The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism on Friday released a statement: "In rescinding this award, we hope to send an unequivocal message that what Mr. Rose did is unacceptable, and that such behavior — far too common in not just media companies but many organizations — must stop."
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He learned from Vittorio De Sica and worked on 'The Mary Tyler Moore,' 'The Partridge Family' and 'The Wonder Years,' helming hundreds of episodes in all.
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From critical darlings ('Veep,' 'The Americans') to signature network shows ('Scandal,' 'New Girl') THR takes a look at the soon-to-be dearly departed.
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TV Ratings: Thanksgiving NFL Sees Primetime Fatigue
The night's primetime game was down around 10 percent from the comparable NBC showing in 2016.
Thursday's big NFL showdowns dominated TV ratings on Thanksgiving, but by a slightly smaller margin than last year.
The night's primetime game, the Washington Redskins' 20-10 victory over the New York Giants, was down around 10 percent from the comparable NBC showing in 2016, with the matchup averaging a 9.7 overnight rating among households. It's not as steep of a dip as the one seen last year, but it still stings on a night where little else is happening on TV.
The 2016 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts scored a 10.8 household rating.
While returns for the day's afternoon games are still pending, CBS, for one, faced difficult challenges with audiences. Not only did the later window game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys suffer from a lopsided score (the Chargers beat the Cowboys 28-6), Thursday saw Dish subscribers lose CBS because of a now-resolved carriage dispute.
Fox carried the early window this year, airing the Detroit Lions' 30-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Revival Renewed at Netflix
The second season of 'The Return' will be back in the "not-too-distant future."
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return favorites delivered a Thanksgiving surprise following a 12-hour holiday marathon on YouTube.
After six classic episodes of the show with new hosts including Joel Hodgson, Jonah Ray and Felicia Day introducing segments, it was announced that the revival has been renewed for a second season on Netflix. The second season will be available on the streaming giant in the "not-too-distant future," Netflix said.
MST3K landed at Netflix in July 2016, following a record-setting Kickstarter campaign spearheaded by creator Hodgson and Shout Factory, who hold the rights to the show.
Shout Factory acquired the rights to the cult hit in November 2015 and teamed with series creator Hodgson for a new incarnation of the cult favorite. At the time, Hodgson hoped the Kickstarter campaign would raise at least $2 million — enough to make three new feature-length episodes — with an ultimate goal of $5.5 million, the amount needed to make a full season of 12 episodes. The campaign raised $5.7 million, ranking as the highest-funded film and TV crowdfunding campaign in history.
Eighteen years after the original series ended its run, the streaming giant debuted a new season of 14 episodes that featured DIY queen Felicia Day as mad scientist Kinga Forrester, daughter of one of the show's original villains, Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu), and Patton Oswalt as Son of TV's Frank. The revival has a 100 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
MST3K: The Return is executive produced by Hodgson, Elliott Kalan, Richard Foos, Bob Emmer, Garson Foos, Jonathan Stern and Harold Buchholz.
Watch the renewal announcement, below.
Netflix Mystery Science Theater 3000Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
"The show inspired so many," star/director/choreographer Debbie Allen says. "When I meet Queen Latifah or Lil' Kim, they tell me it was 'Fame' that motivated them to be in show business."
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'She's Gotta Have It' Showrunner on the Importance of Female Voices
Co-showrunner Tonya Lewis Lee talks with THR about the importance of the female POV and a potential season two for the Netflix series based on Spike Lee's movie of the same name.
Spike Lee might have created the iconic character of Nola Darling in his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, but it's actually his occasional collaborator, Tonya Lewis Lee (who is also his wife), who is responsible for the idea of updating the character for the small screen in Netflix's 10-episode series of the same name.
Like the movie, the show follows twenty-something Brooklynite Nola Darling, an artist juggling three lovers and struggling to make her art and her rent in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Fort Greene.
"Why this movie, why this film, why now? I think that for me, in revisiting Nola specifically, when we looked 30 years ago the idea of a woman having multiple lovers was so astonishing. Now it's not such a big deal," she tells The Hollywood Reporter. "People are on Tinder. We know that a twenty-something-year-old woman is going to be having sex, right? What was exciting was to be able to explore what it's like to be young woman who is an artist trying to figure out how she is going to make her mark on the world while she is simultaneously paying her rent and going through the process of the becoming the artist that she ultimately will become."
