In one week, American Idol has gone from reality show to soap opera. Driving it there is tonight's Primetime Live: Fallen Idol, billed as "a startling look behind-the-scenes" of the hit reality series. It airs tonight at 10 p.m. on ABC and The New VR.
Trying to kill a rival's top show is not new to TV. Ask executives at Fox, who deserve this sandbagging after trying to blunt ABC's Wife Swap and Supernanny earlier this season with blatant copycat shows, Trading Spouses and Nanny 911. In TV, revenge is a dish best served during sweeps.
ABC is going for the ultimate win-win: Cripple a rival's hit and score their own May sweeps spike. But is it necessarily lose-lose for Fox? Or does this kind of attention just push Idol -- No. 1 in America and Top 3 in Canada -- to new heights?
Face it -- this is a show that thrives on drama. Despite the hype, the success of American or Canadian Idol has very little to do with talent. It has everything to do with society's obsession with fame, even at its most fickle and disposable.
For example: Corey Clark, a 22-year-old former American Idol contestant who rose from obscurity and is headed for oblivion. He grabs a little more face time tonight as one of the key players in ABC's expose.
Clark, a contestant on the second edition of American Idol who is shopping a tell all book, claims he was "coached" by the love judge, Paula Abdul. She was his girl, he claims, paying for his cellphone and such. It's all supposed to be spilled tonight (screeners were not made available to critics).
ABC is reportedly going to air audio from personal phone calls between Abdul and Clark, along with on-camera interviews with contestants who didn't get "coached."
All season long, Abdul has been loopier than Farrah Fawcett on Letterman. Painkillersh, says the 42-year-old Idol judge.
It's a juicy scandal -- even though Clark was tossed early from that competition when it came to light that he faced assault charges for beating his sister.
When did American Idol turn into Young Ear Offenders or Idol Youths? Among the five remaining contestants, Bo Bice was arrested twice in the past four years on drug charges. Scott Savol has been arrested for domestic violence. And these are the finalists! This show is more about rap sheets than rap music. They should be cutting prison records.
That pained look on Simon Cowell's face has gone from exasperation to alarm. He was uncharacteristically quick to jump to Abdul's defence this week, dismissing Clark as a book-shilling charlatan and calling the sex charges "rubbish."
Savvy Cowell is probably more alarmed about last week's shocking ouster of Constantine Maroulis over lumpy Savol. While his "I'll show dad" demeanor won him sympathy from the start, Savol is far from the strongest singer in the bunch. If he continues to own the phones, Idol could morph right into Oprah, all about affirmation without true validation.
Still, whatever sleazy secrets and irregularities are spilled tonight, it probably won't dent the show's ratings. This ain't the '50s, when audiences were shocked to hear that quiz shows were rigged. Today, bad behaviour is celebrated and rewarded.
Just ask Mary Kay LeTourneau and Vili Fualaau, the icky teacher/student lovebirds who have been elevated to Charles and Diana status on the nightly entertainment magazines. LeTourneau spent seven years in jail after diddling her then 12-year-old Grade 6 student. Entertainment Tonight and The Insider are actually paying for their wedding. You want scandal? If viewers will swallow that as entertainment, Idol's antics truly are kid stuff.
