Hit Fox Reality TV show American Idol may have to proceed without star judge Simon Cowell. Matt Drudge grabs an item that is set to run in the Monday edition of the NY Times that will report the details that may lead to a Simon-less Idol.

Matt reports:

There is still no deal to ensure that Fox will have more editions of American Idol with judge Simon Cowell -- and the network wants to move the nation's top-rated show to Wednesdays and Thursdays.

No more Simon?

At the center of the commotion -- Brit hit show 'X-Factor'- and charges of a Simon rip-off.

Monday has been a target day in the bargaining process -- unless the two sides came to a settlement late Sunday night, Monday was to be the first day of a court case that has threatened to upend the work that Fox has put into resolving its contract issues with Cowell.

[…]

Fuller sued Cowell for copyright infringement, saying that Cowell stole the format of Idol for his X-Factor.

Reports Carter: Cowell would have a strong incentive to leaveIdol and sell X-Factor -- starring him -- to one of Fox's competitors in the United States. At least two networks, ABC and NBC, have quietly expressed interest in negotiating to acquire X-Factor which this season has been the most popular show on British television.

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Could American Idol survive without Cowell? Probably.

But it might not be as fun.

--Tina Sims