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American Idol 13

American Idol results shows cut to 30 minutes (again, for the third time)

by Andy Dehnart 25 Oct. 2013 | 7:17 pm

American Idol 13 has already made major changes and baffling changes, but there’s another change coming that has been long overdue: the reduction of the padded, filler-filled, redundant, unnecessarily drawn out results show to 30 minutes.

That news came in Fox’s spring schedule, which said that new sitcom “Surviving Jack is set to air on Thursdays (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) for eight weeks, following American Idol (8:00-8:30 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) results shows.” It’s not clear yet when that sitcom will debut and the results will begin, but the season premiere episodes of Idol will be two hours long, with the second week episodes–likely more auditions–also one hour long.

Of course, if Surviving Jack is cancelled, the easy fix would be to once again extend the results shows to an hour. The show is based on Shit My Dad Says author Justin Halpern’s book I Suck at Girls and stars Christopher Meloni; Cougar Town creator Bill Lawrence executive produces.

It’s worth remembering that Fox has promised 30-minute results shows more than once, most recently in 2010 for season 10.

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

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