American Idol: If it isn't broke...

In the early '90s, ABC Television wanted to capitalize on the success of their show, "America's Funniest Home Videos". So, the following year, they spun-off "America's Funnniest People", hosted by comedian Dave Coulier and soap star Arleen Sorkin. If you've ever watched an episode of family comedy "Full House", then you pretty much get the idea that Dave's a second- or third-rate comedian. But with Arleen, their show was...well, still not very good. Still, they had a chemistry that made the show much easier to swallow. A few seasons later, when producers replaced Arleen with Tawny Kitaen (the model from Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" video), I never watched "America's Funniest People" again. The show tanked shortly after.

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

That's only one example of many, and you would think these Hollywood bigwigs would learn from their mistakes by now. If there's an existing chemistry between two or more of the biggest stars on a show, it ought to be an unwritten rule that destroying a good chemistry should be forbidden. One of the biggest things I cannot stand is when I get comfortable with an original cast, the creators decide to shake up the mix -- either by adding unnecessary characters, or replacing characters already established on the show.

However, these rumors about "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul getting kicked off the panel continue to linger. It may or may not be true, but this latest one is going around water coolers like wildfire acoss the US: A few years ago, Belinda Carlisle, the former lead singer for '80s girl group The Go-Gos, was approached to replace Paula.

When Belinda was asked if she wanted to be a judge on the show, she said, "I don't really know. To be perfectly honest, it's just not my thing. I'd rather listen to music that comes from a more organic place. But you know, I just...don't know if I would or not."

Like all television shows, I only watch "American Idol" sporadically, if not rarely. When I do tune in, I enjoy the balance between all three judges. Despite her ongoing silliness, Paula livens everything up.

I just can't imagine someone else taking her place. Each judge has his/her own distinct personality, yet each one "meshes" with the others. Throwing some other random celeb into the mix would be like starting all over again -- that is, if they all hit it off.

Paula is still beloved to "Idol" producers and fans, though. They remained loyal to her even after the Corey Clark scandal (in which a contestant, Corey Clark, accused Paula of seducing him among other things). So, if she can hold her head up, I don't think she's in danger of losing her job. I think there may be some edited-out ditziness on her behalf, but the people running the show seem willing to protect her from looking flaky or fidgety in front of millions of people.

If only I could get paid Paula's kind of money for acting like my lovable, flaky self...what a wonderful world it would be.