Sunday nights have become that much more inane with the advent of two more American ‘reality’ game shows.

The first, Repeat After Me, is a weak show with a weak premise and even weaker comedic appeal. The loftiest heights in fact to which this show does reach, is the brilliance of presenter and star of genuinely hilarious show, The Goldbergs, Wendi McLendon-Covey.

McLendon-Covey’s task is to feed celebrities a script, to which they must rigorously adhere, as they undertake otherwise mundane tasks.

McLendon-Covey’s apparent wit and composure under pressure is remarkable and, in fairness, often unbelievable; as with most of today’s ‘reality’ shows, the authenticity of said realism is indeed questionable.

The second in the US’s recent reality bonanza is an even weaker show with an even weaker premise called, I Can Do That. This show sees four celebrities, the line-up of whom appears to remain unchanged but apparently do change, undertaking a week of professional training in the hope of re-creating a technical act, or, in short, carrying out amateurish renditions of generally lacklustre performances.

While this show’s host, Marlon Wayans, does provide the occasional flash of comic relief, in my opinion it is really only Nicole Scherzinger’s undeniable sex appeal that makes it at all worth watching.

Ultimately, the US has produced yet another pair of television abortions that, although they may have saved on the cost of genuine actors and writers, the cost of these ersatz productions will surely result in these pitiful game shows’ absence of a second season.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Un B Lee-Fable

Photography by A Bommy Neeshun