They typically have two seasons of DWTS each year.
A reality show that went horrendously off the rails, which I swore I was done with forever six years ago. Which I’m commenting on now. This has been a pretty weird year for me.
Well, I don’t have anything to say about the competition itself, but my housemates (still!) watch this live whenever its on, and so, unavoidably, I’ve picked up some things…and this is really, really eating me up right now, so I gotta ask…
When did everyone get so decent?
Seriously, anyone else notice this? They crowd remains almost completely quiet when the judges are giving their criticism, letting them talk instead of interrupting with cheers or boos every ten seconds, and even when the judges are done they keep it reined in, maybe a few subdued groans at worst. When the scores are announced, they cheer a bit or give a few concerned murmurs, then STOP. The judges themselves have toned it down considerably from past seasons: Len’s exacting but no longer a bitter, snarling grumpy old man (about time he realized the “eternally negative Brit” thing was seriously played out), Bruno’s energetic but no longer a psychiatric ward escapee, and Carrie Ann’s technical but no longer a flippin’ Martian. Todd Bergeron actually takes his job seriously now and has ditched the endless punch-in-the-face-worthy snark, and Erin Andrews now understands the concept of “don’t go there, dammit”.
This is FANTASTIC! 
This is AWESOME! This is the greatest development in ABC programming since…shoot, I can’t even think of anything! I’m not even sure three grinny smilies is adequate! Imagine, a facet of a long-running reality show that started out pretty bad, eventually became absolutely putrid, and then not only got better, but got so much better it actually made the show watchable again. This. Never. Happens. Will The Amazing Race ever get rid of constant bunchup points? Will American Ninja Warrior ever stop flooding us with tiresome maudlin stories? Will The Voice…I’m not sure where to even begin with that one? But ABC saw a serious problem, saw that it was a serious problem, and fixed it.
I’m not even sure how to react, this is so unbelievably good…season could be over before I’ve even completely processed it.
Anyone know how ABC pulled it off? News sites aren’t much help, unfortunately.
^I’m not sure if this is the answer to your query, but some of it might have to do with dropping the separate ‘results show’ and announcing the weekly elimination at the end of each episode, thus having only one show a week instead of two. This caused them to tighten things up a good bit when it comes to the stuff between dances, like judges’ comments, post-dance interviews, taped segments, and general shenanigans.
So it’s been on 12 1/2 years? If I’d guessed, I’d have thought it had been on like 4 years.
Yep, it premiered in 2005.
Tangent - That would explain the improved pacing. What I’m talking about is much, much, much bigger than that. Every single minute of this show has gotten easier on the ears, and it has nothing to do with lessened shenanigans. All the people involved, literally everyone in the studio, have grown up and become a lot more bearable, and as far as making the show bearable, the difference has been black and white.
And now, for this reason alone, now I’m hoping DWTS pulls in the big ratings, because I want this to become a thing. I want other reality shows to see that over-the-top obnoxiousness is a bad thing and toning it down…not muffling everyone completely, just putting on the brakes and stopping short of brain-frying torment…will make the show more popular, not less.
Just as a not-worth-its-own-thread aside, while I admittedly have been trying not to pay attention, am I the only one who noticed that Mary Murphy is not nearly as berserk on this season’s So You Think You Can Dance? While still a bit overemotional, in the short time I’ve been forced to listen to her she seemed more like a really peppy cheerleader than a banshee on crack (she once made Bruno look like a damn stoner in comparison). Pretty remarkable considering that she was pitched and the Queen Of Scream on her very first comeback episode, and I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason Fox brought her back. Is she worried about her voice giving out? Is she just getting tired? (News sites don’t have anything.)
The thing I don’t like about recent seasons of DWtS is the staging of the dances has gotten so glitzy, with the smoke and the lights, that sometimes it’s hard to see the dancers. The lights shine directly into the cameras and the smoke obscures the dancers feet.
StG
Well, I wouldn’t hold your breath. 
