Modified On May 17, 2007
ABC has re-named it. It was The Impostor, now it’s The Next Best Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?
It’s a reality show produced by Barry Katz and Peter Engel (the pair who brought us Last Comic Standing) and Fax Bahr and Adam Small, the pair who brought us MadTV.
ABC is debuting it May 30. Is that a sign that ABC is “burying” the show? NBC, you’ll recall, debuted LCS on May 30 last year, so maybe not.
The premise: Find a celebrity impersonator. The reason? Who knows.
Jeffrey Ross, Lisa Ann Walter and Elon Gold will be the judges. All three comedians (all three, no doubt, repped by Katz)…
…will use their razor sharp wit and comedic skills as they evaluate, critique and sometimes skewer celebrity impersonators based on how much they look, sound and act like the celebrity they’re impersonating. The judges will determine who will go on to compete in the next round of auditions, while America will vote for the final winning impersonator through a viewer voting system. The winner will receive a grand prize of $100,000.
And go onto a lucrative career in a Vegas review, providing he can secure the blessing of the “Jewish business syndicates, American dollar millionaires and homosexual booking agents” that our Swedish magician friend can’t seem to get past.
Read a quick New Yorker interview with Ross here. (It’s not as good as the one we did with him.)