Star Search was a
talent competition hosted by
Ed McMahon that aired from
1983 until
1995. In 1994
Martha Quinn joined the team to
MC the
vocal competitions.
Each week, several pairs of contestants vied in such categories as singer, male and female, actor, male and female, comic, vocal group, dancer and model/spokesperson. The winner from each week would return the next to face a new challenger. Those who were best over the year were called back to compete for Best New Star of the year.
Some notables who have appeared on the program include Sinbad, Drew Carey, Jenny Jones, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Rosie O'Donnell, Dennis Miller, Alanis Morissette, Martin Lawrence, Lara Flynn Boyle, and Kevin James.
Ed McMahon has not given up the search for stars and has started a website, www.nextbigstar.com which will be much like Star Search only operating via the internet.