Idol 2008 has been a very lucky show, these past couple of weeks. After a rather grim start in the Sunday night ratings race, it was handed something Big Brother never really enjoyed: a second chance. Dancing With The Stars, which scored better than Idol on opening night, turned out to be an absolute stinker, and a large chunk of the mainstream demographic apparently only needed two hours of the rubbish to say a swift, "No, thanks." And where were these people going to go, instead? It certainly wasn't Doctor Who (that's on that boring, arty farty, government station, isn't it?), and 60 minutes - though, these days, a somewhat cheesy affair - is not the kind of trash they're looking for on a Sunday night (they keep that to ending every weekday with Today Tonight and ACA). No, no, they rocked up at Idol, a show that is, truth be told, not going so well, itself.

It was a beautiful weekend, for most of us, because it was the moment that wonderful change happened, and Summer, god bless it, rocked up on our door. Which was perfect, really, because if you're going to pull up a couch and watch Australian Idol or, heaven forbid, Dancing With The Stars (more on that, later), well, let's just agree that a "vacuous" state of mind is best. Or not, of course - because we all know that the irony with reality television is that if you're not thinking - like you're supposed to be - then these contrived, exploitative productions get to weave their magic spells on you - and their advertising deals - without you giving them much resistance. It was a double-edged sword for me, last night, and I feel satisfied I approached my plasma as a willing participant, but as a suspicious one, nonetheless. I expected to either be outraged by an atrocity or thrilled by a piece of Summer trash. Both, ultimately, were futile expectations that gave the experience far too much credit, either way. Some of it was mildly entertaining; some of it was mildly offensive. The common denominator, here, is the adjective, 'mild'. That's not a good thing.

 

This year, we followed what would be the final chapter in the downfall of the biggest reality show of them all, Big Brother. We talked a lot about what's called "rebranding" - an important function sometimes used for the marketing of aging products. The question is simple: do you rely on the history and tradition of the show - the iconography - in finding the public's affection, or do you concede the public's nature to become bored with the flogging of a dying horse, and try to convince everyone that what they're watching is a completely "new" version? Big Brother finally chose to rebrand; we all know how badly it tried to convince us that we were to absolve the show of its past sins, as we witnessed an exciting new era. Ultimately, it didn't work. Hello, It was axed. But have the production team behind Idol, in endeavouring to learn a lesson from the death of its forebearer (and, rest assured, they would have), arrived at the correct analysis? Idol is back, and it isn't particularly trying to be "new", at a time when it surely would have been an obvious option. Hey, Big Brother did that, didn't they? Check out what happened to them! But Idol 2008 may have made a dire miscalculation, if the past week has been anything to go by. The audience rocked up - of impressive size - and the kids were singing. It was all in place. But something happened. Or, more to the point, nothing happened. It was nothing but a fading, empty brand. At this rate, I'll have nothing left to criticise, next year!