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NBC's "Celebrity Circus": Another Sucker-Born-Every-Minute Move
June 11, 2008  | By David Bianculli
 
Tonight at 9:30 ET, NBC proudly presents its latest reality-TV competition show, Celebrity Circus.I say "proudly," because here it is, occupying valuable prime time at a time when network TV desperately needs to attract viewers, not repel them.

celebrity-circus-june-11.jpgI haven't seen Celebrity Circus, so I can't say whether it's as lame, unwatchable and insulting as I suspect it is. We'll all pass judgment soon enough. But my expectations are low - about as low as they were for Secret Talents of the Stars, a similar showcase proudly presented by CBS in April, then not-so-proudly canceled after a single telecast.

As someone who loves quality TV, I've come to resent poorly made, low-aiming unscripted television series -- not only because they're a waste of time, but because they waste time that otherwise could be devoted to something better. Something, say, scripted.

Look at tonight's prime-time five-network lineup -- if you dare. Celebrity Circus is just one of eight unscripted offerings this evening, the others being ABC's Wife Swap and Supernanny reality shows, CBS's Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular game show, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance competition show, NBC's Deal or No Deal game show, and CW's doubleheader of competition series, America's Next Top Model and Farmer Wants a Wife.

Because several of those shows are expanded episodes, that's a total of 10 hours of unscripted programming in a single night of prime time. Scripted shows, on the other hand, are represented only by ABC's Men in Trees, which leaves TV for good after tonight, and reruns of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY on CBS.

That's it. And that's sad.

And that's by no means a one-night anomaly. Yesterday there were five scripted shows in prime time, all repeats, and five unscripted ones -- nine, if you include news and sports. And tomorrow, on one of the most active nights for scripted TV, there are six shows featuring actors and actual scripts: new episodes of Swingtown and Fear Itself, and reruns of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Smallville, Supernatural and My Name Is Earl.

Unscripted fare? Four game and competition shows, including Million Dollar Password and Last Comic Standing. Add ABC's NBA Finals coverage to the mix, and it's a total of seven unscripted shows.

Celebrity Circus is setting up shop in what looks less and less like a Big Top -- and more and more like a Big Bottom.

 

5 Comments

 

Talbert said:

Used to be that networks threw their money away on series like "Manimal" and "Hello, Larry" and "aka Pablo." Now, having junked the third-tier writers who used to script such sediment, they throw away nearly as much money on series even those bad writers wouldn't have imagined.
Evolution has abandoned network television. (Boy, you made me laugh -- I REVIEWED all those shows!!! -- David B.)

Comment posted on June 11, 2008 9:11 AM


Chris Jones said:

They use the term "celebrity" very loosely these day don't they? And the networks wonder why viewership continues to drop.

To rant on a related but seperate topic, I remember, "back in the day" a 30 minute show had three commercial breaks. One at the very beginnning, one at ~ the 15 minute mark and one at the end. Now they have one every ten minutes, sometimes more. I watched the Grey's finale and they had one period where they had a commercial break, 4 MINUTES OF SHOW, then another commercial break. If I didn't have DVR I'm not sure I would watch TV anymore.

Comment posted on June 11, 2008 9:40 AM


Scott said:

The season finale of Top Chef is tonight. Now that's scripted unscripted television worth watching.

Comment posted on June 11, 2008 12:33 PM


Eileen said:

This is why TNT, TBS & USA in the NYC market will always be embraced by viewers. I would rather watch back-to-back repeats of "Law & Order" episodes I've seen three times than this drivel. I don't know who the networks are appealing to, but their greed knows no bounds. These cheaply put together nightmares speak volumes as to what the networks think of viewers.

One can always turn to AMC which has a pretty good roster of movies. And let us not forget our good friend, PBS (pledge month aside).

I don't think this is due to a lack of creativity; just a lack of network brass to want to put their money where the goods are.

Such a sad commentary...

Comment posted on June 11, 2008 3:44 PM


Zeph said:

Whoops I missed it. Oh wait, there's ten minutes left. I have to go to the kitchen and get a bottle of Purple and I'll be right back. I can't subject my brain to a circus like that without a little antioxidant reinforcement. On second thought, I have to wash my hair too. Guess I'll miss the whole thing.

Comment posted on June 11, 2008 10:48 PM

 
 
 
 
 
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