SEASON PREMIERE
WHAT: “America’s Got Talent.” WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, Channel 12 (KPNX). his part to resurrect both genres. He was, of course, the tart-tongued judge when “American Idol” began its epoch-changing run on Fox in 2002. With his Syco Entertainment, he now serves as a creator, producer and judge on Fox’s “The X Factor,” which starts its third season this fall.
And, he’s the driving force of “America’s Got Talent,” now starting its eighth season.
In a recent phone interview from his native London, the 53-year-old mega-impresario recalled enjoying talent shows like “Opportunity Knocks” 1 p.m. CH5 The Talk: Musician Steven Tyler; chef Jason Santos (N). 3 p.m. CH3 Dr. Phil: Parents fear their 25-year-old will kill them. CH12 Ellen DeGeneres: Kristen Bell; Joe Manganiello; OneRepublic (N). 8 p.m. CH3 Dr. Oz: Losing weight effortlessly without a full-time diet; instant slim-down tricks (N). 10:34 p.m. CH12 Jay Leno: Vince Vaughn; Kenny Smith; Scotty McCre- and “New Faces” as a child.
He described how a few years ago, amid the boom of singing competitions, he hatched the idea for the broader-based talent show “America’s Got Talent.” He was watching a singing show in Britain when a contestant warbled a too-familiar song, and very badly, “and I remember thinking: ‘I’d actually rather watch a dancing dog than listen to her.’
“Then I said to myself, ‘I used to LOVE that kind of show! Why don’t we bring back that type of show again?’”
So he did. “America’s Got Talent” (the first in Cowell’s global “Got Talent” franchise, with original versions of the format now produced in 56 territories) premiered in 2006. ery (N). 10:35 p.m. CH5 David Letterman: Neil Patrick Harris; Tony Kanaan; Frank Turner (N). CH15 Jimmy Kimmel: Mark Ruffalo; Scrabble champions; Reggie Watts. 11:36 p.m. CH12 Jimmy Fallon: Nathan Lane, Zoe Kravitz, Tomahawk (N). 12:36 a.m. CH12 Carson Daly. (N) indicates new episode.
Dear Carolyn: I spent the weekend with my elderly parents and was overwhelmed with anger and envy when I witnessed how differently they respond to my sister and to me. My sister called from across the country, and my father spent 20 minutes chatting with her. When I call, he asks me how I am doing and hands the phone to my mother.
My sister leads a traditional life, with a husband and kids and grandkids. I love my sister, but I don’t want that life, never did. I don’t even like my father all that much. But this really upset me — it felt like getting the lump of coal while the other kids get diamonds. How can I get past this?
Dear Sister Envy: One way is to consider that you’re filling in blanks with your own assumptions versus facts. You imply this is about your father’s approval of your sister’s path, when it’s entirely possible they just converse easily, for reasons that have nothing to do with “traditional” choices. Can’t those 20 phone minutes just be native compatibility versus a negative judgment of your worth?
Your natural differences from your father could have been the start of a cycle, with these differences prompting you to make life choices very different from his, which gave you less in common, which robbed you of the very conversation aids that could have helped you bridge your natural incompatibility.
You say yourself that you don’t even like him. Think about it: You can dislike him, but it feels like a ceiling collapse to consider that your dad doesn’t like you. Why is that? Is your dislike for him a defense mechanism, or is it based on his personality? If the latter, why is it more of an indictment of you not to have your father’s affection than it is an indictment of your dad not to have his child’s?
Even better, why is it an indictment of anyone? An it’snot-personal-it-just-happens view of not getting along is something we’re generally good at accepting in theory, touchand-go at accepting in practice with colleagues and friends of friends, and often downright terrible at accepting when it comes to family. But the truth that there will always be someone out there who dislikes us is just as applicable in the ancestral home as it is in the cube farm or classroom or clubhouse.
Let’s say instead that disliking him is your defense mechanism, a years-in-themaking: “Yeah? Well, I don’t like you, either.” And let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re right, he’s chatty with your sister only because he favors her and/or approves of her choices.
Then you have one question: What are you able and willing to do about it? Are you ready to say, for example: “I wish we talked more. Does our not being close have anything to do with my not taking a traditional path?”