It seems like there are somewhere around 27,000 singing competitions, 1200 dancing and 1 stand-up comic show. So I’m wondering, where is the acting competition? If the show is done right it could provide the audience with valuable insight into the acting profession. Let the audience see script changes just before a shoot, let them see a set and all the distractions, and bring in quality actors to tutor and test the contestants. Sometimes those tutors could step in and show their understudies how it’s done. I don’t think you have to have A-list movie stars come on. In fact the network could use this competition to highlight other shows on their schedule. Tonight on “It’s all an Act” see Tina Fey coach two contestants on the art of comedic acting, and then stay tuned to 30 Rock…It would be difficult to have audition shows, at least in the manner that most other “reality” competitions do, with long lines of people in several cities. I think you could use the web/You Tube to great affect here, having people put up videos of specific scenes the competition selects. Then having your judges and show runners go through the videos and choose however many contestants for the show. The production end of the show could sift through all the video footage and put together clips to show the audience, some of them good, a lot of them awful. If done right there would be a lot of interactive social media content, letting the viewers at home participate etc.
I think you could combine writers into the show, giving the writer’s work a chance to see the light of day, while letting a variety of actors interpret the words and act out a scene. Every network must have tons of scripts that they own rights to that aren’t going to see the light of day. You could have a variety of themes and styles. One week could be “classic television from the past” where you have the contestants try acting out famous scenes from older shows, such as the “Hamlet” episode on Gilligan’s Island, a torture scene from 24, a courtroom scene from Law & Order, or even a snippet from Gunsmoke. The audience would see a clip of the original scene and then watch as several actors attempted the scene. Other weeks could be “failed television pilots”, “Television Movie”, “Advertisments”, “Broadway!”, “Sitcom 101”, “Hospital Dramas”, “Sci-Fi/Horror”, etc. Depending on who did the show you could even have category winners as well as an overall champion.
I could see the judge’s panel being made up of a casting agent, a director, and a well-known actor. Have a fourth judge seat be a series of guest judges, allowing the show to bring in major directors and other Hollywood heavyweights. The winner of the competition is then immediately cast in a prominent role on an upcoming show for the network that airs the competition or a major motion picture for the studio that produces the show.
