Yes, a bit trivial for a Good Friday post, but…
Lisa de Morales writes about American Idol running long, and thus, DVR viewers not seeing Adam Lambert’s performance, as if it’s a scandal somewhere between Iran Contra and Watergate:
And, in answer to that question, we’re guessing Fox knows it has a problem because it was in duck-and-cover mode yesterday in response to all questions about Tuesday’s performance show
Fox, for instance, declined to answer a question as to whether the producers had done a full dress rehearsal before Tuesday’s live broadcast, including the judges (or stand-ins) giving comments on the performances to gauge how long the show would run. This would have been particularly important since, as Fox said, this week was attempting to jam eight Idolettes into a one-hour performance show for the first time this season.
Fox also declined to answer whether anyone in the network’s reality-TV department or among the show’s producers had heard from Fox’s Standards and Practices Department regarding the overrun. “Idol” typically has someone from S&P attend the Tuesday performance shows — that’s par for the course at TV networks when it comes to performance programs, because networks want to make sure all contestants are given an equal opportunity.
Fox also would not say whether changes were being made to “Idol” to make sure this kind of overrun, which could potentially affect voting results, would not happen again.
Well then someone needs to get some answers, damnit! This is American Idol we’re talking about! Someone could have been kicked off unfairly! Did you hear me? Someone could have been kicked off unfairly!!!!
More seriously, it seems that Fox structured the show to minimize the impact of an overrun. The last performance was the best performance of the night by the most popular performer, making it unlikley that there would be damage from lost DVR votes. And the judges still retain the veto power, which I am 100% certain they would have used to keep Lambert if he fell short.
Which kind of proves the point — what de Morales’s complaint relies on buying into the illusion Fox’s selling that this is some sort of objective talent competition. There are countless pulleys Fox can pull, from the placement of the performances to the play of the back-up band, to lighting, to informing the judges’s comments that can have a much greater impact on the result than running past the end of the DVR window.
Complaining that the overrun might effect the voting is like complaining that a professional wrestling match might be compromised because the referee has less than 20/20 vision.
