There’s a quick change for Monday-night TV: Cartoons are in; “American Idol” is out.
“Idol” will remain on Sundays, picking a champion on May 23. The Monday editions, however, are gone; instead, ABC is reviving its old “Wonderful World of Disney” banner; that starts May 3 with “The Incredibles 2” (shown here).
Like most shows, “Idol” has seen ts ratings crumble this season. On Sundays, its total viewership is down 15 percent, which is about average; but in the key 18-49 age group, that’s down 27 percent.
And on Mondays – when the show goes eye-to-eye with NBC’s “The Voice” – the decline is huge: “Idol” is down 27 percent overall, and 46 percent in ages 18-49.
So now “Idol” will be Sundays only: The top 10 will do songs from Disney movies on May 2 … the top seven will have a Mother’s Day theme on May 9 … and the final rounds will be May 16 and 23.
ABC had already aired a “Sesame Street” special on April 26; now it will follow a plan CBS tried twice during the COVID shutdowns: Use your archives to create a movie night.
In this case, ABC is reviving a show that has been around, off and on, for 67 years. “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” began in 1954 and has used seven other, similar titles. Since 1991, it’s been “The Wonderful World of Disney” and has only had occasional specials. Now, under that title, it has five straight animated movies, each at 8 p.m.:
– May 3: “The Incredbles 2” (2018).
– May 10: “Finding Dory” (2016), the “Finding Nemo” sequel.
– May 17: ”Monsters, Inc.” (2001),
– May 24: “Tangled” (2010), the Rapunzel tale.
– May 31: “The Princess and the Frog” (2009).