Ken Warwick has reportedly signed a new three-year, eight-figure deal with 'American Idol' that will reportedly make him one of the richest producers in television.

Also in the news today: 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' faces cutbacks, while Padma Lakshmi speaks out about her upcoming NBC sitcom.

See more of today's top TV headlines after the jump.

American Idol's executive producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, will NOT be bringing their innovative or creative golden touch to the Emmys this year as previously reported. According to the TV academy, Lythgoe and Warwick have backed out of producing the Emmy telecast because of a demanding schedule.

"After we wrapped the enormous effort of Idol Gives Back, we looked at our upcoming slate of projects including the American Idol finale and the additional shows we will be involved in this summer, and realized that we could not devote the creative energy and time necessary to make the Emmys outstanding for the Television Academy and FOX," Lythgoe and Warwick said.

TV academy chairman Dick Askin stated, ''We respect Nigel and Ken's decision and are fortunate that Ken Ehrlich has agreed to return.'' Ken Ehrlich is a veteran producer of several Emmy and Grammy telecasts.

The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards will be televised live September 16 on FOX from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Emmy nominations will be announced July 19.

American Idol probably won't be holding a songwriting contest this year. Executive producer Ken Warwick recently told TV Week that the competition has been put on the back burner for the moment, because the launch of the Idol Gives Back charity has apparently made things a bit too hectic.

Last August, producers announced that a contest would be held to select an original song for the sixth season finalists to perform. This contest would have given one very talented and lucky songwriter the chance to have his or her tune heard by millions of Idol's fans.

Now it looks like struggling songwriters are going to have to put their American Idol dreams on hold, at least for this year. It's too bad, really. I guess now we can expect the same old bland and generic first single from this season's Idol winner.

It's time to talk about the latest Idol Conspiracy Theory. This one goes a little like this: the phone lines are blocked (possibly intentionally, probably not). But text messages get through no matter what. Cingular has an exclusive deal with Idol, which allows only their customers to vote by text message. Cingular customers, therefore, may have an unfair impact on this contest.

Text messaging has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. And this trend is reflected in Idol voting. In three years of Cingular-sponsorship, the number of text message votes has risen from 7.5 million (in 2004) to 41.5 million (in 2006).

As long as phone problems persist, and text message participation continues to rise, this controversy over the voting process will only fester and grow each year.

By now, unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard that Idol producers and judges have been criticized for publicly and cruelly humiliating earnest, yet physically or mentally-challenged contestants during Idol's two-part Season Premiere. Simon Cowell and Idol producer, Ken Warwick, denied cruelty and defended their inclusion of "challenged" auditioners in last week's telecast, stating "everybody has the right to audition."

Sweet sentiment, guys. Do you really believe this bullshit? Does this help you sleep at night? Because, honestly, you sound as self-deluded as the hapless wannabes you routinely ridicule.