--- description: The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday title: Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of 'American Idol' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of _American Idol_ by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2016 12:00 PM CUT  Kelly Clarkson is kissed by an audience member at FOX TV's "American Idol", in Los Angeles, on July 16, 2002. Kelly Clarkson is kissed by an audience member at FOX TV's "American Idol", in Los Angeles, on July 16, 2002.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2016 12:00 PM CUT When _American Idol_ premiered back in 2002, it was an original—despite the fact that it was technically just a remake of the British series _Pop Idol_. Over the course of its long run, which will end on Thursday, the show discovered a trove of musical treasures, like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks, to name a few. It also [reimagined reality TV](http://time.com/4283634/american-idol-last-episode-legacy/ "undefined") by shoring up the competition genre on American airwaves. But it wasn’t always clear that the singers or even the format would be the winner. Initially, the [critical focus of _Idol_ was on its judges](http://time.com/vault/issue/2002-07-01/page/63/ "undefined"), one in particular, in fact. TIME’s first review of the show—which ran on July 1, 2002, shortly after the show premiered—described Simon Cowell as the “British BMG Records executive” who “eviscerate\[d\] wannabe divas with insults that would make one reconsider singing in the shower, let alone in public.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") TIME’s critic pointed out that _Idol_ was, at heart, “an ordinary music contest: hopeful talent, shattered dreams,” but it was the “full-contact judging of Cowell” that “made it America’s new favorite source of schadenfreude.” It was Cowell’s harshness that gave _Idol_ its edge. The magic of _Idol_ was in its “British headmasterly discipline running smack into the preternatural sense of self-esteem—often inversely proportional to talent—that Americans have hardwired into them from the womb.” **_Read the full review from 2002, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Rhyme and Punishment](http://time.com/vault/issue/2002-07-01/page/63/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/"},"headline":"Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of American Idol","datePublished":"2016-04-07T12:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:31:19.485Z","description":"The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday","url":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","keywords":["Television","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"American Idol- American Idol","caption":"American Idol- American Idol","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","name":"Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of American Idol"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"\"American Idol\" By the Numbers","description":"MONEY takes a look at what \"American Idol\" has made over 15 years on the air.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eOnT6UnN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-06T16:30:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eOnT6UnN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```