With American Idol production paused, ABC has temporarily adjusted their programming lineup for the season while exploring options on how to proceed with live shows.
Karen Neal/ABC via Deadline
What’s happening:
- Deadline is reporting that ABC is looking into “multiple” options for how to proceed with live shows for this season of American Idol.
- As reported last week, contestants have been sent home to be with their families, and crew members are working remotely amid the COVID-19 crisis.
- While new shows aren’t taping right now, ABC does have a few previously taped episodes in the queue.
- Originally slated to air on March 29 and 30, the Top 40 Showcase episodes filmed in Hawaii at Disney’s Aulani Resort, will now broadcast on March 29 and April 5 from 8-10pm ET.
- The March 30 time slot will now feature:
- A repeat of Celebrity Family Feud
- A special edition of ABC News’ 20/20 on COVID-19
- The season finale of The Good Doctor
- As for April 6 which was originally reserved for live American Idol episodes, audiences will now see:
- Two repeats of Celebrity Family Feud
- New primetime special, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Secrets & Surprises
- Going into the following Sundays, April 12 and 19, ABC will present American Idol: This is Me, “which will look at the lives of our Top 20 contestants, with unseen footage and performance highlights.”
- According to Deadline ABC is, “exploring multiple options within statewide guidelines” regarding live shows and says they “will share a production plan as soon as it’s in place.”
- American Idol is produced by Fremantle whose teams are currently working remotely to edit the final pre-taped episodes.
More American Idol:
- Earlier this year, ABC launched a fan sweepstakes contest that would have coincided with the show’s annual Disney Night. While the future of the show is on hold, hopefully, American Idol will still be able to deliver a Disney-themed episode when and however production resumes.
- This week, the network shared a few sneak peek photos of the judges and Top 40 Contestants from the upcoming Showcase episodes filmed in Hawaii.