What they're saying about Simon Cowell's exit

What they're saying about Simon Cowell's exit - Jim Cantiello, MTV News: "Fox should cancel 'American Idol.' Put it down like a sick dog. Yank it off the air like an Adam Lambert morning show appearance. Make it disappear like Ejay Day. ... Americans have abandoned TV shows for far less. (Two words: Felicity haircut.)"

Richard Rushfield, The Daily Beast: "This coming season will likely either mark a rejuvenation of a titan, or the first great lurch toward a death that even America's one entertainment giant cannot avoid forever." Richard also touches on what I think is a bigger problem for the show than replacing Simon: "If it ever seems that the show is no longer reliably creating mega-stars, Idol could collapse quicker than an overcooked souffle."

James Poniewozik, Time: "He's getting out while he's ahead, wants to create a show he owns (and thus be super megaridiculous rich instead of just megaridiculous rich), etc."

Lisa de Moraes, Washington Post: "'It's like having a good player on a good football team,' Cowell said of his departure. 'When the player retires, the team continues to be successful.' But it's nothing like that, skeptics might say. It's more like NBC trying to continue 'Seinfeld' after losing Jerry after losing Elaine."

Former network programming head Fred Silverman, to the New York Times: "He's the voice everybody wants to hear. It doesn't mean the show will fail without him. But it will be nowhere near as successful as it was in its heyday."

TMZ reports that Simon's negotiations with Fox continued even as he was driving to yesterday's Television Critics Association press conference, something that Simon confirmed during his Tuesday radio interview with Ryan Seacrest.