No, with heavy-hitter judge Simon Cowell departing and FOX comfortable with its Thursday tandem of “Bones” and “Fringe,” the long-rumored but risky “American Idol” move to Thursdays was not announced today. What FOX did announce, however, is a change to the “American Idol” format that will likely be welcomed by the show’s massive fanbase.
The network confirmed Monday that come time for the performance portion of the competition, the Tuesday performance show will be bumped up to an hour-and-a-half, airing from 8:00PM into the 9:30PM lead-out of new fall/winter comedy “Running Wilde” and spring comedy “Mixed Signals.”
On Wednesdays, the results show will revert back to a half hour, airing at 8:30PM between episodes of “Raising Hope” and “Glee.”
Over the past two seasons, “American Idol” has run into trouble fitting its late-round performance shows into a single hour. Several years ago, contestants in the top five and four rounds used to each receive two performances; those in the top three got three chances to impress. In seasons eight and nine, those numbers were reduced to one, one plus a duet and two, respectively–and it was not always certain that the show would exit the air exactly at 9PM. The additional half-hour should give fans the performances they crave without so much overrun bleed.
As for the results shows, while the show has been utilizing more celebrity performances to fill the hour, the format still naturally works best as a 30 minute offering.