"The Original Amateur Hour" (1948)

"Round and round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows!" With these words, and the spinning of a large wheel, the TV talent show was born. Almost the instant that television was invented, "Amateur Hour" debuted, showcasing jazz singers, tap-dancers, jugglers, comedians, essentially anyone with a showman's gift and a big dream. The wheel determined the random ordering of performers (those were the days!), and from the lineup came famed performers such as Gladys Knight, Pat Boone and, from its days on radio, Frankie Sinatra.

"The Gong Show" (1976)

Chuck Barris is among the weirder characters in TV history: Nervous and alcoholic, Barris would jump around the "Gong Show" stage, clapping his hands, pointing at the camera and banging that gong (signifying that bad performers should stop their act and go home). "The Gong Show" was like a depository for "American Idol" dropouts: ukulele players, acrobats, corny comedians, Gene Gene the Dancing Machine and hundreds of others. In the first season, performers with the highest score won precisely $516.32. This game show didn't feature much talent, but Barris was -- and still is -- a hoot to watch. (And, according to his autobiography, when Barris wasn't on-set, he was busy assassinating dignitaries for the CIA. Now that's talent.)

"Star Search" (1983)

Perhaps the highlight of Ed McMahon's career, "Star Search" will likely tell future generations more about the 1980s than any other televised document. Partitioned into talent categories (vocalist, young performer, fashion models, comedy), "Star Search" shone a spotlight on anybody with a lust for stage time. At the height of the Reagan administration, "Star Search" seemed to legitimize the American dream: With a little hard work and the ability to belt "Day by Day" for a national audience, anybody could get a $100,000 prize and a record contract.

"American Idol" (2002)

It's hard to believe, in our Idolatrous world, that anyone doubted the success of "American Idol," Hollywood's translation of Britain's "Pop Idol" TV series. But "Idol" was rejected by virtually every other network before FOX picked up the show, and the rest is history. Millions of Americans tune in, vote for their favorite singer and loot music stores in a primal hunt for the latest Clay Aiken album. And the sun never sets on the "Idol" empire. There's "Canadian Idol," "Australian Idol," "New Zealand Idol" -- a series, in fact, for nearly every English-speaking country -- plus "Philippine Idol," "Latin American Idol" and the clunkier "Deutschland Sucht den SuperStar" ("Germany Seeks a Super Star").