In a series, rather than a movie, there's more room to devote time to all aspects of Nola's life. "You get to see a very interesting, rounded-out side of Nola Darling that I don't think you can get in an 86-minute movie, which is [why it's] so fun to do it as an episodic series."
Below, Lee speaks with THR about making sure Nola was fully fleshed out from a female point of view, why a sexual assault storyline is more important than ever, finding the right person to play the lead and whether she's already thought about what to explore in a potential second season.
Why this movie and why 2017?
First of all, Spike just has an incredible body of work. He's been very busy the past 30 years and you could look at many of his films and think about them in different ways. It's been many years since [we collaborated] and we were thinking about working together again. He had also been really talking very passionately about the gentrification of Brooklyn, where he grew up, and my response to that was, 'Let's think about how we can put your conversation into the work.' In other words, why don't we show people what you're talking about instead of just telling them what you're talking about? And so that led into a conversation about, 'What would that look like?' and then, 'Who will the protagonist be?' And of course I think about a woman's point of view, and it just made sense to further revisit Nola Darling in 2017 gentrified Brooklyn.
You've said before that Nola is a character created by a man, but there are many female writers on this series that you're co-showrunning. How open was Spike in getting your input to fully flesh out the character?
I do think Spike has realized that in 2017, thinking about approaching a female character in an episodic way would require more female input — though he will be the first to tell you he did create Nola. Nola is from his mind. But when we set out to do the series he did want my input. That's not to say that always went easy, but he did listen and, not only that, he made sure that our writers had a diverse female voice. So there are several writers on the show that are female that really formed the character as well. He was very, very open to it and felt that that was really important.
The entire show hinges on Nola, so what what was it like finding and casting DeWanda Wise in that role?
I came to DeWanda from the audition and I know certainly when I first saw her — and I know [it was the same for] the execs at Netflix as well — she just jumped out as the person to play Nola Darling. She is married and it is a role about a woman's sexuality, and I think that Spike and I both wanted to make sure that she was comfortable, that her husband was comfortable, knowing that we were going to create a safe, professional environment for her to be free to be the artist that she is and really embody the character. We wanted to make sure that she was comfortable and excited about it and I don't think it took long to get her there. I think DeWanda is fantastic. She's such a great actress. I got to see her later in Shots Fired after seeing what she did in She's Gotta Have It. She has such amazing range and we're just thrilled to have her.
What was most important to you to touch upon in a series that you couldn't in a movie?
It is great to me that Nola has female friendships and they are all very different kinds of women. I think that the series really does a great job of exploring the diversity of womanhood in a way that I'm not sure we always get to see. Of course the other part of it that's really exciting to me is really exploring what it means to live in a gentrified community and how people come up against each other. I think often people do move into neighborhoods that they think of as new discovery not fully understanding the humanity of the people who have been there, and I think that we have an opportunity to explore that and continue the conversation about, when that happens, how we can coexist together in a way that works for everybody.
The first episode ends with this Nola being assaulted on the street, which winds up being a catalyst to help her discover her own voice as an artist and as a person. What can you say about having that incident be this catalyst for her?
It's so interesting where that came from. There is an artist named Tatyana [Fazlalizadeh]; she's the artist who did all of the portraits in the show. She had a campaign [about street harassment] … and Spike saw it in the street before we even thought about She's Gotta Have It and he wanted to have a conversation with her about what she's talking about … and the idea of how women live and how vulnerable we are really out here. It's just so interesting that we're in this moment where certainly in Hollywood and corporate America and politics we're talking about sexual harassment and sexual assault, and we happen to have it in the film and the show — which says to me this has been happening all along. This is not really a new conversation, it has just become more open and I think that it's great that Nola is able to work through what she experiences through her art and thinking about how she empowers herself from the assault. I think instances like that can be very damaging, but I think at the same time if we can turn it around and flame our power, which is what Nola does, then we can be empowered and empower other women as well.
With new stories of abuse in Hollywood coming out almost daily, does it surprise you how many men are still shocked that women are scared to walk to their cars alone and other things like that?
What I realized is men don't know what they don't know; and they walk around in the world in their own bodies and they can't possibly understand what it's like to be a woman. It is upon us to make them understand it to a certain extent, and that's what it was like working with Spike on the show. It became clear to me — I would get really frustrated and [say] 'Spike, how do you not know this?' But he can't because he's a man and the whole world accommodates him, so he doesn't have to figure it out. So it becomes on me and all the other women around us who have to sort of pound it in his head sometimes. At least he was open to it.
This is Spike's vision, but between you helping run the show and all the female writers, what did it mean to you to have so many female voices and females in position of power?
