Showtime at the Apollo was a long-running talent competition that brought showbiz hopefuls to the legendary Apollo theater to try their hand at live performance in front of a very critical crowd. The show discovered some of the best comedic and musical performers of recent memory. Now, it's making a primetime comeback of sorts, and former host Steve Harvey will take the stage once more as master of ceremonies.
The Showtime at the Apollo revival will start as a two-hour special event on Fox. Steve Harvey will reprise his role of host and welcome some of the biggest names in music and comedy to the stage. No details of which famous faces will join Harvey have yet been released, but we should expect that the event will be truly star-studded. Plenty of celebrities have the original run of Showtime at the Apollo to thank for their fame, and it won't be too surprising if some of them return for the extravaganza. The two-hour presentation will air on Monday, December 5 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, and it will be followed by a one-hour special that will debut at some point in early 2017.
Luckily for fans of the original Showtime at the Apollo, the special event won't just be an excuse to assemble a bunch of celebrities to perform. The famous Apollo Amateur Night will be showcased as well. Up-and-coming artists will brave the tough crowds of the Apollo theater to take a shot at stardom. Unlike other talent competitions, the judging at Amateur Night doesn't come from a panel of judges or viewers phoning in from home. It all comes down to booing or cheering at the Apollo.
The original Showtime at the Apollo was a syndicated series that ran for 21 seasons and 1093 episodes from 1987 to 2008. Performances at the Apollo Theater have continued, and Amateur Night is currently in its 82nd year. The Fox specials should give a taste of what a night at the Apollo can be like for viewers who don't have the opportunity to visit.
Steve Harvey makes sense as the host for Showtime at the Apollo's big return. The comedian's big break came thanks to his appearances on the show, and he hosted from 1993 - 2000. He's definitely enough of a household name that he should be able to attract an audience. Harvey may be best known nowadays for his infamous flub when he declared the wrong Miss Universe winner in 2015, but it hasn't put an end to his success in the spotlight.
An earlier attempt to bring the series back never panned out, so hopefully this revival of Showtime at the Apollo will be able to recapture some of the thrills that made the original series so much fun to watch. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see what you can catch on the small screen to pass the time until the first Showtime at the Apollo special hits the airwaves on Fox.