The ratings for this show are good enough to keep it on the air thus far, but they have been declining.
Just caught up on the last two weeks.
No surprise on either elimination. I was hoping Derek and Sharna would last a little longer, but oh well. Sasha was probably the weakest dancer left, so it was definitely her time to go.
God, the forced tears on “most memorable year” night always make me cringe. I mean, some of if feels very genuine, but some of it feels like such a cynical play for sympathy. Maybe I’m just jaded. “Disney night” is getting kind of worn out, too.
Still liking Lindsey Stirling a lot.
Victoria seems to be graded on a curve. Val choreographs her dances with a lot of stuff going on around her that distracts from what she herself is actually doing.
Frankie Muniz and Witney are my favorite pair left. Man, Witney is gorgeous.
Really? I was shocked that Nick didn’t get the boot. She’s a lot better than he is. In fact, they put Frankie in jeopardy, but not Nick? Is the audience daft?
As a rule, I tend to go for dark-haired, exotic-looking women, and consider cute little blonde girls to be, well, cute.
But damned if Witney hasn’t crossed that line from cute to… HOT!
Not sure exactly when that happened for me, but it happened. 
Well, remember that the two couples that are “in jeopardy” each week are not necessarily the bottom two. One of them is–the one that gets eliminated–but the other couple may not be. The producers apparently play around with that to give the reveal of the results more drama. So, next week Nick and Drew could be the two stars with the lowest totals (including audience votes), but for the results Tom and Erin might announce that Victoria and Drew are the two stars “in jeopardy” before sending Drew home. I wish they didn’t do it that way, but apparently they do. Only if you hear Tom announce “these are the two couples with the lowest combined scores…” then you know they are actually the bottom two.
They have gone through some producers lately - I’d say the quality of the show, or lack thereof, can be attributed to that. When the original producer left the show seriously suffered. I think that person was sent packing recently and a better product has emerged.
Catching up again:
Double Elimination this past week–goodbye Vanessa and Nikki! I was a little surprised to see both of them go before either Drew or T.O.
Still dancing:
Drew and Emma
T.O. and Cheryl
Jordan and Lindsay
Lindsey and Mark
Victoria and Val
Frankie and Witney
Still loving Frankie and Witney’s energy and enthusiasm. Jordan’s very good, but he comes across as very ‘stagey’ to me. I LOL’d a couple of weeks ago when he threw a dramatic hand wave into his dance and Len called him out on it. Lindsay choreographs some entertaining dances, though. I’m sorry for Lindsey Stirling if she’s in such pain all the time, but I’m kind of tired of hearing about it.
Great team dance by the Phantom of the Opera group.
They knocked it out of the park.
I think it’s down to Lindsey or Jordan. I’m leaning towards Jordan. But kind of disappointing that the win goes to someone with a dance background!
I kind of expect Jordan to finish second. Often the best dancers do.
It’s time for Drew to go.
I’m stunned. The person with the most inspirational, feel good story gets eliminated?
Victoria was still in a wheelchair 18 months ago. What’s she’s done on DWTS is incredible.
The audience vote doesn’t get much more cold blooded than this. :rolleyes: Kicking Victoria off the show one week before the finals. Geez.
I’ve been watching Victoria’s dances on YouTube. She’s been inspiring & amazing. Val has been a wonderful partner for her.
Lindsey Stirling and Mark have been fun too watch. Hope she wins next week.
I’m shocked it wasn’t him last night. Are there a lot of fans of his show out there? I don’t find him to be a particularly likable character, and his dancing is mediocre most of the time.
Eliminations like this are what made me stop watching DWTS. It’s too upsetting. Too kick off a woman that was paralyzed for years is beyond cold blooded. Especially when she’s been dancing so great.
I check out the dances for the celebrities I care about, on YouTube and that’s it.
She wasn’t going to win, so she was going to be “kicked off” at some point. I just don’t like it when someone like her, who is much better than that HGTV guy, get’s kicked off first.