Fox Negotiating To Bring Back Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul...But not for American Idol
Jan 17th, 2015
Perhaps you can go home again.
Fox television has revealed it is negotiating to bring back two of its most beloved stars — Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.
“We like Simon very much and would like to be in business with him [again],” network Chairman and CEO Gary Newman told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California.
Simon’s last show, THE X FACTOR, was canceled last year after just three seasons.
After the presentation, I followed up with Mr. Newman to learn more.
Q: What else can you tell me about your negotiations with Simon?
The conversations haven’t gone very far. We have talked about a couple of different types of shows. They have both been performance contests as well as other types of shows. Simon is ambitious. He is one of those creatively, curious guys. He has a strong team based over in the U.K. So we have talked about a few different things. Nothing right now has been punched up. But we are kind of in ongoing negotiations.
Q: Have any of your talks involved Simon returning to AMERICAN IDOL?
No. There is no discussion of that.
Q: Can you address Mary Murphy’s departure from SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE? And will Paula Abdul replace her?
We are in conversations with Paula. We don’t have a deal closed so we have nothing to announce. We hope to soon. We think Paula is great. America loves her and responds to her. We love Mary. She was a huge part of that show. She was a great advocate for the show and a great advocate for the network. But we just felt the show needed to be shaken up a bit. We worked with our producers and tried to do that through some other creative changes to the show, which we will be announcing in time. So we wish Mary well. She was a great partner over the years.
Q: What would Paula bring to the show?
Paula kind of has an amazing personality. For all those years on IDOL in particular, America just sort of always loved her. And she brings a tremendous amount of credibility in the dance world. So that is kind of what you are looking for in a judge — be credible and be entertaining.
by Sean Daly, The TV Page
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