As flakey as she might seem at times, Paula Abdul is not going to be leaving “American Idol.” The head of the Fox network gave her a vote of confidence Thursday while announcing the 2008-2009 TV season.

Fox Chairman Peter Liguori told reporters that “we love Paula; she’s coming back.’ He did, however, say the show itself will be tweaked next season.

Liguori says he has met with the show’s producers about a revamp for the eigth season. But he did not outline any specifics.

Ratings were down this season and so was the buzz about the show. It’s still the most-watched program on TV.

“Both the network and the producers really want to take a look at the show for next year and see what we can to do inject it with new levels of energy and new unpredictable twists and turns and ramp up the storytelling,” Liguori said.  “We do constantly want to make this show the most relevant, zeitgeisty show on TV to keep it on the tips of everyone’s tongue.”

Liguori blamed writers strike for some of the decline in ratings. “We think the show has somewhat suffered from the post-strike malaise of folks watching less broadcast TV,” he said.

President of Fox Entertainment Kevin Reilly added:  “It’s not like it’s in the death throes here. There’s some real charm in that cast. Whether it’s caught the world on fire, I don’t know. Some of it is just natural maturity of the show. It’s been a phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go through some natural aging just like any other show. We’ll do some of those creative twists next season, and we’ll see what comes out of it.”

Liguori also said that the Wednesday results show will, at least on most weeks, go back to a half-hour.