American Idol American Idol logo Format Interactive reality game show Created by Simon Fuller Directed by John Pritchett (live shows) Bruce Gowers (live shows, 2002-2008) Nigel Lythgoe (audition shows) Ken Warwick (audition shows) Presented by Ryan Seacrest Brian Dunkleman (season 1) Judges Simon Cowell Paula Abdul Randy Jackson Country of origin United States No. of seasons 7 (As of May 21, 2008) No. of episodes 272 (As of May 21, 2008) No. of episodes 272 (As of May 21, 2008) No. of episodes 272 (As of May 21, 2008) No. of episodes 272 (As of May 21, 2008) (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Nigel Lythgoe Ken Warwick Cecile Frot-Coutaz Location(s) Various locations (Auditions) Orpheum Theatre, Ontario, CA (Hollywood) CBS Television City (Semi-finals and finals) Nokia Theatre (Finale) Running time Varies Broadcast Original channel FOX (repeats on Fox Reality) Picture format 480i (NTSC), 720p (HDTV) Original run June 11, 2002 – Present External links Official website IMDb profile TV.com summary American Idol is an American reality-competition show airing on Fox. It debuted on June 11, 2002, and it has since become one of the Top 2 were ever in the bottom 2 were eliminated on the April 10th results show was sent back to safety before the elimination announcement. Season 6 Main article: American Idol (season 7) American Idol returned for its seventh season on January 15, 2008[23] for a two day, four hour premiere. David Cook was crowned the winner of American Idol drew close a former contestant spoke out about the show's credibility. Season 5 sensation