Back so soon? After airing its final episode this past April, American Idol may already be poised for a comeback, Variety reports.
NBC is in talks to revive the singing competition, which aired for 15 seasons on Fox, after being approached by Fremantle Media with the idea, the publication says. According to Variety, NBC has been considering where to place the show in the network’s existing lineup. One option would be to scale back The Voice from two seasons per year to just one. Representatives for NBC and Fremantle declined to comment to Variety.
The once ultrapopular reality show started in 2002, and at its height, it was the highest rated show on TV. Host Ryan Seacrest was the only constant figure throughout the series. Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson started off as the three judges, which later rotated between a slew of celebs including Ellen DeGeneres, Steven Tyler, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr.
The show’s cancellation was announced in May 2015 ahead of its final season, but American Idol creator Simon Fuller told Billboard the following year that he was confident the program would be coming back one day. “There will no doubt be another format or refinement or elevation of the format. Now I can actually revamp it and come up with a new version. And we can look back on 15 seasons and think of some legitimate ways to allow people to enjoy them again, maybe adding another dimension to it,” he said. “The next generation of Idol — and Idol will certainly be coming back for sure — will have a youthful glow and it will be pioneering again, just as it was when we first began.”
