The 2022 Oscars arrive this evening and, while people are no doubt excited to see which nominees take home the prizes, there’s another crowd tuning in at that time as well. At least one small section of the audience might be made up of American Idol fans, who are more than likely wondering why the latest episode of Season 20 isn’t on at its normal time. If it isn’t obvious by now, the show will be on at a different time for people across the United States, depending on where you live.
If you’re on the east coast and eager for American Idol, you’re in for some bad news. The latest episode of Idol will air on Sunday night, but not until ABC concludes its broadcast of this year's Academy Awards. As of this writing, the episode is scheduled to air at 11:35 p.m. ET. That’s about a half-hour after the movie-centric awards show concludes, and it's also possibly a slot in which some ABC stations run their local news. The episode is set to be an hour-long so, unless viewers are looking to stay up past midnight, it might just be best to record this one to watch later.
Those living on the west coast have a great, and perhaps an earlier night of great television, though. They’ll get to watch the Oscars (which features an Encanto performance folks aren’t happy about) starting at 5:00 p.m PT. After the ceremony ends, a new episode of American Idol is scheduled to run at 8:02 p.m. PT.
Typically west coast fans of Idol have to exercise caution, as east coast fans discuss new competition developments on social media. But it would seem the shoe is on the other foot this week. In fact, it seems like quite a few on the west coast will get to see the start of Hollywood week ahead of those on the east coast, especially those that choose not to stay up and watch the episode.
Season 20 hasn’t quite lived up to the hype surrounding it just yet, but it has shown potential. I can’t say there are any standout competitors at the level of Season 17's Alejandro Aranda or other recent notables like Willie Spence, though the Platinum Ticket award does feel like a game-changer. To me, the Hollywood week episodes haven’t been as entertaining as the live shows over the last few seasons, so if ever there was an episode to wait the next day to watch, this might be it. This is especially true if you’re not a huge fan of motion picture-focused award shows, as there are plenty of other returning shows to watch or catch up on.
If you can, check out American Idol when it runs after the 2022 Oscars broadcast, which kicks off on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET. Ahead of showtime, you can check out the full list of nominees and make some last-minute predictions regarding which films and actors will win the night.
