| 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 | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | New Wave Entertainment Peter Engel Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | May 30 (2007-05-30) – July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25) |
The Next Best Thing is an American Reality television 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.
The premiere featured contestants impersonating (among others) Howard Stern, Jack Nicholson, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, Superman, Jennifer Aniston, Janet Jackson, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Phil McGraw, Hank Williams Jr., Arthur (Fonzie) Fonzarelli, and Avril Lavigne.
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:
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Of the 30 semi-finalists, the judges chose the following 10 to be finalists:
American viewers voted, and ranked the finalists in the following order:
As the winner, Trent Carlini received $100,000.
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