so adore, but it can be a good mix of good music, memorable personalities, and lasting talent.

If memory serves me correctly (and we all know it probably doesn't), these are the contestants that I'd pick, in no particular order:

1. Brooke White, season seven, fifth place
No, I'm not a sucker for a crier. I simply love her singer/songwriter style, something we really haven't ever seen in Idol and something I hope we see more of. When AI started, it was the boy-band voice, then it moved to the rockers; hopefully Brooke has started a new force of no-nonsense talent coming through.

Okay, here's the pitch. A reality competition show in which American contestants go to other countries and have to adapt. Does that sound like CBS's The Amazing Race? It did to me, but apparently it's not. ABC has ordered an unscripted competition show in which Americans go abroad and face challenges. I guess this is a case of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery?

Oh, the humanity! Wheel of Fortune is not all frivolity and fun. Merv Griffin knew what he was doing when he created this venerable game show. Drama, ensues! You think it's so easy spinning the wheel, buying a vowel, laughing at Pat Sajak's jokes and ogling Vanna's gorgeous gait? Well, it's not. Under all that pressure you'd be surprised -- or maybe you wouldn't -- to see how some people simply come up short in the solution department. The letters all float together and instead of spelling a word you know as well as your own name, you pick the wrong consonant and you're WAH-WAHed in shame and regret. The fortune goes to the next player and you're left with egg on your face.

Watch these great examples and you'll see what I mean (a sample is after the jump). Like Jay Leno's simple "man in the street" questions about common knowledge, you see that there's no telling how stupid people can be, especially with a camera and microphone in their face.

[via digg]

Recently I mentioned that NBC had a new game show in the works called The Great American Singing Bee. The game show would require contestants to sing lines from pop songs. Well, now FOX has just greenlit a similar game show, this one called Off the Charts (working title). The new series will feature a live band with a singer that will play part of a song. Then, the contestant must sing the rest of the song. The prize money increases as the songs become more obscure.

Meanwhile, CBS is still working on its own new adaptation of the classic game show Name That Tune, though there's not much new information on that particular project just yet. CBS is also creating another reality show called Life As a Song, which has real people breaking into song and dance numbers in order to make annoucements to friends and family.

American Idol is a show whose popularity and success hinges on some well-kept secrets and big-ass surprises. Which is why the Top 24 Finalists will have to put their MySpace pages on temporary hiatus. There will be no blogging allowed during this part of the competition.

Part of me is disappointed by this rule. I love the behind-the-scenes first hand accounts that blogging provides. But I also understand why the producers need to be such a bunch of paranoid control freaks. Thirty-three million of us are not going to continue to tune in each week if too much vital information is leaked on the Internet.

Simon may have called the Seattle turnout "the worst bunch of miserable contestants EVER," but many of our TVS readers think that it was Simon's behavior (especially the name-calling) that was miserable last night.

Our comments are abuzz on the Seattle post, and most of you feel that American Idol has gone too, too, too, too far. You were annoyed by the parade of loony performances over good auditions, and embarrassed and ashamed to be part of last night's very public mocking of clueless contestants that appeared to be somewhat mentally-challenged. And like you, I'm wondering if I have the stomach for the "spectacle of cruelty" that American Idol may unleash in the upcoming weeks.

You won't believe what I overheard in the bathroom at Hyde the other night. I was mixing my Strawberry Quik together with a half ounce of the white stuff - pure as the driven snow - when The Animal comes in and announces that she's making another TV show. Alright, that's how I imagine rumors get started in LA. The way they actually get started is some production company (or prankster) posts a Craigslist ad, and it gets picked up by Perez Hilton. That's how word got out that Britney may be looking to film a reality show for MTV. I personally don't believe a word of it, but you can read the ad for yourself at the Gossip Gangsta's site.

MTV, a network that can no longer claim to be the "music authority," and Rolling Stone, a magazine that lost its counterculture credibility when Hunter S. Thompson and Lester Bangs pulled up stakes over twenty years ago, have teamed up for a reality series - I'm with Rolling Stone - that follows six young writers vying for a full-time contributing editor slot at the magazine.

