I gave up watching American Idol a few seasons ago. There are only so many hours in a day, and I'd rather fill my reality TV quota with The Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars or anything on Bravo with the word Top in the title.
However, when my DVR told me that my old pal Anderson Cooper (he played Tom Sawyer to my Aunt Polly in the fourth grade) was going to be interviewing Simon Cowell on 60 Minutes tonight, I decided that was probably going to be "good TV." I was not disappointed, either. First of all, Anderson's giggling through most of the interview. Second, he arranged to give Cowell a dose of his own medicine by having a panel of race car legends judge his driving performance at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This was my favorite exchange:
Anderson Cooper: Some people have equated [your harsh criticism of Idol contestants] to a medieval stoning, that it's the same kind of motivation with which people watch.
Simon Cowell: It's an interesting thought for a show where we actually could do that, but... (Anderson giggles.)
AC: You'd consider that?
SC: Why not? I can see a similarity to a point, but, it's human nature, you know, we are fascinated with that.
AC: Do you think everything should be shown on TV?
SC: Yeah.
AC: Public executions -- should they be shown on TV?
SC: I think people should be given the choice to watch them, I guess. Yeah, why not?
AC: With commercials?
SC: Sponsorship. (Anderson giggles some more. Simon smiles wryly.) Yeah, sponsorship.
The whole interview is worth watching on video on cbs.com.
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