By the way, we had female execs at Netflix. It was female energy all around. It was fantastic. I mean, there is nothing like [it]. I have to say, there were moments when I would say something to Spike and he would bristle at it but then the execs would come and they would say the same thing and we hadn't spoken about it and he would be frustrated about it. And I would be like, 'OK, you're hearing this now from several people, you need to listen.' So to be able to have the power of my female execs, the power of the female writers and Tatyana, the artist who weighed in, and to the cast — not just DeWanda, Margot [Bingham, who plays Nola's BFF Clorinda] — it was really a special situation that allowed us to create something that feels authentically female.
Have you already thought about doing a second season? How long can the story go?
Well, I think it can go on and on. I personally do enjoy watching Nola's journey. I think it would be really fun to continue to follow her. I think that her friends and suitors are rich and rife for more exploration. My fingers are crossed for another season. I think that Nola is really interesting. I think that she's just at the beginning of her journey and I think there's a lot more to come.
She's Gotta Have It is available to stream on Netflix beginning Nov. 23.
An estimated 46 million will watch the show NBC has broadcasted nationally since 1948.
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'Mr. Robot' Producer Decodes That Heartbreaking Death Scene
Producer, writer and technology expert Kor Adana joins THR every week to discuss the latest episode of the USA thriller.
[Warning: this story contains spoilers for season three, episode seven of USA Network's Mr. Robot, called "eps3.6_fredrick&tanya.chk."]
And then there were two. Three, technically, if you view Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) and Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) as separate entities.
In any event, the roster of original fsociety members has slimmed down significantly following the most recent episode of USA Network's Mr. Robot, which ended with the deaths of two characters first introduced in the series premiere: Sunil "Mobley" Markesh and Shama "Trenton" Biswas, the computer hackers played by Azhar Khan and Sunita Mani respectively. Now, only Elliot and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) remain from the show's original group of hackers, the darker personality lurking within Elliot notwithstanding.
Fearing for their lives due to the role they played in the Five/Nine Hack, Trenton and Mobley left New York City for Arizona midway through season two, where they tried to start over with brand new lives. The final scene of that season featured the unlikely pair debating whether or not they could undo the damage done in the hack, only for Dark Army agent Leon (Joey Badass) to arrive at the height of their conversation.
Listen to the latest episode of THR and Post Show Recaps' Mr. Robot podcast, in which hosts Josh Wigler and Antonio Mazzaro break down Trenton and Mobley's deaths.
The seventh episode of season three picks up shortly after season two collision, as Leon plays babysitter to Trenton and Mobley for purposes unknown. Throughout the hour, it appears the Dark Army has a role for the fsociety hackers, one that involves their continued safety — but in the final scene, it's made clear that Trenton and Mobley are being set up as the patsies for the Stage Two attack, killed by Dark Army agents, their deaths staged as suicides. Now, not only are two of the show's lighter characters dead, their demise also serves as a cover story for Whiterose (BD Wong) and her twisted mass murder plot, which was only enacted as a means of putting E Corp CEO Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) in his place. It's a brutal ending for Trenton and Mobley, far from the biggest players in the Mr. Robot universe, but beloved figures all the same. For more on their deaths and what their tragic fate means for the show moving forward, THR turns once again to writer-producer Kor Adana, who discusses the deaths of Trenton and Mobley as well as the rest of the fallout from the Stage Two attack.
You monsters. Don't you know it's Thanksgiving?
So foul and fair a day I have not seen. 3
We are monsters. I knew this would upset you. Trust me. It upsets me, too. It took every ounce of self-control I had to stay silent last week when you said you'd be done with the show if anything happened to Mobley. Here we are. Are you going to keep watching? Also, since you brought it up, the reality/history of Thanksgiving is pretty sad and brutal, too.
Talk me through the decision to kill Trenton and Mobley. It's hard to imagine the writers approached these deaths lightly — they are two of the only original fsociety members still on the board, after all, or at least they were until this episode.
We had many heated debates dating back to the early days of season two about if, when, and how the other members of fsociety would meet their end. With Trenton and Mobley, we're essentially paying off the season two post-credits coda, that oner where Leon shows up at Fry's in Arizona to greet Trenton and Mobley. Another thing to consider is that 71 buildings just exploded. People died in the Cyber Bombings, but we (and our characters) don't really know any of them. Planting the loss of Trenton and Mobley on the same day of the bombings allowed us to steep our viewers into the collective misery that the rest of our Mr. Robot world is experiencing. We already know and love Trenton and Mobley, so from an emotional perspective, their deaths allow us to experience the anguish and loss that everyone else is dealing with.
