Before American Idol, The Voice, and Dancing with the Stars powered next-day water cooler conversations, there was Star Search.
The hit 1980s-90s TV talent show helped propel the careers of Britney Spears, Dave Chappelle and Beyoncé, though none of these A-listers actually won the competition. Now, Netflix is reviving the franchise for a new generation.
The nine-episode reboot, which premiered this week, maintains many hallmarks of the original: young performers with big dreams, such as 10-year-old country singer Blair Kudelka and 27-year-old Mexican magician Fernando Velasco; an avuncular host in actor Anthony Anderson; and a panel of celebrity judges including actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, rapper and singer Jelly Roll, and model Chrissy Teigen.
But executive producer Jesse Collins emphasizes one crucial difference: "The audience is truly the fourth judge," he said. Unlike other talent contests where the voting process can take hours if not days, viewers worldwide can vote on Star Search performances in real time using their TV remote or phone, with results revealed almost immediately during each episode.
"We are trying to recreate that energy where everyone on this show can be a star and deserves to be," Collins said.
Marrying nostalgia with interactivity
Today's stars are now often born on YouTube and TikTok rather than traditional TV. Netflix is betting on a combination of nostalgia for the original show and the instant gratification brought about by the real-time interactivity of the new one to make offerings like Star Search stand out.
"This level of 'immediacy' turns a passive viewing experience into a live, interactive event," the streamer's vice president of unscripted series, Jeff Gaspin, said in an email statement to NPR.
Not everyone is convinced the approach will succeed.
"I think people look to television for a more passive experience," said James Poniewozik, chief TV critic for The New York Times. "And they look to other screens for a more active experience."
Bifurcated ambitions
Poniewozik said he sees the revival of Star Search as emblematic of Netflix's bifurcated ambitions. The platform wants to be everything to everyone — offering reality shows, dramas, comedies, and now sports — much like old-fashioned network television. Yet streamers have fundamentally changed how people watch, enabling on-demand viewing that fragments audiences.
"This kind of breaks up the audience in that way from the kind of global village that made a show like Star Search possible," Poniewozik said.
Host Anthony Anderson, an actor and comedian, acknowledges the challenge of capturing attention amid endless viewing options. But he's banking on brand recognition to cut through the noise.
"When you say Star Search, people know exactly what that was and what they're going to get with that show," Anderson said. "And so people are going to tune in for that."
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