The original run of Showtime at the Apollo will forever remain the masterclass
of televised talent competitions. American Idol, Americas's Got Talent and
their ilk are overproduced spectacles wrought with clashing personalities and
contempt for their own viewers. Apollo kept things simple and real with a
charismatic host, amateur performers and the toughest crowd on Earth. People
who fear Simon Cowell have never stepped in front of an Apollo audience. But
I'm getting a little carried away - all I'm saying is you won't see anyone
dancing in a "Dunkin Lounge" on Apollo.
In 2002, the original producers of Showtime at the Apollo had a falling out
with the Apollo Foundation, which saw the show gutted and revamped. This
resulted in the 2002 season featuring new music, aesthetics, a change in
format, and Mo'Nique as the new host. Some of you may know this as the "Womp Womp" era, where people would rush the stage for line dances at the end of each episode. The new version of Apollo was competent but... it lost something in the transition. It lost its soul. And that's because the original producers took that soul with them and implanted into a new show called Showtime in Harlem (later shorted to just Showtime). This show is where Rudy Rush, Kiki Shepard, C.P. Lacey and the rest of the Apollo mainstays at the time migrated to. It was everything Apollo was, just without the name. They even took the THEME SONG! It was a new, instrumental version for obvious reasons, but you know that song when you hear it. It seemed like the true Apollo had been rescued, but we can't always have nice things in this world...
Both Apollo and Showtime were syndicated shows filling the same niche, forced into competition for the 2002 season. One had the name and brand recognition, the other looked like a "rip off." Apollo won the battle of scheduling. Apollo aired here at 10 PM on Saturday nights; in contrast, Showtime would air at 1 AM on Sunday (technically Monday) mornings. It never stood a chance and only lasted one year. After that, the show moved to California and went through a heavy revamp as Live in Hollywood, keeping only Kiki Shepard. That was the end of an era TV has never been able to reproduced. Time marched on and forgot about Showtime in Harlem, but I didn't... and that's why I had to say my piece.
If you're like me and you sometimes wonder what happened to that old Apollo
spirit, just look at this as a "lost season." Unfortunately, outside of a few
clips on YouTube, there's no way to have the full experience. Showtime in
Harlem has been lost to time.
