Vote for Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer this Monday, ABC, 8pm PT.
Ambrose Aban:
Who knew. I didn't think it was going to be this good. But Dancing With The Stars has become a pheno and it commands primetime TV. In the beginning, it seemed like a disaster: Pair a bunch of B-list celebrities with cheesy-costumed professional ballroom dancers and see who survives the humiliation of a contest.
Phil Spencer:
"Dancing With the Stars" should have been (so you think) a flop, but now, in its seventh season, the ABC competition is one of the most-watched series on television. When it's not No. 1, it's No. 2, close behind "CSI," with 20 million to 25 million viewers tuning in to the weekly two-episode punch. And it's not just big-band-loving geezers who are watching.
Ambrose Aban:
The demographics run the gamut, from kids who love "The Cheetah Girls" and "Hannah Montana" to boomers who remember Cloris Leachman on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Chris Goodridge:
I am so-so fan but next Monday I will be voting for Lance Bass. "Dancing" is not quite the mega-phenomenon that "American Idol" has become, but it's definitely a pop-culture player. And it's showing no signs of slowing. When the current season's finale arrives and a new winning pair is crowned next Tuesday, the episode is sure to be the top-rated program of the week.
Ambrose Aban:
What's the key to success of "Dancing With the Stars"? Like most hit reality competitions, it's a combination of casting, hosting, judging and the unexpected dramatizing that can happen only on a live telecast.
Chris Goodridge:
Add to that mixture some really beautiful dancing, a little toe-tapping music and costumes that leave nothing to the imagination, and you have a winner.
Current controversy:
Among the tabloid-headlining developments this season: the "fat controversy" surrounding pro dancers Cheryl Burke and Lacey Schwimmer.
Ambrose Aban:
Both women gained weight over the summer, but were they actually fat, as a couple of the male dancers sneered in TV Guide? In the real world, they were not. In other startling medical disasters, both pro dancing cutie Julianne Hough and Schwimmer were diagnosed with endometriosis, singer-competitor Toni Braxton wrestled with a chronic heart problem and Olympic beach volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor suffered a contest-ending leg injury.
Phil Spencer:
Last season's melodrama included Latino soap star Cristian de la Fuente's awesome bicep pop, Derek Hough snapping his neck in rehearsal and Marie Osmond dropping to the ground in a dead faint after a performance and before the judges rendered their verdicts.
Chris Goodridge:
For the uninitiated, here's how "Dancing With the Stars" works: Dancers dance specific ballroom dances on Mondays, with scores handed down by entertaining judges Len Goodman (tough guy), Carrie Ann Inaba (sweet gal) and Bruno Tonioli (excitable Italian). Then viewers phone or text in their votes. On Tuesday, after lots of recaps, guest performances and behind-the-scenes shenanigans, the viewers' and judges' votes are tabulated and someone is kicked off the show.
Ambrose Aban:
The studio audience gasps and boos, the rejects weep, and hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris crack lame jokes. Somehow it all comes together. Viewers root for their favorites and secretly wonder, "Could I twirl around the dance floor like that if a fabulously well-muscled professional dancer barked and bent me for a week?" Probably not ... but maybe.
Phil Spencer:
So, who's the hoofer you're rooting for now?
Chris Goodridge:
Queers are rooting for Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer.
Ambrose Aban:
Sorry Brooke and Warren. We love you guys. But we are voting for Lance Bass.
Ambrose Aban:
Who knew. I didn't think it was going to be this good. But Dancing With The Stars has become a pheno and it commands primetime TV. In the beginning, it seemed like a disaster: Pair a bunch of B-list celebrities with cheesy-costumed professional ballroom dancers and see who survives the humiliation of a contest.
Phil Spencer:
"Dancing With the Stars" should have been (so you think) a flop, but now, in its seventh season, the ABC competition is one of the most-watched series on television. When it's not No. 1, it's No. 2, close behind "CSI," with 20 million to 25 million viewers tuning in to the weekly two-episode punch. And it's not just big-band-loving geezers who are watching.
Ambrose Aban:
The demographics run the gamut, from kids who love "The Cheetah Girls" and "Hannah Montana" to boomers who remember Cloris Leachman on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Chris Goodridge:
I am so-so fan but next Monday I will be voting for Lance Bass. "Dancing" is not quite the mega-phenomenon that "American Idol" has become, but it's definitely a pop-culture player. And it's showing no signs of slowing. When the current season's finale arrives and a new winning pair is crowned next Tuesday, the episode is sure to be the top-rated program of the week.
Ambrose Aban:
What's the key to success of "Dancing With the Stars"? Like most hit reality competitions, it's a combination of casting, hosting, judging and the unexpected dramatizing that can happen only on a live telecast.
Chris Goodridge:
Add to that mixture some really beautiful dancing, a little toe-tapping music and costumes that leave nothing to the imagination, and you have a winner.
Current controversy:
Among the tabloid-headlining developments this season: the "fat controversy" surrounding pro dancers Cheryl Burke and Lacey Schwimmer.
Ambrose Aban:
Both women gained weight over the summer, but were they actually fat, as a couple of the male dancers sneered in TV Guide? In the real world, they were not. In other startling medical disasters, both pro dancing cutie Julianne Hough and Schwimmer were diagnosed with endometriosis, singer-competitor Toni Braxton wrestled with a chronic heart problem and Olympic beach volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor suffered a contest-ending leg injury.
Phil Spencer:
Last season's melodrama included Latino soap star Cristian de la Fuente's awesome bicep pop, Derek Hough snapping his neck in rehearsal and Marie Osmond dropping to the ground in a dead faint after a performance and before the judges rendered their verdicts.
Chris Goodridge:
For the uninitiated, here's how "Dancing With the Stars" works: Dancers dance specific ballroom dances on Mondays, with scores handed down by entertaining judges Len Goodman (tough guy), Carrie Ann Inaba (sweet gal) and Bruno Tonioli (excitable Italian). Then viewers phone or text in their votes. On Tuesday, after lots of recaps, guest performances and behind-the-scenes shenanigans, the viewers' and judges' votes are tabulated and someone is kicked off the show.
Ambrose Aban:
The studio audience gasps and boos, the rejects weep, and hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris crack lame jokes. Somehow it all comes together. Viewers root for their favorites and secretly wonder, "Could I twirl around the dance floor like that if a fabulously well-muscled professional dancer barked and bent me for a week?" Probably not ... but maybe.
Phil Spencer:
So, who's the hoofer you're rooting for now?
Chris Goodridge:
Queers are rooting for Lance Bass and Lacey Schwimmer.
Ambrose Aban:
Sorry Brooke and Warren. We love you guys. But we are voting for Lance Bass.
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