Color me stupid, but weren't the winter olympics just this past winter, not a "couple years ago?" Or are you referring to the ones 4 and a half years ago?

I will admit that I was rather shocked about how successful Simon has been with television shows. Simon does think he knows the American public and he doesn't. It's just the networks don't want to miss out in case one of his shows pays off.

Have you guys read "Desperate Networks"? Very interesting read. Networks didn't want to pass on Mark Burnett after the success of Survivor but not all of his shows have paid off. I'm sure it's the same with Simon Cowell right now. Reality is a hit or miss kind of thing but still a small cost for networks alot of times. Plus a few shows went on the air once the producers lined up enough advertisers so there was no cost to the networks, Survivor and American Idol are two examples of this. Both started as summer shows and the networks doubted both before they aired.

That's ok Rabbit. I didn't know about X Factor either. I'm just going off of the things I have seen from Simon Cowell, producer. So far, he has yet to impress.

I think the problem with AGT is that it's a bad idea from the get go. We've already had this show in many different forms over the years and it always turns out the same. If Arsenio doing it on CBS and Steve Harvey doing it on WB didn't work, why would Regis doing it on NBC turn out any different? It will get some ratings for the simple fact that it is the summer and there is, for the most part, no competition. Still, even with the brief ratings, it's not a sustainable show like Idol, Amazing Race, or Survivor. It's realistic goal would be to aspire to be Big Brother, which I think says everything about the show.

While the acts on Idol are actually quite good by the time they narrow the field down, and you want to see how they are going to perform and improve as the show progresses, I don't think there is a big audience that is going to get invested in a juggler or a group dunking basketballs. Too many of the acts on AGT are the kind of thing you watch once and think 'That was interesting.', but you don't need to see it again.

As far as the judges go, I didn't mind them. Brandy is as gorgeous as ever and was predictably the nice one. The british guy, Piers?, was of course trying to channel Simon. Hasselhoff did amuse me when he wouldn't hit the button on the old man stripper, daring him to actually do it.

Thanks for defending me MrsE. I know about the popularity of the brit shows and I actually agree with Simon Cowell's "input" to the contestants on AI, the majority of the time. Sitting next to Randy & Paula, he is the only one, for the most part, that seems to have some semblance of intelligence.

Doc, I didn't watch Cupid (never heard of it before you mentioned it). However, I did catch one show of American Inventor, and you are right. Hated the show and never watched it again. I completely forgot about his involvement. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part that he would deliver something intelligent based upon his interaction on AI (although there are times he does act like a petulant child).

In any event, hated AGT. There were a couple of talented people that performed but they didn't outweigh the rest of the schlock that was dragged out. I was hoping it would be as entertaining as the AI auditions. Maybe when the finalists are whittled down it might be entertaining to watch. I just don't know about having to sit through listening to those three "judge" the finalists. What do you both think?

Doc, according to an article I read Simon Cowell has 12 or 14 tv series on the air in the US and UK. His show The X Factor in UK is a huge hit and almost as popular as Pop Idol. Maybe that's why Rabbit expected something out of this show. Simon Cowell has the clout right now to get shows on the air, good or bad, they are getting produced.

But this show is horrible. I taped Wed show and finally got around to watching it this morning. It was painful. From what I could tell (when I wasn't fast forwarding through it) they only showed a handful of the acts that made it through to show more of the bad acts. I know that's what they do on AI but it didn't work for this show. They also grabbed Regis thinking he might draw people in but I don't see where he adds anything to this. I killed the season pass after deleting the episode.

Rabbit, I'm wondering why it is that you expected better from Simon Cowell. Because he is on American Idol, which he didn't create? After seeing both Cupid and American Inventor, which Cowell did produce, I expected America's Got Talent to be a fairly crappy show trying to grab some undeserved ratings by agressively promoting it's tenuous connection to American Idol. And that is exactly what it was.

Boy of boy, Bob. I have been itching to blog on this show since Wednesday night. I have been waiting for someone on your site to write something. Thursday morning I was wondering, "where is Lacy Hall when you need her?"

NBC may think they have a hit on their hands. I am not so sure. I watched this show because for the most part, I like Simon Cowell and was curious to see what brilliant idea he came up with (nevermind that there was nothing else to watch but repeats, which I suspect is the real reason for the "fantastic ratings").

America's Got Talent? Not from this viewer's
perspective. This might be a creation from Simon Cowell but it has Chuck Barris written all over it. This show definitely reminds me of the Gong Show and Ed McMahon's Star Search rolled into one big YAWN.

Simon Cowell, I expected better from you.

Okay, so Simon managed to find a man who could be his fraternal twin. No surprise there. Can't even remember his name. I just call him Simon Jr. But David Hasselhoff and Brandy as judges? WTF???

If Brandy still had a career left prior to this show, it is definitely over now. And Hasselhoff? I found it painful to watch him. I don't know about anyone else but I think this guy has a closetful of strange
erotica among other things. He is just plain weird to me. His personality, what little there seems to be, reminds me of a 12 year old throwing a temper tantrum.

Now onto the acts. Forget it. Not even worth discussing. Did I mention the Gong Show earlier?