Mark Burnett, Former Idol Guru Team for 500 Questions Game Show at ABC
Mike Darnell is about to pop the question at ABC — 500 of ’em, to be exact. READ MORE
Mike Darnell is about to pop the question at ABC — 500 of ’em, to be exact. READ MORE
The X Factor probably won’t ever be the cultural phenomenon that Simon Cowell envisioned when he brought the British hit across the pond in the fall of 2011, but that fact doesn’t worry Fox soon-to-exit reality chief Mike Darnell. READ MORE
It looks like American Idol‘s summer makeover is only the first step in a larger shakeup of Fox‘s reality-programming lineup. Longtime reality chief Mike Darnell is stepping down after 18 years on the job, the network announced today. READ MORE
It takes a certain amount of audacity to build a reality show around threatening a company’s weakest links with some very real pink slips — especially as the nation’s unemployment rate remains stuck in the stratosphere.
And yet as Fox reality chief Mike Darnell talks about tonight’s premiere of Does Someone Have to Go? (9/8c), he claims the process is actually quite “cathartic.” READ MORE
American Idol is back, and while Season 12’s initial numbers may be down compared to last year, Fox’s reality boss Mike Darnell insists he’s not worried. He’s got a buzzy new panel of judges, ideas for fresh theme nights, and a Susan Boyle-esque audition at his disposal over the next few months.
TVLine caught up with Darnell to talk about …READ MORE
Steven Tyler perhaps sums it up best when assaying the upcoming 10th – and rather different – season of America’s most watched TV program: “Idol is taking it up a notch. No more, no less.”
Among the changes American Idol has undergone since staging its underwhelming ninth season: Following much falderah, Simon Cowell has moved on, to shepherd the U.S. version of The X Factor (premiering this fall on Fox); both Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres also have vacated the dais; Nigel Lythgoe is back as an executive producer; and contestants will face new performance challenges throughout their journey.
Meeting the press for a 40-minute panel discussion at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Tuesday, here is what the judges and producers had to say about the “new” Idol. READ MORE