Well, it didn't take long after Michael Hirschorn left his position as Executive Vice President of Original Programming (whew!) at VH1 before the Viacom station decided to sack all the good ideas the exec had to make the station money. Starting with I Love the 80's and all of its eventual, sadder spin-offs, and culminating with Best Week Ever, Hirschorn pioneered the whole genre of ADD entertainment where talking heads commented on celebrity pop culture.
But now that Hirschorn is gone and the celeb train has moved on to schadenfreude (it's all cyclical you see, from Jerry Springer you get people snarkily commenting on Jerry Springer, and then you get Celebrity Rehab), VH1 is scrapping the original format of Best Week Ever for a revamp with a single-serve host, Paul F. Tompkins who will run a show that will "have a less mean-spirited take."
So…it's a completely different show?
“Sometimes it feels weird to get invested in the ups and downs of these strangers,” he said. “I would rather the target be Dina Lohan, who is an adult, who is making her own decisions in a supposedly rational way, than pick on someone who is still figuring out her own life.”
The new show, called “Best Week Ever With Paul F. Tompkins,” will not abandon the sarcasm entirely but will be “snarky with a heart, snarky with a conscience,” Mr. Tompkins said, though he may have been snarking slightly when he said it.
Well, fair enough: The Soup has been on the air for over a decade now in its various incarnations, and currently host Joel McHale pulls in more viewers for that program than all the bite-sized celebrities on Best Week Ever combined.
But this really isn't a snark v. no snark issue so much as it is a hosting format issue: Extra recently removed its two other hosts on the program so Mario Lopez a.k.a. A.C. Slater could have the whole show to himself. Rather than splitting up the star power and possibly having some of the pull fade away (who watched I Love the Whatevers after they realized Michael Ian Black wasn't going to comment on everything?) these celebrity gossip/pop culture channels are going back to tradition and hoping that a savvy-enough host can bring a new audience to the table on sarcastic charisma alone.
Yeah, let's see how that goes.
BOO! part of what makes best week ever entertaining, is the fact that there are other people commenting, not just one person. sad day… i will miss the old Best Week Ever.
Paul F. Tompkins was always the best part of BWE — AMERICA DEMANDS MORE
Man, I agree with Chelsea. This is the worst idea in the history of worst ideas.
This sucks! How do you "gain a heart" when you lose the show's heart and soul? To me it's always been about a variety of comedic perspectives!! Paul was overused (and one-note)as it was!! Best Week Ever - let me know when you're done experimenting and GIVE US BACK the format we as audience members empowered in the first place.
That blows…hard. The great thing about the show is the variety of comedians. Why the hell would they do that? I'll just watch the soup for my pop culture news. Screw that.
I hate the new format. Will no longer watch.
I am watching it now but don't like it. The appeal was always the fast cut outs to several hosts. Tompkins may be funny but I miss all the different personalities. PLEASE bring old foramt back!!!!