Mike Darnell to now help oversee ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘The Voice,’ and more

How’s this for an interesting twist? The man responsible in many ways for launching “American Idol” on Fox and helping to keep it a success is now going to be overseeing “The Voice” and a number of other Warner Bros.-produced reality programming.

Mike Darnell’s new official title with the studio is president of Warner Bros. Unscripted and Alternative Television, which is a rather lengthy name for what he will be doing: Helping to oversee new programming both in the daytime and late-night ventures. Deadline believes that he will have more of a role in properties that are already in place rather than working to launch new ones, and they are probably correct. Shows like “The Voice” and “The Bachelor” already draw big ratings, and they may not need much save for a few suggestions here and there.

With all of this said, Darnell is an interesting hire for anyone in this industry, and for one pretty-simple reason: The man is a reality TV mad scientist. Sometimes, he comes up with ideas (see “American Idol,” “MasterChef,” or some of the other Fox series that are still on the air), but then he also has “The Swan” and, hilariously, the “Voice” knock-off dating show “The Choice” under his belt. You have to take gambles with the sort of ideas he will help support, and with Warner Bros. not being the ones to broadcast any of his ideas, we don’t know if the same sort of crazy creativity will be allowed. Someone else (i.e. a network executive or someone in his former position) could serve as a buffer.

One thing we can say is this: Based on the “American Idol” ratings for this past season, Darnell may actually be moving up in the world at the end of the day being on the same team as “The Voice.”

Photo: NBC