The X Factor spaceship blasted off last night with a heavily medicated Britney Spears lashed to the windshield like a gut-shot trophy buck. And although Idol broke our faith and left us curled up on the floor of the Grantland offices, Lisanti and I decided to sign on for another season of singing competitions. Why? Well, you know when you were a kid and your friend peed on one of those low-wattage electric fences and you peed on it, too, because that friend was going to call you a gigantic pussy if you didn’t? That was Idol. But remember when your friend looked at his watch and said, “Internet porn still hasn’t been invented yet, so what should we do with ourselves?” Remember how this lack of meaning led you and your friend to pee on the electric fence again? That’s X Factor. This time, we’ve brought along Emily Yoshida, who will hopefully provide moments of levity and intelligence to the Kang and Lisanti Pee-and-Electrocution Show. Long live Emily Yoshida.

We will be reviewing four performance videos per week, one for each of The X Factor’s categories — Boys, Girls, Groups, and Olds. We will also be bringing you up-to-the-minute Britney analysis. Sound simple enough?

Last night, as the second slate of NFL games came to a merciful close, Fox aired an extended preview of the The X Factor. For the most part, the footage was recycled from the sneak-peek the network released back in July: Simon — back in V-neck — talked about walking away from the biggest show in America. L.A. Reid talked about being a music producer who wears glasses. Nicole Scherzinger talked about the long, winding road from obscurity to the Pussycat Dolls. Paula Abdul talked about Simon and then said something vague and self-congratulatory about being the fucked-up hairdo that sits next to Simon.