'Idol' to experience scheduling changes for Season 10

Since the likelihood that planes for a tenth season of Idol will be scrapped are lower than low, we all might as well suck it up and plan to return to FOX on Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning January 2011. The actual amount of time we spend planted in our seats on these two days of the week will apparently vary, though, as FOX announced its 2010-11 TV schedule with a few noticeable differences in the network's stalwart enterprise.

Let's begin with the good news: results shows will be slashed in half to a half-hour each Wednesday, airing from 8:30-9 p.m. This marks the first time the show will revert to this (much better) time slot since, well, Season 3 or 4 (either way it was too long ago). More good news comes in the debunking of the rumors that Idol would be shifting to a Wednesday/Thursday schedule.

The bad news, however (besides Simon leaving), is that all performance episodes that are not long enough to be two hours will instead be 90 minutes. So, yes, even the Top 3 performance episode will last 90 minutes rather than one hour. Something tells me this plan might fall through when the producers realize how taxing it will be on the contestants.

Either way, at least it seems something is being done to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic fix the show.