Not only are Trenton and Mobley brutally murdered, they die with their names wrongly attached to the Stage Two terrorist attack. Referring to this as salt in the wound is like Whiterose referring to Stage Two as a slap on Phillip Price's wrist. How did the writers' room arrive at this idea? Was this planned as far back as season two's post-credits scene with Trenton and Mobley?
This particular decision was not planned at the end of season two. The idea to connect fsociety to Iran came up when we were breaking the overall direction of season three. Whiterose lays the foundation for this Iranian frame job early this season. Once we figured out that Whiterose is setting up Iran to take the fall for Five/Nine, it gave us a narrative milestone to build toward and we could start connecting other storylines to it. It felt organic to incorporate Mobley and Trenton into that frame job because we knew that there was already a Dark Army presence in Arizona with them (Leon). When we decided on moving forward with the Cyber Bombings, we had another act of terror that we could connect to the frame job. There's also a disappointing commentary here on how we choose to label terrorists in this country. In Frank Cody's (Erik Jensen) words, Iran sounds "brown enough" for the public to easily accept it. Similar to most of the heartbreaking decisions we make on this show, we were excited to explore how this news would affect our other characters.
Earlier in the season, in a scene with Irving (Bobby Cannavale), Leon made a remark about how he "isn't a big fan of murder," that he "respects life and all." At the time, it felt like the show was offering fans of Trenton and Mobley a sigh of relief, since he was last seen hovering over them both. Was that by design — a remark made to give viewers a false sense of hope?
Here's a little bit of trivia for you. In an early draft, it was going to be Leon who forced Trenton and Mobley to kill themselves. After reading that, we decided that it would be impossible for our viewers to forgive Leon for such a vicious act, even if he was just following Whiterose's orders. From there, Leon's involvement evolved into the chaperone role that's in the episode now. He's just doing his job. He hopes it works out well for Trenton and Mobley because he actually likes them. Was our goal to give viewers a false sense of hope? Partly. We also threw in the "respect life" and "isn't a big fan of murder" lines to help our cause in keeping you on Leon's side, even after the dark events of this episode.
I also want to take a moment to recognize Adam Penn's brilliant script for this episode. No one can write dialogue for Leon like Adam. Actually, Adam is the one who introduced [creator Sam Esmail] to the music of Joey Badass back in season one, which eventually led to Joey being cast as Leon in season two.
There's a lot of comedy involved with Trenton and Mobley during their scenes in the episode, what with the getaway attempt, the Juanita Rosenberg of it all, and Leon comparing them to George and Elaine from Seinfeld. How much was this an attempt to lull viewers into a false sense of security about these characters making it out of the episode alive, versus wanting to add some levity to two beloved characters knowing you were about to remove them from the equation?
I believe it's the latter. We wanted to enjoy Trenton and Mobley one last time with a moment of levity before things got too dark and depressing. I would argue that these light-hearted moments are precursors to major deaths in stories these days. I don't know if viewers even fall for that false sense of security anymore because it's been used on them so many times before. That was definitely a concern with this episode. Last season, in the episode where a Dark Army operative rides up on a crotch rocket and shoots up that restaurant, Cisco (Michael Drayer) and Darlene share a light-hearted moment of levity moments before. What that episode aired, I remember reading tweets about how "Cisco is gonna die" and "things are going too well for these two." It's hard to pull that kind of thing off when you have a really smart audience. The reason I think it worked here is because Mobley and Trenton are locked into an intense situation. Sure, they're talking about JDate, 23andMe and Seinfeld, but they're also handcuffed in the backseat of a car, watching Leon dig a grave. That ambiguity helped in creating the question: are they going to make it out of this alive or not?
Can you talk through the way their deaths play out — their final moments in the garage juxtaposed with the SWAT team's approach, only for our perception of time to be off? And what went into the decision to only show Mobley and Trenton's bodies, not the actual act of their deaths?
