HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE...WTF

***WARNING, DUE TO THE SHOCKING NATURE OF THIS POST, ITALICS ARE USED FAR MORE THAN THEY ACTUALLY SHOULD. YOUNG CHILDREN AND SMALL ANIMALS... BEWARE!!!***

First of all, let me start with, WTF!? For all 9.217 of you who read or stumble upon my blog, yes, I love musical theatre, I think it's fantastic, it is my passion. But...an actual reality show incorporating the Great White Way? Confused? Slightly appalled? Yes, me too. It's not that I think a reality show about finding new leads for a Broadway show on national television is bringing down the value and reputation of Broadway (much less musical theatre), but the real question here is...really? and why?!

I know the U.K. has turned out some big hit shows (such as American Idol and The Office) and we Americans have ripped off the idea in hopes of finding success here on network television (and succeeded...great, we're lazy). Woo-hoo to us for finding and adapting those shows...we know a good idea when we decide to copy it!

Well, beginning this weekend, Sunday, August 12, the BBC will premiere a new reality show, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? They ask the question and indeed, we are perplexed. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has decided to jump on the reality-series bandwagon, seeking a new actress to perform the forthcoming West End revival of the classic Rogers & Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music as Maria von Trapp. How delightfully European.

Not to be outdone by our British friends, our crazy friends over at the Peacock network (whoever greenlit this idea...crazy...seriously) announced this week a brand-spanking-new reality show entitled, You're the One That We Want (lovely isn't it that both shows incorporate well known phases from their respective shows as the title of their reality show). Guess what this show is searching for? Leads (Sandy & Danny, naturally) in the upcoming revival (really, another revival?!) of Grease set to open on Broadway in 2007. Coincidence (though interestingly enough, David Ian, one of the "Maria Experts" in the U.K. version has been announced as the Executive Producer in this U.S. version...hmmm)? Not so much. Ok, so we didn't actually steal this idea, but still...sounds rather lame to me. How dreadfully American.

I find this to be a terrible idea of a television show...simply dreadful. This ranks in the list of bad reality shows like...Second Chance: America's Most Talented Senior (yes, there was one...and if you blinked you luckily missed it and yes, it again aired on the Peacock Network). I really don't see any redeeming quality in a show like You're the One That We Want (not a single one). Though I obviously had plenty to say, I am thoroughly speechless. How different will this show be than any of the other talent-type shows other than having a different ultimate goal. Still...not so interested. Hmmm, I wonder if this will be a show that doesn't actually make it to air and will be an "exclusive" broadband special series. I wouldn't be surprised, would you? Knowing my luck, it will end up as some big guilty pleasure that drunk college students and small children obsess over and love. **sigh**