TV Revivals: What an ‘American Idol’ move to NBC should be

There is a good chance that you may have heard now about the future of “American Idol.” NBC is mulling over whether they want to bring the show back, and that makes some sense given that it was at one point a ratings force like no other. Even in the final season, the show still performed better than the majority of the other series that are out there right now.

If it does come back, there would be a casualty to the move as it would mean that NBC would have to shelve one of two annual seasons of “The Voice” in order to make it happen. That part of the equation makes things a little more challenging, since you’d be sacrificing a successful franchise, at least for the spring, in order to make way for more of an unknown. The only way that you can really argue for making this move is if you’re concerned that you could be losing Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, and limiting the show to once a season is an exciting proposition for them.

Let’s set everything aside for a minute when it comes to “The Voice” and the debate there. We want the focus of this article to be more of what “Idol” needs to do in order to be viable in the event that it does return.

More honesty – If someone’s been on a reality show before, just say the truth! The same goes if they’ve had some success. One of the most frustrating things about the original Fox show was that they put a lot of effort into framing a narrative suggesting that these contestants were all undiscovered, and had little or no experience in the recording industry. Dishonesty is never a good look; it makes the producers look like they think the viewers are dumb.

Rush through the boring parts – The worst part of Hollywood Week is when you’re making the big cuts in the early going. Is there a way to hurry though the early rounds? We know that some people love Group Round, but we don’t like that someone’s future on the show could be very much doomed because of a bad edit that they received.

More live shows – Personally, we’d start them with the top 30, and from there start to narrow them down. Give America as much power as possible, and don’t shy away from it. Yes, America does get things wrong sometimes, but that’s a part of what makes the show entertaining! Go from the top 30 down to 20, and then go down to 16 and then 12. From there, do a live show every week. We understand that the judges would have a lot of time committed to the show, but that’s too bad for them.

Honor the past – It is worth reminding viewers that this is a singing show that actually produces stars — “The Voice” is very entertaining, but it can’t boast any sort of success when it comes to finding talent.

If “American Idol” does come back, what do you want to see done with it? Share below, and be sure to click here to read our piece as to whether or not the judges should return. (Photo: Fox.)