Whose kind of town?

Joining the list of UK presenters heading for the U.S. is Johnny Vaughan, host of ABC’s new "late summer alternative" hybrid variety-reality show My Kind of Town, which debuted on Sunday night, August 14, at 9 p.m. The show (which apparently isn't based on a UK original) is co-produced by ABC and UK production company Monkey, though Monkey seems to be calling the creative shots. The executive producers are Monkey's Will Macdonald and David Granger, plus Michael Davies, "the UK-born producer who took Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to the US." ABC decribes the show thus:

My Kind of Town is a relentlessly energetic primetime studio show in which real American people, in all of their imperfect and awkward glory, have the chance to become the stars of their own show for one memorable night. Each week a lucky handful of residents selected from among the townspeople in the audience will participate in individualized comedic games and gags for prizes tailored to their own lives, interests and needs. One person from the group is chosen to play the big end game, where they will shoulder the burden of either winning or losing a huge prize for the other audience members - all of whom they will see every day for the rest of their lives. No pressure!

Vaughan, who has a Cockney wide-boy demeanor, has done a bunch of British TV, though I remember him for his stint on C4's The Big Breakfast. The ABC web site describes Vaughan as one of the UK's "favorite comedic forces on TV and radio." As Media Guardian points out, Vaughan follows other UK summer travellers, such as Vernon Kay and Gordon Ramsay, who have been in the U.S. presenting American versions of their British shows this summer - respectively, Hit Me Baby One More Time and Hell's Kitchen.

First ratings results showed that "Town" did alright, though not great. Media Life Magazine thinks that "the show’s lack of focus perhaps led viewers to turn away. It wasn’t among the summer’s worst bombs by any stretch but it also shows little promise for coming weeks." Still, Media Guardian notes that the show's first episode "finished up third in its slot, with 7.1 million viewers, but second among the 18- to 49-year-old viewers who are the holy grail for US advertisers." But the Guardian also quotes the Hollywood Reporter, whose reviewer "was not that impressed with the show or Vaughan, describing him as 'heavily accented (and equally heavily annoying)'" (an assessment I agree with).