Fox airs The Masked Singer preview; could the US version work?

Prior to the start of The Orville season 2 tonight on Fox, the network showed off a two-minute preview to their upcoming The Masked Singer. If nothing else, it hyped up the overall premise of the show and how each episode is going to work. A famous person is going to come out in an elaborate costume, perform, and then the celebrity judges are going to have to figure out precisely who the person is.

On paper, could this show be fun? Absolutely, but there is a certain degree of risk that comes along with it. The judges have to be incredibly entertaining for starters, and beyond that, you need quality celebrities underneath the mask and also notable costumes. This is one of those shows where once you’ve seen it a few times, it’s hard to be able to sell the premise. That’s why it is going to need to go all out and take some creative risks to make it into something that viewers on Fox will watch.

If there’s one thing that The Masked Singer perhaps has going for it, it’s simply this: What else are viewers going to watch in terms of programming in early January? There won’t be that much on when it comes to programming and viewers may have to more or less take whatever they can get here. This show is lighthearted, silly, and it may be some good family fare. Also, Nick Cannon has a history of being on some well-produced shows like Wild ‘N Out and also many seasons of America’s Got Talent.

It’s a risky move for them to be taking on this property in the first place. This is an enormously popular show in south Korea — heck, one of the reasons why Ken Jeong took on the show is because there are some family members of his who love it. There are going to be people who compare this constantly to the original version, but we understand why Fox would still want to give this a try. Think about it in this sense — there are only a small percentage of US viewers who would see this show otherwise.

At the moment, we’re not especially optimistic that The Masked Singer is going to be an enormous ratings sensation … but we’re also not altogether sure that it really needs to be. so long as it finds a way to deliver some fairly solid numbers at Fox, we feel reasonably confident that the network is going to be keeping it around for a reasonable amount of time moving forward. After all, there’s really zero reason for them to do anything otherwise.

You can see a longer look at The Masked Singer, even longer than the one that aired today, at the bottom of this article.

Are you excited to watch The Masked Singer when it premieres? Share right now in the attached comments. (Photo: Fox.)