I’ve mentioned this before on this blog, but I have a specific fondness for Dancing with the Stars. Many, many years ago, I was a paid recapper for this show, and despite the fact that it’s lost its luster over time I still watch it. The show has had trouble knowing where to go in the last several years. It’s landed, this year, on Disney+. Disney+ has never had a live show before and I have to believe they’re looking at this as a test bed for other live events. Otherwise, I’m not sure the show makes any sense. Still, I’m watching even if it’s through gritted teeth.
The good
Let me say that I feel host Tyra Banks has been unfairly maligned. Longtime host Tom Bergeron left a few years ago and if you read media accounts, it wasn’t exactly a happy parting. Despite his gentle and supportive demeanor, it seems that Bergeron was not at all pleased with the choice of guests. It must have finally gotten to him.
A lot of people didn’t take to Tyra Banks, but I think she’s competent and friendly. She may not provide such a calm backstop for the show the same way that Tom Bergeron did, but that’s ok. This year she’s been paired with genial perennial Alphonso Ribiero, who competed on the show himself. It’s been a good move and now the hosting side seems to have finally righted itself.
I’ll also give tons of respect to the professionals and judges, who take in a new crop of amateurs every season and give them complete focus. There’s no doubt that they’re taking the show seriously. At one point it was said that the pros stop getting paid when they’re voted off. If that’s true I’d take it seriously too.
And finally, despite some hiccups I’ll still give strong marks to the camerawork and direction. What is really amazing is that you never see a camera operator, yet there must be about three on the floor at any time. It just looks seamless.
The bad
Despite some evidence that past seasons were shot in 1080i and merely broadcast in 720p, this season seems to be streaming in 720p. I have sufficient internet to stream in 4K and yet the video quality on this show is barely passable by 2022 standards. It’s a shame they didn’t take the opportunity to upgrade the tech. It was probably a cost consideration. I get that. But really, how much more could it have cost? If nothing else it would have been a better test of Disney’s live streaming infrastructure. This show is consistently the worst video quality of all “HD” shows I watch. That’s been true for many years. I had hoped the move to streaming would fix that. It didn’t.
The contestant choice is… better. That’s not to say it’s good. For years it seemed like the casting people at DWTS were just ticking boxes. Sports figure, country music star, Disney channel kid, someone for the senior crowd, check check check check. To the show’s credit they’ve backed off from some of the most polarizing political choices. But that’s not to say the casting is good.
It annoys me when there are contestants with strong dance training. You can say that about a lot of them, and I don’t think it’s fair. I’m also one who tends to think the word “star” gets stretched pretty thin on this show. I don’t need to know who all these people are. I get it, my pop culture knowledge doesn’t reach into certain pockets. But I’m not ready to call “person who is on a reality show because their kid is an influencer” a star. Apologies to that person who I’m sure is really talented, I just don’t think they’re a star is all.
Will this grand experiment even work out?
Honestly I don’t think this show really belongs on Disney+. Hulu, maybe. But this is a weird fit for an app that already has multiple personalities. Depending on who you are you might think of Disney+ as that place that keeps your kids happy, or that satisfies your geek obsessions. There are also a fair number of documentaries there, but that does fit with the Disney brand. But a competition dancing show? I’m not convinced.
It’s pretty clear to me, even though I don’t have numbers, that the show isn’t connecting with GenX and boomers like it once did. That’s a shame because for years it was a haven for those generations. The show’s two oldest contestants were voted off quickly, probably because Millennials and GenZs had no connection to them. Of the next two, one is already on the chopping block as of this week and the other, Wayne Brady, is just so competent and genial he’ll make it a bit longer.
In the end I expect the youngest contestant to win, they’re talented enough and they’ll get the votes. That’s fine. I just have no connection to them so by the end of the season, I’ll stop caring. That’s not new, sadly.
Have you been watching this show? It’s been a decade since it’s been “appointment TV,” but it’s still appealing most of the time. Leave a comment below… let’s keep the conversation going.
