As America’s Got Talent‘s current Season 18 quickly approaches its finale, NBC is already working ahead on a spinoff. This won’t be another season of The Champions, Extreme, or All-Stars, but tied to what judge Simon Cowell recently teased when Season 17’s Drake Milligan returned for a performance. The new spinoff is called AGT: Fantasy League, and it will be the biggest departure from the usual format yet. There will be the normal panel of judges, however, with Sofia Vergara replaced by a familiar face for Fantasy League: former judge Mel B herself! The return of Mel B is a fun way to fill Vergara’s seat on the panel for the spinoff.
AGT: Fantasy League is on the way next year with a format like that of a fantasy sports draft, but this won’t involve football or baseball. Judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, and Mel B will each lead a team comprised of acts over the years from the entire Got Talent franchise. They’ll be able to choose from a variety of favorites over the years, not just champions or golden buzzer recipients.
Winners, finalists, viral performers, and just plain popular acts are in the running, and will be selected by American viewers with an early vote. The vote begins soon, with fans having their shot to suggest acts after the finale of AGT Season 18 on September 27 via the show’s app, with a pool of more than sixty former stars to choose from. Forty former acts will make the final cut from the draft pool, with the judges choosing ten each to fill their fantasy teams.
With Mel B coming to Fantasy League with six seasons of the parent series and one season of America’s Got Talent: The Champions under her belt, who better to bring back for a season that reaches back into the past for former favorites, especially fresh off of appearing in Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test? Not many judges had runs as long as hers before she departed after Season 13!
While audiences voting and AGT bringing back former standout performers isn’t exactly new after the Champions and All-Stars seasons, the judges will also be competing this time. Cowell, Mandel, Klum, and Mel B will mentor and guide the acts for the goal of being able to brag about selecting the very first AGT: Fantasy League champion. It’s not clear at this point what the actual champion will win, but I for one hope it’s similar to normal AGT and involves cash and a chance to hit the stage in Las Vegas.
There’s another twist to the normal format that makes me think AGT: Fantasy League could feel like a combination of America’s Got Talent and The Voice, shortly after new Voice coach Reba McEntire took the AGT stage. While the golden buzzer will be used to send acts directly to the finals as usual, the judges also have the option to hit the valuable buzzer to steal an act from one of the others or boost a member of their own team. Viewers from home will also get to vote each week to choose who makes it to the finals.
Personally, I’m optimistic about what’s ahead with AGT: Fantasy League, and not just because this sounds like the franchise truly trying something new in comparison to past spinoffs that didn’t change a whole lot from the format of the original. Plus, I loved Mel B as a judge during her time, and she brought a fun chemistry to the panel, even if she and Cowell didn’t always seem to be on the best terms.
In fact, she spent several seasons on a panel with Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, and Heidi Klum, so this truly is something of an AGT homecoming for her. I’m guessing she won’t want to bring back Sacred Riana after getting a scare from her some years back! Plus, losing Sofia Vergara for Fantasy League doesn’t mean that she won’t be back for AGT Season 19, as the spinoffs often change up the judges panel. This could be a win-win: getting Mel B back without losing Vegara permanently, although that remains to be seen.
AGT: Fantasy League is slated to premiere in 2024, but no more precise date is available at the time of writing. That’s not entirely unsurprising, given the uncertainty in the entertainment industry at the moment due to the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike. For what’s on the way sooner rather than later, check out our 2023 TV schedule.