Dish Of Salt: Filling the ‘Idol’ Void (June 1, 2006)

By golly I think I’ve found it… the show to fill the void in my life since the mere 7 days since “American Idol” ended. The show has virtually the same format as “Idol.” Auditioners lineup in a city to strut their talent in front of judges. The best and brightest get a ticket to Hollywood and then America chooses a winner. Instead of singing though they tell jokes. I’m talking about NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”, which premiered its fourth season last night. I guess the show has done well enough to warrant four seasons but I don’t see groups of people banding together starting the Joke Patrol. (true “Idol” fans will get this lame attempt at comedy on my part). I’m dating myself here, but I did enjoy the blast from the past moment when the guy who played Skippy on the classic ‘80s sitcom “Family Ties” came out and auditioned for the judges. He made it through the first round but didn’t get the red ticket to Hollywood. Darn! I was all set to start the Skippy’s Hippies fan club and everything. Ok, truth be told, I probably won’t watch it again but at least it filled the void for one night.

Also returning to TV last night was FX’s drama “Rescue Me” starring Denis Leary as a firefighter with a pretty messed up personal life. The show just began its third season and I had yet to catch a single frame of it. All day yesterday, the guys around the office kept telling me I had to check it out because it was the best drama on TV. So that was endorsement enough for me to at least check it out. I’m sorry to tell my pals around here that I disagree with their assessment. It was ok. I didn’t feel compelled to turn it off but it certainly didn’t make me ache to want to continue watching or for that matter go back and watch the first two seasons. I don’t appreciate all the crass guy talk. Maybe that’s why guys like the show so much. Cable outlets can get away with the type of language I hope the big networks never embrace. This is not to say that I am a complete prude. My favorite FX show, which also airs at 10pm on Tuesday nights, would be the sex, violence and gross plastic surgery laced “Nip/Tuck”. That’s a show that once I watched one episode of season two was compelled to go back and watch the series from season one. Ok, sure the Carver storyline was far fetched but as long as I get to watch Julian McMahon, I’m a happy girl. I do fast forward through the plastic surgery stuff. I think that’s why they always turn their CD player on in the surgery room to let me know to turn my eyes away from the icky stuff.

OK, now if you are looking for some real heart stopping, pulse pounding edge of your seat drama be sure and check out the “Scripps National Spelling Bee” on ABC tomorrow night at 8pm. Clearly I’m kidding here people but I just finished watching a publicity reel of the show were they really did play up the drama. Kids were in tears, parents were in tears, I was almost in tears but then again I’m kind of a sucker for emotional moments. The show has never aired in primetime television until now and it will unfold live ala the Super Bowl or NBA playoffs. When I was first told about the show, I wondered how they would pull off keeping people interested for two hours. I think if you tune in you’ll be surprised. The show is produced similar to the way the Olympics are done. You’ll see live competition in conjunction with well produced background stories on the participants. The best thing about it though is that kids are kids and the lines that come out of their mouths, out of innocence, can be so funny. Take Samir Patel, who will be competing tomorrow night, musing on how difficult studying can sometimes be, “Sometimes when I’m studying, I play with my Harry Potter Legos to keep my energy up.” I give the show an A-B-C-D-E-F-G. You get the point!