There are a million mournful love songs about someone not realizing they loved someone else until that person is gone, and it looks like one of them has finally gotten through to Fox. After breaking things off with American Idol last year, the network has just realized that it still loves that tired, old singing competition and it wants to get back together. There’s just one problem: The show might have already found someone new, because NBC began negotiating with production company Fremantle Media in February about the possibility of resurrecting American Idol.
So, in an endearingly jealous move, Fox has reportedly submitted its own bid to Fremantle in hopes of keeping its hands on American Idol. That comes from TMZ (via ScreenCrush), which says the production company might pick a suitor before the end of the week. The TMZ story also suggests that NBC will want Ryan Seacrest to return as host, but Fox will only “entertain” that idea for now.
If either of these networks picks up American Idol, it will most likely return next summer. That’s assuming, of course, that American Idol doesn’t reject them both and decide that it doesn’t need to define itself by its relationship with a TV network.