A CALL TO CBS: BRING BACK "ROCKSTAR"
April 25th 2010 22:25
Link: www.thejukeboxhero.com
Of all the major American TV networks, I have always enjoyed CBS programming the best. Even from the days of a kid, all my favorite shows seemed to emanate from that Big Black Eye: Red Skelton. Hawaii Five-O. All In The Family. M*A*S*H. Magnum PI. Even National Football League games were better on CBS with personalities like Brent Musberger, Pat Summerall and John Madden at the helm of the ship. Nowthesedays, when I'm home and can manage to watch, I love all the high-tech CBS crime dramas---CSI (in all those cities), NCIS, and Criminal Minds----where cutting edge forensics make it pretty clear that any old murderous miscreant can't get anything past Horatio Caine. CBS also was one of the frontrunners in ushering in the new wave of TV Reality shows as well, particularly the still-popular, long-running series, "Survivor", with all its intriguing island mystique and backstabbing deceit. The Columbia Broadcasting System has been a great source of TV entertainment for many moons, and its programming decisions have been remarkably sound, but, for me and lots of other music fans, the network dropped the ball in one big bouncing snafu back in 2007, and that is the network's curious decision not to renew the most bad-ass show ever to air on CBS----"Rockstar".
Created and produced by "Survivor's", Mark Burnett, hosted by beautiful Brooke Burke and former "Janes' Addiction" guitarist, Dave Navarro, "Rockstar" summoned great aspiring rock n roll singers from around the world to where they competed to become the lead singer of a famous reforming band. Debuting on July 11, 2005, as a CBS Summer replacement series, Season One of "Rockstar" focused on finding a frontman for the Australian band, "INXS".
As viewers quickly learned, this show was no "American Idol". While it shared the same goal as the iconic FOX series---finding musical superstars------"Rockstar" was, if anything, the anti-Idol, a grittier, raunchier, more rollicking counterpart to "Idol's" sweet and syrupy pop menu. Rather than awkward , fresh- faced youngsters dressed in nice shirts and prom dresses, "Rockstar" came at you with a snarling, sneering attitude by leather-clad, tat-covered contestants who sang rock with swaggering gusto and wouldn't give the opinion of Simon Cowell a strained fart.
Just Good Ole Boys Never Meaning No Harm
Even Season 5 "Idol" alum, Chris Daughtry, now a huge success in the recording industry, couldn't make the cut on "Rockstar".
What's more, the judges, made up of the band whom the contestants were trying to please, were even more likeable and coherent in their critiques than the trio of confusing, long-winded blowhards who sat on the Idol panel. These judges were REAL musicians whose pinpoint assessments were contoured explicitly for diving the "right" contestant to join their band rather than for the spectacle of theatrics. Contestants not only performed superb rousing renditions of iconic rock tunes, they also often wrote songs they eventually performed on show. "Rockstar" gave music fans a peek into a world that TV had never shown them. And it was real. A real band, real music, and a real passion for the craft that was often missing on "Idol".
Besides that, Brooke Burke was far more pleasing on the eye than Ryan Seacrest.
Eventually, after a grueling but entertaining culling process, J.D. Fortune was selected as the show's winner, and INXS first single "Pretty Vegas", written and sang by Fortune, made its debut in the Billboard Top 40, its album "Switch" make the Top 20, and the band also had a hugely-successful sell-out tour the following year.
CBS subsequently ordered a second season of "Rockstar", which aired during the Summer of 2006. That season, the quest was on to find a lead vocalist for a newly-formed supergroup, "Rockstar Supernova", featuring ex-Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist, Jason Newsted, and ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist, Gilby Clark. Following weeks of electric performances by 15 superb candidates, Canadian Lukas Rossi was chosen to front the band.
The Summer of Lukas Rossi
The Finale marked another memorable Summer for great rock n roll on TV, and I couldn't wait for another season of "Rockstar".
"Rockstar" generated very nice ratings among young viewers who didn't normally watch CBS during the Summer months. Most weeks the show held steady with a 3.0 share, and even increased in Season 2 to around 4.0 which were better ratings than "Dancing With The Stars" garnered its first two seasons before going on to eventually become a current mega-hit, now regularly beating "Idol" in the Neilsons.
Nevertheless, for some inexplicable reason, executives at CBS just never got the show. Maybe they didn't like the music. Maybe they didn't care for the long-haired, tattooed singers. Maybe they didn't dig the playful antics and jocularity of the band, but, in any event, the network announced in May 2007, to the eternal disgruntlement of a huge contigent of viewers who loved the show, a third season of "Rockstar" would not be forthcoming. Instead, the network bigwigs decided to air Burnett's Survivor-like series "Pirate Master" that following Summer which, unsurprisingly, didn't last very long due to poor ratings.
CBS executives should have heeded the advice contained in Gilby Clark's "GNR" title---"Patience".
With "American Idol" tanking and perhaps on the way out, music fans are looking hard for a great new music show to satiate that ever- gnawing appetite for delicious rock n roll. With Reality TV shows reaching a saturation point, and little success networks are having coming up with fresh new ideas, CBS ought to seriously consider bringing back "Rockstar" for a third season.
Mark Burnett himself apparently still hasn't given up on the idea of resurrecting "Rockstar", which comes as promising news for fans of the show, and for all rock fans in general. Burnett states that he receives a multitude of requests to bring back "Rockstar" for a third season....... and, the good news is, he's definitely listening.
"And, yes, I am in discussions with various bands", Burnett says. "There's one flaw in that as a business, is you have to find a suitable rock band that actually wants to find a new lead singer. So you've got quite a barrier to entry. But, yeah, we are in discussions with some bands. And, yeah, people do want to see that series again."
CBS would be well-served to listen to Burnett, and listen to the voice of the People clammoring for a renewal of their favorite musical show. "Idol" is struggling under uncertainty and under the weight of news concerning Simon Cowell's departure from the show in addition to ever-increasing grumbling about a perception that contestant quality is declining. Cowell's is bringing another music show to the States, "The XFactor", but it is actually just another heaping helping of the same syrupy pop-oriented format that "Idol" serves up. CBS, listen to me: The door is wide open for a show that features great rock n' roll music.
Can CBS And Mark Burnett Brooke Their Differences?
Indeed, CBS should consider finding a way to revive "Rockstar". There are a number of "suitable" rock bands trying to reform and retain some of that old magic of the past, so Burnett shouldn't have much of a problem finding one who would want the media attention as it attempts to land the kind of dazzling singer that would lead it back into prominence. Just imagine a Summer trying to find a frontman for a great old resurfacing band like "VanHalen" or "Alice In Chains" or "Poison" or "Aerosmith" if Steven Tyler doesn't shape up. Or, how about this Golden Goose of an idea: "Rockstar/Led Zeppelin."??
That's a show for which I would have a whole lotta love.
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Comment by D. Lirious