The new season starts tomorrow night with a two-hour premiere. Link to the ABC page.
Whaddya think, can they recreate the magic? Will George Hamilton be as much fun as John Hurley? What will Tatum O’Neal bring to the table? I’m not convinced I’ll be as enthralled as I was last summer – but I’ll definitely be watching tomorrow night.
The first one was more enjoyable than I imagined it would be, mostly thanks to John O’Hurley. I figured if it was a success (which it clearly was), they would be able to attract more actual…you know…stars for the second one.
OK, then.
Hey – Tatum O’Neal has an Oscar. (And a drug problem, but whatever.)
I’m looking forward to seeing Stacy Keibler.
based on her profession, she could be pretty good i think
I don’t watch the show, but Stacy Keibler (a WWE wrestling “diva”) was actually a professional dancer before, and started out as “Skye,” one of the dancing Nitro Girls on WCW’s Monday Nitro program in the late '90s. Is it cheating to have a trained dancer on the show with the other celebrities (who presumably don’t dance)?
IIRC, Rachel Hunter (a strong contender last season – finished in fourth, I think?) had previous dance training as well.
I was happily ensconced with cat and needlepoint, watching the show, but had to fire up the computer to say Jerry Rice just impressed the hell out of me. He was really dancing out there. This is who I’m rooting for this season.
Who looks good to you?
I want to have sex with the guy from ESPN.
That’s not what you meant, is it?
There were a couple of moves that he did that I found incredibly sexy. Rowr!!!
Okay, back from registering my work email and my twickster email so I could vote for Jerry three times instead of once. Rowr indeed. And another rowr for the ESPN guy. 
The best of the men was Drew Lachey.
The best dance by the women was Tatum O’Neal. They actually waltzed. The rest did a lot of stationary posing, interspersed with some steps. Reminded me of gymnastics and ice skating a lot.
I think Drew was the best of the night, but Jerry had the suxy.
I’ll try this out to see if anyone’s interested; if so, I’ll launch a discussion thread each week after the Thursday show.
I didn’t see the first season of this series, but recently psent several weeks in the in the UK where I saw (and was inexplicably captivated by) the series that inspired it, Strictly Come Dancing. I’m glad to see that two of the judges from that series (dapper, ascerbic Len and flowery, over-the-top Bruno) are doing this one.
I’ve gotta say after seeing the first ep of the US version that I like the British one better; whether that’s because of a greater ballroom tradition in the UK, the female danceers seemed a bit hotter or simply because I saw the other series first I’m not sure. Anyway, here are my completely unsolicited picks taken from the first night’s competition, from someone with not the slightest personal skill or expertise at any of the dances shown:
Cha-cha: 1. Drew, the boy band guy 2. Jerry Rice 3. George Hamilton
Seems to me that they’ve put in something of a ringer there as while Drew has presumably not danced ballroom before, he’s at least done a lot of staged routines. I’m personally pulling for Rice, as he seems like a really nice guy and really gave it a go on the dance floor. Hamilton’s third only because the others, Kenny Mayne and Master P, were so apallingly bad. I’d like to see Kenny continue on 'cause of his hilarious comments and general 'tude, but he’s gonna have to take the actual dancing part a bit more seriously if he wants to stick around.
Waltz: 1. Stacy, the pro wrestler 2. Giselle 3. Tatum
Whoa, Stacy’s smokin’ hot. Er, and she’s got good moves too; Len’s comment “All sizzle and no sausage” seemed rather unfair. She gonna go right to the end, I think. Giselle Fernandez was something of a surprise; well, maybe not, since she’s clearly in good physical shape and her father apparently was a pro. Can’t wait to see here do Latin; hope her next costume is less peculiar than the one she wore tonight. Tatum O’Neal gave a good accounting of herself but I’m not sure she’ll be able to handle the Latin stuff. Tia and Miss Collagen-lips left me cold.
Hottest pro dancers: female – Anna; Male – Max (at least till he opens his mouth)
Most likely celebs to get voted off: Male – Master P; Female – Lisa Rinna
Your thoughts?
Dang, I see Twickster got in ahead of me. Mods, feel free to close this if you want.
Drew was better, but he had some dance background going in – Jerry was starting from ground zero.
Of the women, I was impressed with Stacy.
Mods – move the OP over to the other thread, pls. – good stuff, El Kabong!
The dress was nice, but I didn’t like the necklace paired with it. Their routine was a pretty to watch. I think she’ll get much better.
Tatum O’Neal made me uncomfortable. Something isn’t right with that girl.
Sorry, Twickster hadn’t seen this thread before I launched mine.
Drew (the boy band guy) and Stacy both strike me as ringers, so I guess I’ll go with Jerry Rice and Giselle Fernandez for now. Wouldn’t mind seeing more of Tatum O’Neal as well. I’ve always found Kenny Mayne absolutely hilarious, so I hope he goes on, but he’s gonna have to get a bit more serious about the actual dancing part.
Useless trivia moment: In the clip showing Stacy wrestling, the woman she kicked in the head is from my husband’s hometown. Of 200 people in Middle of Nowhere, Minnesota.
I didn’t see them all yet since I took a break to go watch My Name Is Earl, but I’ve got it on tape so will watch the rest. I missed the first season, and am not sure I care enough to watch the one regularly, but right now when there’s not much else on, it beats Law & Order reruns.