American Idol Reboot: ABC Not Ready to Announce Cast Yet

AMERICAN IDOL: Ryan Seacrest in the “Wildcard Night: Judges Pick” episode of AMERICAN IDOL airing Wednesday, Feb. 24 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. © 2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Ray Mickshaw / FOX.

Yesterday,  in a conference call with reporters before the network’s Upfronts presentation, FOX executives were blunt about their reasons for not picking up American Idol. In short: They would be willing to reboot it, but not until 2020.

Today, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey defended the network’s decision to bring the show back so soon after its 2016 “farewell season” on FOX. From Variety:

“From where we sit, we feel like it’s the perfect time to bring this series back,” Dungey said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters ahead of the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers at Lincoln Center. “What I love about it personally is that it’s about heartfelt, uplifting stories of people who make their dreams come true. And honestly, that’s our sweet spot at ABC.”

Will Disney be introducing more heartbreaking backstories to the mix when the show premieres in Spring 2018? Let’s hope not.

ABC Reality Chief Dishes American Idol Reboot Details

Also, there was NO big signing news to announce today.  The network does not have a deal in place yet with Ryan Seacrest to host, although talks are ongoing. As far as the judges panel is concerned, Dungey said,  “We are in a number of key conversations, but we don’t have anything to announce on that at this time”

The ABC chief did, however, hint at a new look for the show. 

“In terms of format changes to make it feel fresh, absolutely,” Dungey said. “This is going to be ABC’s version of ‘American Idol,’ so we are very excited. I think you guys will see when we unveil our version of the show that it is going to have a very clear ABC hallmark and brand on it at that point.”

As far as the path the network took to land Idol. The network had originally been “cool” to the idea of taking on the series.

“Some of the ideas that were discussed in the initial proposals kind of didn’t feel like they made sense for us,” Dungey said. “But that was just an early, preliminary inquiry. Once we sat down with Fremantle and Core to engage in serious conversations, I think we realized what a perfect fit this could be for us.”

In the conference call yesterday,  FOX chief Dana Walden insisted that it was too soon to revive the series. In fact, the network felt “It would be extremely fraudulent to bring the show back quickly.” After having ended the series with a massive send-off. ABC outbid Fox to land the show from FremantleMedia and Core Media Group. 

Although ABC hasn’t pinned down the cast yet, there have been tons of rumors. Including talks with Katy Perry, Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert and Carrie Underwood. Many reports say Ryan is close to closing the deal to host, although the logistics will be tricky to schedule with his New York City gig co-hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan.

About mj santilli 34841 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!