"American Idol" returned after nearly two years with a solid debut on a different network on Sunday night, drawing 10.3 million viewers and getting a nod from many critics, Variety reported.
Seems like only yesterday when the curtain came down on "Idol" after Fox decided it wanted to take a break from the show, but ABC decided to revive the show and introduced a new panel of judges that featured Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryant to spruce things up, CNN reported.
The plan may have worked, according to Nielsen overnight data revealed by Variety.
At the very least, the ABC premier of ‘American Idol’ was on par with the average ratings from the last season that aired on Fox.
The rebooted version drew a 2.3 rating in adults between 18 and 49, which is not that far off from the 2016 final season premier which garnered a 3.0 rating and 10.96 million viewers.
For the most part, the new ‘American Idols’ gained positive reviews from critics.
“Gone are the embarrassingly bad auditions that would go viral on Fox's American Idol and increased are the inspirational stories the Disney-owned network is hoping will go viral in a more positive way,” Chris Harnick of E! News wrote.
“American Idol" feels like the show we knew and loved,” added Nick Paschal of Yahoo Entertainment, noting that the “talent level was pretty high during the premiere.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg compared the rebooted version of ‘American Idol’ to the most recent previous seasons, noting it became “warmer and fuzzier and less scathing and mocking with each passing year.”
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