Why Can't We Have Variety Shows Instead Of Competitions?

[2HBStrat]

I've been watching Ed Sullivan half hour show on Sunday night reliving childhood. Which makes me say to myself; "Self, why can't we just have entertainment shows which are not competitions?" I do see some bluegrass shows and Opry, but obviously the most watched are Idol, Voice, AGT. Would those audience not tune into the show if it was just the performance?

Do you miss Topogigo and the spinning plates?

 

[fishermike]

I think what initially made American Idol so popular was Simon Cowell's putdown of the obviously untalented. We all know people who think they are musically talented when they are really not.

Idol has toned down that aspect of the show, now that they've changed networks.

Not just Cowell. I'm still known to throw a little, "You know, for me, that was a little pitchy, Dawg" at someone from time to time.

Not sure why, but it still trips me out that this dude was (is?) in Journey...

 

[Knows3Chords]

Because they have been done to death.

Category:1970s American variety television series - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Category:1980s American variety television series - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[telemnemonics]

I guess I do not understand the question.

By "variety show" do you mean one band plays after another?

I see a glut of what looks like variety shows all with a guys name on the marquee, and since they are variety, they have a house band, a visiting band, and several other visiting actors celebrities and public figures.
Those are not variety shows?
Mostly boring to me.

Are there MTV shows with one band after another?

 

[rand z]

I've been watching Ed Sullivan half hour show on Sunday night reliving childhood. Which makes me say to myself; "Self, why can't we just have entertainment shows which are not competitions?" I do see some bluegrass shows and Opry, but obviously the most watched are Idol, Voice, AGT. Would those audience not tune into the show if it was just the performance?

AGREED!

Music (Entertainment) shouldn't be a COMPETITION.

It's not a GAME or a SPORT.

It's not a WINNER or a LOSER thing.

It should be ENJOYMENT... and peeps should be SUPPORTING one another.

imo.

 

[Willie Johnson]

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Byron Allen, jillionaire.

Totally agree with the premise here. Even just as a one-off, I can't believe there hasn't been a Hee Haw reboot. That would be frikkin' awesome.

 

[fleezinator]

What is this network television you speak of?! I haven't watched anything on network in ages mostly because none of it has ever appealed to me. Variety shows? Customized content according to my taste is auto fed to me via the interwebs from YouTube, IG, Netflix & HBO in amounts that i'll never be able to consume in this lifetime. What a time to be alive.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I'm no TV programming expert, but I am guessing all the variety shows went away because nobody was watching them. Personally, in my crazy thought process, I view reality shows as normalizing the process of hosing your buddy over.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Uhhh… check my signature line.

And I agree about everything having to be a competition. It’s stupid.

Are you saying I stole it from you, or that we both stole it from Mel?

 

[Toto'sDad]

I couldn't really tell you for sure, 'cause I don't watch it, but I've read that Blake Shelton has been quitting the voice for like thirty years in a row or something.

 

[Dan German]

Are you saying I stole it from you, or that we both stole it from Mel?

Well, I will always credit Mel, but if someone wants to think I’m that profound, who am I to argue?

 

[Maguchi]

I had a weird crush on Sarah Purcell that was completely forgotten until this post.

As soon as “reality TV” was born variety shows died. Sex sells, and there’s nothing sexy about family oriented TV.

Except for Sarah Purcell.

Who the heck is Sarah Purcell?

I got's to know!

I was around back then, but I don't remember her at all.

 

[Vibroluxer]

I like the auditions for America's Got Talent. Acts range from the oh-so-talented to near raunchy silliness to the just plain bad. But after the first few weeks the auditions are over and it turns into a competition.

It's the closest thing we have as far as I know.

10 yo Jackie Evancho singing Ave Maria. I don't know what she's doing now but she lit it up then.

 

[sax4blues]

I like the auditions for America's Got Talent. Acts range from the oh-so-talented to near raunchy silliness to the just plain bad. But after the first few weeks the auditions are over and it turns into a competition.

This is it. I would be happy for it to end there for that group then keep bringing in new talent. And for me I want to hear original music, not karaoke.

 

[Vibroluxer]

This is it. I would be happy for it to end there for that group then keep bringing in new talent. And for me I want to hear original music, not karaoke.

And I am sick of vocal gymnastics. I hate Idol, Voice, and anything like them. As far as I know, and I don't plan my day around watching it so I could be off, AGT is at least original. Ave Maria not withstanding.

 

[NoTeleBob]

I think what initially made American Idol so popular was Simon Cowell's putdown of the obviously untalented. We all know people who think they are musically talented when they are really not.

Idol has toned down that aspect of the show, now that they've changed networks.

But they do tryouts of hundreds of people across the country. So anyone getting on TV without talent would be part of the entertainment plan. Kind of like the gong show.

 

[NoTeleBob]

As long as they don't turn into the gong show, ya, I agree.

Ten years before The Gong Show, when TV was well past the $64K Question controversy, most game shows were fairly wholesome and straightforward. But they were starting to push the envelope a little.

I saw Chuck Barris in an interview. He was responsible for producing many of the game shows on TV at the time. He said that he wanted to create a show demonstrating that people would do anything for money.

Ten years later, there was The Gong Show and there was Chuck, hosting it himself.

 

[JeffBro]

Why can't we just have entertainment shows which are not competitions?

Because they are selling you an act that's not very good and doing this by putting them up against another poor act.

 

[proxy]

Feels like half the internet is a variety show. Wherever I turn, it seems like someone is doing something interesting. I mean, the other half is a full in freak show, but in the good parts there’s a lot of variety, and a lot of talent.

When I look to the “major networks” I expect and receive the lowest common denominator.

 

[Tom Grattan]

I think we're living it.