The SWAT team's approach and the moments leading up to Trenton and Mobley's deaths were originally scripted as separate scenes. John Petaja, the outstanding editor of this episode, tried something out by intercutting these two scenes. The thinking here was, if we saw that scene with the Dark Army agents and Trenton and Mobley first, we know that these characters are screwed. Showing the SWAT raid after that would've been an exercise of finding evidence. With the intercutting, it turned into a sequence that makes you think, "Will they get out of this?" These are major characters, so you hope that somehow the SWAT team will come in and save them at the last moment. There are hints that point to there being no hope for them, though. If you pay attention to the lighting in the windows, it's clear that these scenes took place at different times. The Dark Army would've heard the SWAT team break down the front door. (We're not trying to pull the wool over your eyes. You'll notice these things upon a rewatch.) But that's the power of the intercut. There's so much inertia to the ideas coming at you, you don't have time to think through the logic. There's too much happening here in order for you to question your hope that these beloved characters will get saved.
Before moving onto some other areas of the episode, do you have any final words on Trenton and Mobley, the twin-headed Hurley of the Mr. Robot universe?
I need to say that Azhar Khan and Sunita Mani are tremendous actors who brought so much heart to the roles of Mobley and Trenton. The soul-crushing reaction we're all having is a testament to their insane talent, work ethic, and ability to elevate what was on the page. I really hope I get to work with them again sometime soon.
Elsewhere in the episode, we see Elliot dealing with the ramifications of Stage Two. He goes to Krista's (Gloria Reuben) office and reverts to Robot mode. Two-pronged question: what was Elliot seeking by going to Krista, and can you speak to why Robot took over in that moment — was it out of Elliot's control?
Elliot is guilt-ridden. Who else can he talk to? Krista is probably the only person who knows about Mr. Robot and hasn't betrayed him in some way yet. Also, Elliot and Mr. Robot still can't communicate with each other. Krista has acted as a mediator between them before, so it makes sense that Elliot would come to Krista in an effort to find out how much Mr. Robot knows. Elliot and Mr. Robot can't really control the timing of the transitions, so in a way, Elliot delivers Mr. Robot to Krista in order to get more information.
Robot makes it clear that he's not thrilled with how the Dark Army co-opted his revolution. Is he more upset about the deaths of thousands of people, or the fact that his vision has been taken away from him? Certainly, he seems aware that there are larger forces in play — the exact types of people he wanted to take power from in the first place.
I think he's conflicted about both. He definitely has been battling Tyrell (Martin Wallström) this season for control over Stage Two, but he never wanted to enact this version of the plan. He wants to figure out how and why this happened. At this point, he's probably more upset about being kept in the dark while the Dark Army took control of his revolution and used it for their own gain. I'm sure he feels bad about what happened, but his anger outweighs his sadness in this episode.
Later, Robot tries to confront Irving, and he's knocked out by two Dark Army agents. When he wakes up, his hat and glasses are gone. We know that Mr. Robot and Elliot are the same person, which means the hat and glasses are not real. So… what gives? Just having some fun?
John and I spoke about this. He feels that Mr. Robot is being stripped away of some of the objects that make him who he is. He's disempowered and vulnerable. I thought that was an interesting take. I'll remind you of something else, though. Mr. Robot didn't wear his glasses in the pilot either. Something to think about…
Whiterose and Price engage in an extraordinarily tense war of words in the aftermath of Stage Two. Once upon a time, Price declared he was one of the two or three most powerful people in any given room on the planet. Do you feel this scene backs that claim, or does this scene reveal another truth — that he's not as powerful as he thinks?
The "not as powerful as he thinks" is a theme we're exploring with Price this season. In this episode, it's clear that Price is another pawn in Whiterose's game. In earlier seasons, Price seemed like an unstoppable force. His reaction to being put in his place is satisfying and creates some empathy. To an extent, I think the same can be said for Whiterose. One of the best things about this season is the time we get to spend behind the curtain, getting peaks of Whiterose and Price during their most vulnerable moments.
Whiterose mentions that Price was supposed to "manipulate [and] control" Angela (Portia Doubleday), and says: "You couldn't, so I had to." Given this remark, should we assume Whiterose doesn't much care about Angela one way or the other, except as far as her ability to interfere with the Washington Township project?
Well, I think that's partially true. Angela is also important to Whiterose because of Angela's connection to Elliot. Elliot cares about her. Angela has influence over him. As long as Elliot is useful to Whiterose, then Angela holds value. Whiterose doesn't care about Angela outside of her being an asset/puppet for her plan. It's sad because Angela really cares about Whiterose. She's given herself completely to Whiterose and consider her a savior. Hearing Whiterose talk about Angela in this way shines a light on the serious manipulation that's going on.
Angela and Darlene spend much of their time in the episode together, and for her part, Angela is utterly glued to the television, talking about how the thousands of victims are going to be okay, even rewinding footage over and over again as proof of life of sorts. What should we be thinking about Angela here? How out of sorts is she in this moment?
