'American Idol's' Randy Jackson to give celebrities an 'Aptitude Test' on VH1

Randy Jackson

Credit: AP Photo

"American Idol"’s Randy Jackson has been picking on wannabe celebrities for years. Now, he's turning his sights on actual celebrities.

Jackson is teaming with VH1 and Shed Media for the new series "Aptitude Test," in which celebrities will be see what's it's like to live as normal person, with a normal job in the real world. Each week, a new star will have to re-take their high school career aptitude test to find out what job they may have ended up with if they hadn't succeeded in showbiz. Then, in disguise. they'll undergo on-the-job training before revealing their true (ie: famous) identity to their faux boss and co-workers. 

The one-hour series is set to debut sometime in 2012.

"We immediately loved this idea from Randy Jackson as it hits all the right notes for us – celebrities, real-life experiences and good storytelling,” said VH1's Jeff Olde in a release. “We get to dive in with a celebrity and learn what their ‘day job’ might have been had the star thing not worked out.  But the heart and humor of the show is following the celebrities on that real life journey as they train in a new craft and ultimately get to reveal their true identities to the people training them.”

"Are we where we should be?  Are we doing what we should be doing?  Everybody wonders these things…even celebrities," added Jackson. "The show is a fun look at what could have been."

Jackson also exec produces MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew."

VH1 has also announced the new reality series “House of Consignment,” featuring Chicago-based fashionista Corri McFadden.
 
McFadden and her team are on a mission to improve the way women shop at her posh Lincoln Park store eDrop-Off. They'll also drop by wealthy clients' home for a "Closet Cleanout” option to dig through closets and attics to figure out what's worth keeping and what's worth big bucks on the consignment market.

The 10-episode, half-hour series is from executive producer by Stephanie Drachkovitch and co-executive produced by Jennifer Colbert for 44 Blue Productions.

 
 

Dave Lewis
Producer

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Dave Lewis has been a Los Angeles-based entertainment writer and editor for nearly ten years. Originally hailing from Minneapolis, he moved to L.A. in 1996 to attend USC, before working for various periodicals and web sites including a lengthy stint at Variety.com. He joined the HitFix staff in 2011.