From the Editor
Last month, the former television juggernaut “American Idol” returned on a new network (ABC), on a new night (Sunday) and with a new set of judges (Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan).
Angst was apparent everywhere. ABC executives wondered if they were attempting to revive a dead dog. Fox worried that it had declared dead a dog that was still very much wagging its tail. And TV critics debated whether if this teen-aged idol still had the looks to attract its desired audience.
The ballyhooed two-night return to the airwaves last month put to rest all concerns. The Sunday night premiere was the night’s most-watched show on network television; the Monday night follow-up held its own, too, even as some of the “Idol” audience, curiosity satisfied, returned to the mega-hit that “Idol” helped to create – “The Voice.”
In the aftermath of the premiere, the success of the revamped “Idol” was credited to the comforting experience of revisiting an old friend who was very much as you remembered him and an audience epiphany that what it most appreciated about “Idol” was that it focused on music rather than celebrity judges.
What does this have to do with Canonsburg?
Everything.
Like “American Idol,” Canonsburg was, in its heyday, a veritable juggernaut – a bustling downtown and the hub of area activity for everything in retail and entertainment. It ruled for decades until, like “Idol” its popularity began to slip due to pop-up copycats. For “Idol,” it was “X Factor,” “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent;” for Canonsburg, it was strip malls (Donaldson’s Crossroads), mega-open-air shopping centers (Bridgeville) and the then-hip “enclosed experience” (South Hills Village and Washington Mall).
Just as “Idol” valiantly continued the good fight with revised formatting, new judging panels and outside expertise, Canonsburg fought on as well, tearing down nearly an entire block for one strip mall across from the borough building and knocking down a once-popular entertainment magnet (a skating rink) for yet another strip of shops. It also half-heartily diverted attention from its faltering retail mix by trying to develop an antique center and brought in a main street manager to help right an increasingly sinking ship.
In both instances, the strategy didn’t work.
The verdict: “Idol” and Canonsburg had both run their course. But have they?
With lower expectations than that flashy premiere more than a decade ago, the new “American Idol” has been doing quite nicely. Audiences appreciate the “comfortable shoe” on a Sunday night, and new judges Perry-Richie-Bryan have the same unforced, easy appeal as Abdul-Jackson-Cowell. The original format is intact, with just some fine-tuning around the edges. While “American Idol” will never be television’s number one show again, no one is calling it “a shadow of its former self,” either. It’s surviving quite nicely.
As is Canonsburg. While it will never again be the county’s premiere shopping hub, Canonsburg is currently developing a nice mix of retail, entertainment and service offerings. It also learned, as did other small communities, that it was a mistake to try to bulldoze its way into the contemporary. People perceive Canonsburg’s familiar Pike Street as the comfort of small-town America – something malls could never offer. Yes, Canonsburg’s downtown strip mall was aesthetically jarring (originally constructed as part of a nationally-promoted band-aid for small towns that has since been debunked), but the essence of Canonsburg remains.
Like “Idol,” Canonsburg needs a little tinkering – a few coats of paint and a lot of imagination should do the trick. And a return of those summer downtown concerts and farmer’s market would be a nice touch, too.
But Canonsburg’s selling point is undeniably its original charm. As “Idol” recently demonstrated, original is sometimes still the best alternative.