Television: Inventing Stardom

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If prefab pop does enter a bear market, Bands on the Run could prove truly forward-looking, with its low-tier musicians cadging pocket change from strangers. In the series' second episode, the Josh Dodes Band plays a dismal gig at a Chicago Hard Rock Cafe, asking the indifferent crowd to pop by its concert later in the week and help it win a TV game show. "It's all based around money," lead singer Dodes explains. Self-consciously, he grins. "And what the hell isn't?" For a moment, the phrase reality TV seems just about right.