nbc and fox must really be beefing

Last night, I was watching Family Guy, and this commercial for a new show pops up. "Don't Forget the Lyrics," hosted by Wayne Brady, is a karaoke-style competition in which people sing to a live band with the words projected on the screen. Then, the music stops, the words disappear, and the singer must continue the song, fill in the blank, or what have you. They must sing 9 songs correctly, and get the tenth #1 hit correctly, to win $1 million bucks. Of course, the singer has the option to bail out and take the money they collected before the going gets tough. I was thinking, "Ok, cool, that might be fun to watch." It premieres July 11 at 9:30 on Fox.

Then I get to work this morning and go to my standard MSN screen. At the bottom, what do I see? Joey Fatone in the new karaoke-style competition show, "The Singing Bee." Premiering tonight at 9:30 on NBC.

Um, huh? I'm confused. Is this not the same show, on two different channels, with two different names?

What is Fox and NBC beefing about? The only real difference I can see in the shows, according to the respective network websites, is that "The Singing Bee" features popular music, whereas "Don't Forget the Lyrics" covers all decades and genres of music.

So, who thought of the show first? Here's my good guess:

"American Idol" lives at Fox, right? Now that the crazy-ranking show has gone off, Fox has to keep the viewers tuned in by using alternative methods. In the meantime, NBC has this great show idea to feature real singers involved in one of America's great drunken pastimes. So, Fox goes, "That sounds like a great plan," and concocts a highly similar blueprint for a new show. But Fox shoots for a wider audience and picks a comic who guest starred frequently on one of Comedy Central's biggest television hits ever. [And ya'll know who I'm talking about...WHAT!] That was mighty smart of them. Good going, Fox, you jerks.

Yes, Joey Fatone was the runner-up on this year's "Dancing With the Stars." But, really, how many people actually watched that show? And how many people [across racial, gender, and class lines, mind you] liked N-Sync? But NBC beat Fox out by 1 day to air the show first, and to be the first with the what-I'm-guessing-to-be really good ratings. Fox will be seen as just "copycats."

So, which show will I watch?

And, what is this? Some sort of new "wave" of reality television? As if we don't have enough "talent" shows on tv now?

Very original and creative, guys. I guess I'll have to watch both. Or neither.