‘Wild card’ returning to ‘Idol’

Changes are coming to “American Idol” when it returns in January, including a return to “wild card” finalists picked by the show’s judges and less airtime for memorably bad auditions.

But don’t expect the show to abandon its affection for untalented contestants, executive producer Ken Warwick said Monday.

“I would have a pretty boring show on my hands and it wouldn’t be honest,” Warwick said.

Fox’s hit talent contest will open its eighth season with a two-night, four-hour premiere on Jan. 13 and 14.

“Idol” will cut the number of weeks featuring nationwide tryouts from four to three, and will bring more contestants to Hollywood to compete – 36 men and women, compared to the two dozen of past seasons.

The group will be winnowed down to 12 finalists, with nine chosen by audience voting and three wild-card singers selected by judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and a previously announced newcomer, singer-songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

The show’s charity effort, “Idol Gives Back,” will be absent this season, but likely will return on an every-other-year basis, Warwick said.

The changes aren’t in response to a ratings dip of 7 percent last season, he said, adding that was below the average for broadcast TV in general.

“There were no panic changes. … This show wouldn’t be on the TV for eight years if it wasn’t doing it right,” Warwick said.

Seeing red over ‘SNL’

A “Saturday Night Live” skit portraying New York’s blind governor as a bumbling leader didn’t get a laugh from Gov. David Paterson.

Paterson’s office said the skit ridiculed people with physical disabilities and implied that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.

“The governor is sure that ‘Saturday Night Live,’ with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive,” a Paterson spokesman said.

In the skit, cast member Fred Armisen, as Paterson, held up a chart illustrating the state’s job losses upside down.

A final weekend update

Speaking of “SNL,” in case you haven’t heard, Amy Poehler is leaving the show for good.

Less than two months after giving birth to a son, she made a surprise return to the late-night comedy show where she has been a regular for eight seasons. Then, on Saturday, she surprised viewers again by telling them goodbye.

Poehler is expected back on NBC later this season in her own weekly sitcom.