Foolish Cat January 16th, 2008

The temptation was there last night.

In the midst of a writer’s strike that has reduced prime time television to a wasteland of re-runs and awfulness, the season-premiere of “American Idol” was the proverbial fix that so much of America has been aching for the past couple of months. I have no idea what the numbers were, but I’m sure they were astronomical, as Idol plows on to become the most popular show in TV history. And I must admit, I felt the pull.

I ultimately resisted, but I wasn’t quite sure why.

Of the six seasons that the show has been on, I’ve watched two of them - 3 and 5 - and both times, about halfway through the season, I regretted having invested so many precious nights. But, of course, I had to ride it out and see how they ended, wasting even more precious nights.

But what blundering fool continues indulging in an activity night after night, week after week, knowing that the activity’s pleasure will wear off almost instantly and is less than beneficial to anything in his life?

An addict, of course.

So that was it: I was avoiding the temptation of addiction.

But it had to be more than that. After all, I religiously watch football every Sunday during the season, and that has, basically, the same effect. I don’t gamble, or even play fantasy football anymore - I simply watch the games for the instant pleasure they give. Certainly I could be spending that time more efficiently learning Chinese or reading Dickens.

So then I figured that it had to do with not wanting to be addicted to anything so “silly”. A lot of people that you talk to who don’t watch the show (including me for a while), take the attitude that the show is somehow beneath them. And that the show’s popularity is simply a representation of the nation’s intellect. Most of those people also have the modern-day skepticism that anything with so much power over so many can’t be good.

But was that my reason?

Again, my football habit seems to negate it. First of all, who’s to say what is “silly”? That is simply way too subjective. A lot of people think football is silly. And opera. And chess. The term is meaningless. And it isn’t like the demographic of viewers is elementary school kids. It’s everyone. All ages, races, sexes, ethnicities and, yes, income brackets. Are all these people just fools?

And should “American Idol” be avoided because of its potentially dangerous, pied piper popularity? Well, maybe, but that isn’t my reason. As big as Idol is, it can’t touch the Super Bowl. And I’ve never missed the Super Bowl.

So why not just tune in, join the crowd, and indulge in a guilty, yet relatively harmless pleasure? It isn’t like there was anything else on. What is the natural aversion to the show that makes me feel slightly grimey when it’s over?

And then I realized what it is: the show completely lacks any aspect of knowledge or creativity.

Think about it. Unlike ER or Seinfeld or a documentary on the History Channel or even the News, American Idol offers nothing creatively original or informative. The show is regular people singing other people’s songs and then being judged as good or poor. That’s it. In the later stages the show gets interactive and more people judge, but it’s still the same thing.

Even the drabbest of sit coms offers, if not one original joke, at least original characters. And the most obvious of “infotainment shows” like Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood give, at least, some information. It may not be what a lot of people are interested in, but it is “news” in the sense that it is new.

So what of “Idol”? If it isn’t for creativity or information, than what is it? Why would America rather see a bunch of unknowns over well-known, accomplished rock stars? And they would, too. If the finale of “Idol” was going up against U2 live in concert, “Idol” would win that ratings war hands down. But would you rather go to “Amateur Night” at your local bar or see U2 in concert at Madison Square Garden? When those are the options there’s no debate. So what of it?

For me, it comes down to this: “American Idol” offers us the opportunity, and in fact encourages us, to judge our fellow man, and then it validates our judgments. What could be better? It’s what we do every day anyway - laugh at people and then compare them to ourselves or other people. Only in real life we don’t get the instant feedback to see if we’re right. “American Idol” satisfies that missing element.

Look, Blundering Fools is all about laughing at man’s follies and calling attention to the mistakes of mankind - that’s what we do. I guess, then, I just don’t feel the need to watch the game show version. It’s an addiction I can do without.

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