Sometimes a television show fails so spectacularly that it gets canceled after just one airing.  This shameful group contains such forgettable embarrassments as Quarterlife, Emily's Reasons Why Not, Anchorwoman, and The Will.  We can now add one more series to this list, as CBS has announced that they're yanking Secret Talents of the Stars from the air after one broadcast.  The show aired Tuesday night at 10pm in Jericho's old time slot, but it didn't prove to be a successful replacement for the post-apocalyptic drama.  The reality competition pulled in only 4.6 million viewers, forcing CBS to send it to the scrap heap.

In case you missed Secret Talents of the Stars, and you probably did, it featured such "stars" as George Takei, Danny Bonaduce, and Ben Stein, among others.  The idea behind the show, as the title makes obvious, was to have these stars reveal their secret talents.  On Tuesday's show, Takei tried his hand at singing country music, R&B singer Mya tap danced, figure skater Sasha Cohen performed with an Chinese acrobat troupe, and country singer Clint Black performed a stand-up routine.  Somehow, America resisted the overwhelming urge to tune in.

Considering that CBS is the home of Big Brother, they're no strangers to trashy reality television.  However, it is a bit sad that they recently canceled Jericho and replaced it with a show featuring a juggling Sheila E.  Jericho undoubtedly cost a lot more to produce, and certainly didn't pull in a spectacular number of viewers, but at least it was respectable.  There's nothing respectable about Marla Maples doing a gymnastics routine.

Now that Secret Talents of the Stars has gone the way of The Rich List, CBS will fill the Tuesday at 10pm hour with installments of 48 Hours Mystery for the next couple weeks.  Beginning on April 29, new episodes of Shark will air in that time slot.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)