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We caught this mid-season replacement while we were looking for something, and figured we'd watch. All in all it wasn't bad, but talk about your ripoffs. Three judges sit behind a table and watch as "talent" (and I use that word loosely) streams by them in search of their fifteen minutes of fame. Sound familiar? No, it's not American Idol. That starts next week. This is instead the public casting call for a new Broadway production of Grease. What an idiotic idea.

Don't get me wrong, I like Grease. I think most people do. But to open up the two leads to the public (both the general public for the roles and the voting public for the voting) is just stupid. Sure, the judges will ultimately get to winnow the masses down to some remotely appealing people so that they at least stand a reasonable chance of not looking like complete idiots. But ultimately these are people who are putting their fate in the hands of the public who probably won't see the show. This isn't like American Idol, where anyone can get a single at any time. How many of you have seen a Broadway show on Broadway? Probably not a huge percentage.

So right off the bat the people voting to cast these roles have no vested interest in whether or not the people who fill the roles are any good or not. That's just asking for trouble. So... who wants to have some fun?

Okay, that's probably a bad idea. The show itself wasn't too bad, except for the blatant rip-off part. And the fact that the people really weren't as bad as some of the ones you get to watch on Idol. Heck, the early auditions where you get to see the people that just can't sing are some of the best parts of that show. Here most of them had at least a bit of talent. The judges, however, have got to go. They have no appeal whatsoever. Like them or hate them, at least Randy, Simon and Paula are entertaining to watch most of the time.