To quote John Petaja, "Angela is not taking it well." She's having a complete mental breakdown. I think we're witnessing the first steps on a journey to madness. Every step of the way, Angela has been naïve about Stage Two. It seems fitting for Angela to start disassociating from reality in the wake of the terror she caused.
The episode ends with Dom (Grace Gummer) placing Whiterose at the center of the whiteboard, and making a private confession: "You're actually going to get away with this." Did you want to end this one with the viewer feeling what Dom feels — that the dark powers that be are really going to get away clean?
Originally, John played with using different types of score and music for this scene. It all felt really good, but we felt the music was getting in the way of what Dom was feeling. Having it be cold and quiet worked so much better than having some musical guidance about how to interpret the moment. It makes you feel how overwhelmed and buried she is with that sense of loss and injustice. Another interesting thing going on here is that Dom has always suspected Whiterose, but no one ever listened to her. They shrugged off Whiterose as some dark web fairy tale. Dom putting Whiterose on the board is a big deal. In a way, she will no longer be ignored.
Anything else from this episode you want to touch on before we sign out?
We didn't talk about the horrific way that Tyrell learned about Joanna's death. Joanna was a primary motivation for almost everything Tyrell did in this series. To have Santiago destroy that hope in such an appalling way is pretty intense and heartbreaking. As crazy as he is, I feel for Tyrell in this moment.
Only three episodes left this season. Tease us up for what we're getting into next.
We couldn't soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so we did the next best thing. We annihilated the world…
What are your thoughts on Trenton and Mobley's deaths? Sound off in the comments section below and keep following THR.com/MrRobot for more coverage all season long.
Here's What ABC's 'American Idol' Judges Are (Already) Fighting About
Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan also talk with THR about what they bring to the table and the biggest audition songs of the first round.
When American Idol makes its ABC debut March 11, there are a few things viewers won't see onscreen: namely, the new judges — Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan — learning their way through the audition process. During a recent break while filming the second day of Los Angeles auditions — the last stop before everyone with a coveted Golden Ticket heads back to Hollywood for round two — the Idol newbies told The Hollywood Reporter that there's been a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion about certain singers they've put through — or not.
"Off-camera, we're negotiating. Like why we put through someone a couple of cities back and why we didn't put through this person, because we're figuring out what's actually out there," Perry said. "When I signed up for American Idol, I didn't know what kind of talent was left. I thought everything had been discovered. I was like, are there any more diamonds to polish? Because of the technology world that we live in, everybody can launch themselves on their own platform. Well the truth is, there's a lot of diamonds out there and American Idol has so many of them."
All three new judges are taking the gig incredibly seriously, Bryan said, and they already have regrets about passing over certain singers.
"It's a moment-by-moment basis because we'll look back and we just sent someone home and we're like, 'Oh my god, this person would have kicked this other person's butt in New Orleans,'" the country star said.
But that doesn't mean they're always in agreement. "No. No, no, no," Richie said. He and his fellow judges might not argue a ton, but they will stand their ground if there's someone they like. "I'll just lean on them."
Added Bryan, "When Lionel bats his eyes, and I'm just like, 'OK.'" We're at a place now where we really know each other on this level of judging."
Something else they're beginning to learn? Which songs people will sing when they step into the room. The most popular audition songs this year include Niall Horan's "Slow Hands," Maren Morris' "My Church," Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey" and James Bay's "Let It Go." There is, however, always a curveball or two.
"All of a sudden, every once in a while, how many people have walked in as Elvis Presley?" said Richie. "And I keep going, 'What is Elvis doing in the middle of this?'"
Added Perry, "There's a lot of original stuff, too, which I really appreciate."
While the American Idol logo and series' basic structure might be the same, Richie and his fellow judges told THR they think the show is different for several reasons.
"I think it's another level. I think what is happening now is we're artists. Not just artists, but performing artists. We are writing artists. We're in it. And right now, the talent's becoming much smarter," he said.
There are many more singer-songwriters than there were in the early days, said Bryan, and the contestants know that they have to bring their A-game.
Added Perry, "They know that the competition is high. I think that it's not like it used to be. I think our world is not like it used to be. It's changing the way that music comes out. It's totally different. But I believe that America wants to see the great American dream happen again. It's going to be up to America to make this person an Idol, and I think we still can."
American Idol premieres Sunday, March 11 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
American IdolRead the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com
