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May 13, 2013
This countdown will take a while longer than 24 hours, but at least fans of the Fox action-drama “24” will have something to look forward to: Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that “marathon negotiations” with Kiefer Sutherland have cleared the way for the show’s return as a limited-run series.
So, it turns out that even one of the architects of “American Idol,” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, has his moments where inexorable product placement gets to be too much:
Lythgoe has a bit of the old-school British rogue in him during his one-on-one at a BAFTA-sponsored event at the Digital Hollywood conference. In the photo I took above, he’s reading some fairly crazy-huge stats about the tens of millions of text messages, social-media posts and other fan interactions the show still gets even at this point in its very long existence.
I have to confess I’ve never watched the show, or much of any other reality TV programming, but I think I might just watch a show that had Lythgoe on it as a regular guest.
Judge not, lest ye be judged, the warning goes. Well, Deadline’s Dominic Patten took it to heart, and is judging the judges who make TV’s biggest reality shows go, or not.
This first time out, he takes on the long-time ratings powerhouse “American Idol,” and (mostly) two of its three new judges, rapper Nicki Minaj and singer Mariah Carey.
Hey, sometimes they really, really don’t like each other. Honest.
At least that’s what the panel of “American Idol” judges and their producers said during their TV Critics Association panel today. So when you hear about all those beefs between, say, Mariah Carey and Nikki Minaj, they’re just really, really passionate and disagree strongly about important judging stuff and don’t like each other and it’s not made up one bit at all for PR value. Really.
“American Idol” has issued the first group shot of this season’s judges, with host Ryan Seacrest and holdover Randy Jackson joined by Keith Urban, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj.
Just curious about who out there is amped for the new season, as the new judges begin the taped auditions process.
Hmmm, what’s that rumble over in Beverly Hills? Is J-Lo shaking things up again with her career? Deadline’s Nikki Finke reports that Jennifer Lopez has fired her talent agency, again, as she looks forward to a life without “American Idol.”
The “American Idol” judges round robin continues, with a tweet just out by Nick Jonas that he’s being considered for the job alongside already-signed Mariah Carey. And in a bit of a switch, he’s campaigning for the job, creating a Twitter hashtag for #nickonidol.
Adding some hunky twang, American Idol producers are pondering how the set might look with a bit of Paisley (as in country singer Brad) in the judges’ ranks, after cutting a huge deal with Mariah Carey to succeed the departed Steven Tyler (and apparently departed Jennifer Lopez).
How do you think Paisley’s country chops will harmonize with other judges? Are they just copying their copycat, “The Voice,” which has thrived (elbowing them aside for an Emmy nomination last week) with another country star, Blake Shelton, as a mentor?
Browse Deadline’s Team Coverage of TCAs Day 1, collected in a lightly annotated digest at Storify http://sfy.co/f0uj With Fox teed up today, we’re talking American Idol, the X Factor, Mindy Kaling, Fox wants drama Emmys and Oscar-winning screenwriter Nat Faxon is now an actor.
Well, this addresses ONE big question for the lurching American Idol franchise…Deadline.com’s Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Mariah Carey is in talks to become a judge for the show, which recently saw Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler depart from the job.
If it happens, it would be interesting to see how they could take advantage of Carey’s talent beyond merely passing judgment on other performers. Read more here: http://ow.ly/cowpZ
