This is starting to seem like a generic job description: Handsome Englishman wanted to make Americans cry. Must seem ruthless.

"I think it's a rather nice trait, actually," Piers Morgan says. "We are very outspoken, very brutal, very honest."

And very successful. "America's Got Talent," with Morgan speaking out, is the No. 1 TV series this summer, the Nielsen ratings say. "So You Think You Can Dance," with Nigel Lythgoe, is close. And "American Idol," with Simon Cowell, is No. 1 in the regular season.

All of them interlock. Cowell and Ken Warwick produce "Talent," with Morgan as the outspoken judge. Lythgoe and Warwick produce "Idol," with Cowell as the judge.

"There's always this difficult moment when they have three American judges and ... it's all quite friendly," Morgan says. "And then he (Cowell) rings up London and gets another nasty little Brit."

Friends even collide. This summer, "Talent" and "Dance" have overlapped every Wednesday and Thursday, putting Warwick and Lythgoe in direct competition.

"We went to school with each other in Liverpool," Warwick says. "We literally sat next to each other when we were 13 years old ... we were both choreographers; we were both directors ... We've known each other for so long."

And now all of them are in the blunt-Brit business. "We don't care a bit about being booed," Morgan says.

The American judges do, on rare occasions, draw a boo or a tear. They also see the devastation that comes with defeat.

"We went backstage and everybody was crying ... you realize that it is such an emotional thing for them and their families," says David Hasselhoff, an American judge.

And then, in the American tradition, Hasselhoff tried to soothe feelings. "I said, 'Guys, you just got 13 million viewers. Now it's your opportunity to go out and use this.' " That comes naturally to Hasselhoff, who has said he grew up being an instinctive salesman, like his dad. It's also natural for Brandy, who grew up in the church, where her dad was music minister. Both seem happy when an act offers genuine talent. "I just love watching unique, different people come on stage," she says.

Morgan also says he's happy when there's real talent. One example was an 11-year-old; "I just got chills when she sang," he says. When things go bad, however, he feels no obligation to make nice.