Newly minted “American Idol” judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez report to work next week in New Jersey with the fate of a TV dynasty riding on their sequined shoulders.
The Deathstar of prime time programming for almost a decade, Idol has watched its nightly audience of almost 24 million erode in recent seasons as “Dancing With The Stars” threatens to become television’s most-watched competition.
Now with one foot already on a banana peel, producers and Fox executives are banking on their kinder, gentler superstars to help the once untouchable franchise survive life without Simon Cowell.
“I think the days are gone of kicking somebody in the testicles, to be frank,” Executive Producer Nigel Lithgoe told The Post, taking a jab at the show’s most identifiable personality.
“(The new judges) will never be that hard and cruel to a person because they are seeing another performer.
“They are not just some recording executive that has never performed in (his) life.”
Full Story: Can Tyler, Lopez Save ‘Idol’? – NYPOST.com.