‘American Band’ has to drum up own success

"The Next Great American Band" hopes to win an audience by following the "American Idol" blueprint, featuring groups instead of individual singers. If it succeeds, however, it won't be solely on its rival's coattails. FOX is not inclined to take the risks necessary to make that happen.

Ordinarily, networks have a hard time resisting the temptation to take a powerful brand name and milk it for everything its worth. This season, ABC took its "Grey's Anatomy" franchise and spun off "Private Practice," and the network misses no opportunity to remind its audience that the new show was a safe choice because its lead character came from "Grey's." Voila — a new top 20 drama using old favorites.

Apart from the disastrous "From Justin to Kelly" movie that we'd all like to forget, FOX thus far has been much more protective with its "American Idol" brand name, showing great restraint by not milking this franchise until it runs dry. "Idol" is so much of a cash cow right now that there's no sense in making that part of the stakes.

Indeed, it looks like the network is afraid that it will oversaturate the market and damage its flagship program if the spin-offs fail. That's apparent in its initial treatment of "The Next Great American Band," which debuts Friday night.

Familiar recipe
"The Next Great American Band" has a lot of the elements that made "Idol" great, starting with the people at 19 Entertainment. The company may not produce highbrow programming, but it's adept at producing shows that instantly make viewers comfortable with the format and ready to cheer for their favorites — in other words, programming that's the microwave pizzas of the entertainment world.

Slide show ‘Idol’ auditions Thousands turn out in cities across America for a chance at stardom on season 7 of the hit show. more photos

Like every other show of its type, this one has the standard three judges playing their appointed roles. John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls is the modern musical act, Shelia E. the ‘80s "star" and Ian Dickson, the acerbic foreigner, runs the show. It features talented and delusional performers, with some destined to be cheered and others mocked from their first appearance on TV.

Moreover, Rzeznik and the Goo Goo Dolls are still a relevant music act, which is way ahead of any of the "Idol" troika. Whether his presence increases the show's credibility or diminishes that of the band remains to be seen, but at least he's on the radio and on non-oldies stations. And it looks like the three judges may not take themselves as seriously as the Simon-Paula-Randy juggernaut, a trio that sometimes acts like the fate of the world rests on coming up with the perfect bit of commentary for its least-favorite acts.

It also has some support from the "Idol" franchise, but not as much as you might think. In fact, in a lot of ways it looks like the show is being set up to fail.

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