The series, which TV Squad reported on earlier this year, will make its debut on January 7th at 10PM for a ten-episode run. The six contestants were chosen from a pool of several thousand applicants. They spent this past summer fielding writing assignments from Rolling Stone's editors - including artist profiles, political coverage and event reviews. Some of the artists that turn up in the series include Ghostface Killah, We Are Scientists, The Roots and Band or Horses.

Fox has fast-tracked the production of a new game show from Mark Burnett (pictured) and Mike Darnell. The show, called Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, will take its quiz show questions directly from the textbooks of first through fifth graders. The show could premiere as early as this coming January or February.

The show's set will resemble a classroom with one contestant betting cash on whether or not he or she can answer a series of general knowledge questions. There will be five fifth graders of average intelligence on stage with the contestant to act as lifelines and, this is my favorite part, to "gently mock" the adult.

I'm officially done with Deal Or No Deal. I've tried to like the show, because I'm a game show geek, but the show is just maddening. And now, even the NBC ads are ridiculous.

Did you see the ads NBC was running the last few days for last night's episode? They showed a woman who did really well in the game. So well that she got to the end of the board with most of the big numbers ($400,000 to $1,000,000) still in play. So why did I have to watch the episode? Couldn't I have just turned in really late in the episode to see what happened? Where's the build up in the episode? Where's the drama?

Ken Jennings recently conducted an interview with himself on his blog about his appearances on the first episodes of NBC's new game show, 1 Vs. 100, and offered a gentle critique of the show and how it could be made better. Apparently, being a member of the studio "Mob" isn't the most pleasant experience in the world. Folks aren't even allowed to sit down, though they do have a nice piece of plywood they can sorta lean against. By the end of a long day of shooting, many people actually got up and left. Jennings also said it's too easy for a contestant to build up a lot of money with the early, easy questions and just take off, which doesn't exactly make for compelling television. Jennings doesn't completely write the show off, but he does see a lot of room for improvement.

Given his penchant for trivia and his personable style, I wonder if we'll ever see a game show in the future hosted by Ken Jennings. I don't know what it would consist of, but I do know it should end with a boxing match against a kangaroo. That's the essential element missing from game shows these days.

If you recall, our very own Tom Biro was approached by the folks at ABC's The Bachelor to think about being the object of bachelorettes' desire on the upcoming season of the show. Apparently, they were looking for a "professional," and they managed to find him via his LinkedIn account. However, Biro told our cousins over at Netscape that he was perfectly happy in his current relationship and was not going to pursuse this "opportunity."

So, because the blogger disappointed them, they decided to go straight to the world of Italian nobility. According to Zap2It, the new Bachelor is Lorenzo Borghese, the owner of a cosmetics business and the son of an Italian prince and princess. And the bachelorettes? Seems to be the usual collection of cute women with varying careers, age range 22-30. Among them is a doctor, a couple of lawyers (one from the town I live in!), and, most interestingly, a beer chemist. Wow. Pretty and she knows how to make beer! If I were the Bachelor, the contest would be over right there.

I don't have much interest in game shows, but I do try to catch Jeopardy! every day. First of all, it's a somewhat more intellectually stimulating than Wheel of Fortune, and it allows me to sit alone in my apartment and yell things out like, "What is 'Paul's letter to the Corinthians!'" and then sit back with an expression of smug self-satisfaction. Of course, that's usually after listening to twenty other answers whose questions I didn't know.

Most of all, however, I tune in for Alex Trebek and those always awkward exchanges between himself and the guests when he tries to learn a little more about them. Trebek has a tendency to say exactly the wrong thing, or to say things that don't quite make sense.  Yesterday during the Tournament of Champions, he had this exchange with a contestant, Mike, after Mike told him about a shower curtain he and his wife received which had a map of the world on it:

Alex: Do [you and your wife] shower together?

Mike [Smiling nervously]: I'm not gonna answer that.

Alex: You're husband and wife, it's okay.

Mike [Still smiling nervously]: I'm still not gonna answer that.

Ah, it's gems like that which keep me tuned in to this show every day.