As with most modern revivals of classic television shows, the new Star Search suffers from pacing issues. Ed McMahon's version managed to cram 16 performances into a one-hour broadcast (including commercials). The Netflix version stretches eight performances across 90 minutes without commercials, with the other eight contestants appearing on the second night.
Admittedly, the performances can be longer and more fleshed out in the Netflix version than in McMahon's. But this also leads to inconsistencies, such as in the Variety (Magic) category, where TJ Salta spent what felt like ten minutes on a mentalism act involving the audience and judges, while Fernando Velasco's more traditional illusion act lasted only two minutes. We knew before the votes were even tallied that Salta was going to win, simply because he had so much more screen time than Velasco.
Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anthony Anderson, Chrissy Teigen
The talent is quite varied, but that's par for the course compared to the original show. No one was truly bad, although some contestants were understandably nervous. Those who stood out to us, like 10-year-old country singer Blair Kudelka, didn't connect with the audience in the same way. Anderson's banter with them while they waited for the votes and listened to the judges' feedback undoubtedly put them at ease.
We don't have a definitive opinion on the judges yet. Jelly Roll seems to have adopted the Blake Shelton-esque role of the comedic judge, always saying something self-deprecating and funny, and generally being more lenient than Teigen or Gellar. We had some reservations about Teigen's qualifications to judge music, magic, and other acts, but her broad knowledge made her critiques feel more substantial than Gellar's. Even so, the main criticism either of them offered was that they "wanted more" from certain performances, which isn't exactly the kind of constructive criticism the contestants were hoping to hear.
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