Will Ryan Seacrest Host ABC’s ‘American Idol’?

The modern-day hardest working man in show business just joined the network for “Live” — but that’s in New York City

Ryan Seacrest, 'American Idol'
Ryan Seacrest, 'American Idol'

Seacrest, in?

ABC officially revived “American Idol” Tuesday morning, when the Disney-owned broadcaster closed a deal with the singing competition show’s producers Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment. The former Fox series will be back during the 2017-2018 TV season, ABC said, though the judges and host of the new version have yet to be announced.

It’s not exactly a gigantic leap of faith to assume Ryan Seacrest is up for the hosting job he so masterfully performed all those years on Fox. After all, Seacrest is synonymous with “Idol,” and he’s now a Disney-ABC employee.

The former “Knock Knock Live” host is now Kelly Ripa’s right-hand man on “Live,” a Disney-ABC syndicated daytime talk show he joined for good last Monday. At the time he was revealed to be her new permanent co-host, plenty of people joked about Seacrest’s already-insane schedule — if “Idol” is again in the cards for the guy with the gift of gab (and formerly, the curse of frosted tips), his daily planner may become even more of a mess.

There’s one big problem, however: Seacrest just relocated from Los Angeles to New York City for “Live.” And he literally packed up his weekday radio show and brought it with him — ABC built the guy a radio studio a few floors below the “Live With Kelly and Ryan” set just to entice him aboard.

As anyone who followed “American Idol” knows, one of Ryan’s main jobs is as the guy who celebrates a trying-out talent’s golden ticket moment when they’re welcomed to Hollywood.

For those geographically challenged, Hollywood — his old stomping grounds — is very far from New York City. Even flying privately that trip takes six hours in the air. It’s extremely unlikely that “American Idol” will move to New York for its host, so how could this guy even pull it off?

The predominant theory seems to be that the new-look “Idol” would involve one live episode per week, and probably on a Sunday evening. Seacrest would then be able to take a red eye back East for “Live” and his radio show on Monday morning. In theory, he could also pull “Idol” off on a Friday, though that’s cutting it much closer and it feels unlikely that ABC would banish its big splash to the worst weeknight for television.

If Ripa was down to pre-tape every Friday show — which they do from time to time — the same argument could be made for scheduling the new “Idol” on Thursday nights.

When asked by TheWrap, a network rep was mum on whether Seacrest is even a candidate to reprise the role, and his reps did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

ABC also did not immediately respond to our request for clarification on whether Seacrest’s “Live” deal was part of an overall umbrella agreement with the network.

If the Sunday/Seacrest plan is truly in the cards, we can give readers a fairly accurate idea of the “Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve” host’s schedule, simply by basing it on what he used to do for Fox.

Kicking off the season, Fox’s “American Idol” would film its Audition Round in seven cities. They mostly shot on the weekends to accommodate Ryan’s popular radio show. When he had to stay in town for a while, he was usually able to find a local radio station from which to work.

The always punctual Seacrest would typically get to the auditions at 8 a.m. local time to film the opening scene — you know, the helicopter shot with all the excitable and starry-eyed locals. That setup took about an hour, a person familiar with the former iteration’s schedule told TheWrap. Seacrest would then put in a few more hours of on-camera stuff each day, and he always had some press commitments to fulfill as well — especially during the groundbreaking show’s historic heyday.

During the Judge’s Round, Seacrest would generally be on site and working most of the day, though he was also able to do pickups later if need be. Those packed days were mostly shot on the weekends as well — especially the last few seasons on Fox — again, as a nod to Seacrest’s radio show responsibilities.

When it came to the live show rounds, Seacrest put in a pretty standard workday — at least in terms of overall hours. The amiable host would arrive between 1 and 1:30 p.m. PT, and ready to work.

Following rehearsal, Seacrest’s “This … Is ‘American Idol’” moment would happen promptly at 5 p.m. PT. And when the show went off the air at 7, Seacrest and the judges would do the press line, then the host would have a meeting with producers and be out by 8.

So, yeah, the dude is busy — and “American Idol” is demanding. But if anyone could pull this off, it’s a workaholic who wakes up at 5 a.m. anyway.

Right now, the best bet is for a Sunday “Idol” on ABC — probably starting next spring — and likely with a familiar face welcoming you to the program. After all, ABC has been working on this reality show resuscitation for a little while — the “Live” timing and selection will probably prove no coincidence.

Or, if we’re wrong and Seacrest decides he does need to sleep sometime, this reporter hears that Brian Dunkleman’s available.

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