The Next Best Thing (TV series)

The Next Best Thing
Created by	Peter Engel Productions
Presented by	Michele Merkin
Judges	Jeffrey Ross; Elon Gold; Lisa Ann Walter
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	New Wave Entertainment; Peter Engel Productions
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	May 30 –; July 25, 2007
External links
	Website

The Next Best Thing is an American reality TV series competition of celebrity impersonators with a grand prize of $100,000. It was hosted by Michele Merkin. The judges were Jeffrey Ross, Elon Gold and Lisa Ann Walter; ultimately, the winner was chosen by viewer voting. The eight-episode series debuted May 30, 2007 on ABC and ended the same year.

Episodes

The premiere featured contestants impersonating (among others) Howard Stern, Jack Nicholson, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Superman, Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Marilyn Monroe, Neil Diamond, Tony Soprano, David Letterman, Johnny Depp (as well as Captain Jack Sparrow), Jerry Lewis, Sean Connery, Gwen Stefani, Phil McGraw, Michael Jackson, Hank Williams Jr., Arthur (Fonzie) Fonzarelli, Marilyn Manson, Sonny Bono, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, and Avril Lavigne.

Semi-finals

The judges narrowed down the contestants to 30 semi-finalists, 28 of whom were featured in fully shown performances over two episodes. The semi-finalists were:

Chris America as Madonna
Sandy Anderson as Dolly Parton
Sebastian Anzaldo as Frank Sinatra
David Born as Robin Williams
Trent Carlini as Elvis Presley
Erv Dahl as Rodney Dangerfield
Donny Edwards as Elvis Presley
Marcel Forestieri as Jay Leno
Craig Gass as Al Pacino
Roger Kabler as Robin Williams
Anne Kissel as Roseanne Barr
Suzanne LaRusch as Lucille Ball
Buck McCoy as Tim McGraw
Garry Moore as Little Richard
John Morgan as George W. Bush
Jim Nieb as George W. Bush
Sharon Owens as Barbra Streisand
Natalie Reid as Paris Hilton
Pavel Sfera as Bono
Stacey Whitton Summers as Shania Twain
Brigitte Valdez as Celine Dion
Cookie Watkins as Tina Turner
Mike Wilson as Simon Cowell
Mark Staycer as John Lennon

Finalists

Of the 30 semi-finalists, the judges chose the following 10 to be finalists:

Sebastian Anzaldo
Trent Carlini
Donny Edwards
Roger Kabler
Suzanne LaRusch
Garry Moore
John Morgan
Sharon Owens
Natalie Reid
Cookie Watkins
Erv Dahl

Order of finish

American viewers voted, and ranked the finalists in the following order:

Trent Carlini
Sebastian Anzaldo
Donny Edwards
John Morgan
Suzanne LaRusch

As the winner, Trent Carlini received $100,000.

Trivia

The ten finalists of season 1 included two Elvis Presley impersonators; to reduce confusion, they were named "Blue Suede Elvis" (Donny Edwards) and "Heartbreak Elvis" (Trent Carlini), after the songs "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel."
Little Richard appeared as a "surprise celebrity guest" in the last episode of season 1 (#108).

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External links

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