The swan song for American Idol was supposed to be two years ago. That's when more than 13 million viewers watched host Ryan Seacrest sign off from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the final time. But as many suspected, Seacrest's cryptic "Goodbye — for now" was prophetic.

Now ABC, which quickly snapped up Idol despite its age and high production cost, prepares to relaunch TV's one-time "Death Star" March 11 into a primetime landscape that has only become more challenging. And it will do so with an entirely new and untested judging panel and a host at the center of allegations of sexual harassment from a former stylist at NBCUniversal's E!