Jerry Rice…yowzaa… when he did the little ‘come here’ hand wave to his hotsy Russian partner, I was tickled.
The BBC show on which DWTS is based is called Strictly Come Dancing, a title which, while awkward, at least doesn’t raise unrealistic expectations. The most recent series, the third, featured about half the morning news presenters currently on British TV (some from networks that compete with the Beeb), a well-known chef, and several sports figures, including a 60-year-old professional snooker player, of all things. Personally, I found the rather unstarlike backgrounds of the contestants to be one of the show’s charms.
A couple other bits of trivia: the theme music and title sequence of the US show exactly duplicate the British version, and two of the three judges (Len and Bruno) also pull duty on the UK show. The UK version has four judges, rather than three, which I like because it give us a 25% greater chance of hearing hilariously snarky comments about the contestant’s dance stylings.
Moderator comments: OK, I’ve merged the two threads as requested. That means there’s a little continuity gap as you’ve read along, so if you were confused, this explains it.
Thanks, Dex!
Many years of serious drug use, plus other psychological problems, according to her ex, John McEnroe. I agree, she’s pretty creepy.
Elsewhere in my ruminations – Lisa Rinna was astonishingly flexible for a non-dancer – whaddya think, yoga? Pilates? Do you think she’ll be able to work up some moves, and not just be a big prop for her partner? That one twirl was real pretty, though.
Gotta agree with the love for Jerry Rice. He was so much fun to watch! I think this show is going to be my guilty pleasure.
Tia’s dance actually made me misty. Yep, I’m just overflowing with PMS right now.
Master P didn’t even try. That was sad.
And did I catch a quick shot of Band Boy doing the white-man’s-overbite? That’s funny!
I watched the first hour – there goes my promise to boycott – and was hoping for someone who’d be as fun to watch as O’Hurley was last time. I like how George Hamilton pokes fun at himself, but he’s no O’Hurley.
Lisa Rinna – she’s married to Harry Hamlin? Her lips are scary. Surprised they didn’t work as life preservers in Veronica Mars.
The results show has aired on the East Coast – and we say goodbye to The ESPN guy. Guess his constituency wasn’t watching. Too bad the rapper guy is on for another week – hope he decides to actually participate now. I realize he’d only had a week – but geez louise, there’s a hair more involved than just showing up.
And yes, Lisa Rinna’s lips are very, very scary.
He had a very familiar attitude, imho: I won’t really try, so if I fail, I can tell myself it was just because I didn’t really try, not that I wasn’t good enough.
I was bummed to hear that apparently the voting is exactly the same as before: 50% judges, 50% audience, with the audience winning ties.
Yeah, that worked so wonderfully last time. :mad:
I watched a little of this while the boyfriend was in the shower, then switched back to Will and Grace, when the new show (4 Kings) started he said it looked pretty sucky and to go ahead and turn on Dancing With The Stars, since it had to be funnier. So I missed Lisa Rinna and the ESPN guy but caught the rest.
I thought George Hamilton gave it a nice try but he seemed a bit stiff, maybe his age was showing. But with the tan, the face lifts and the hair dye it’s easy to forget that he’s 66 years old.
Master P didn’t even look like he was trying and anytime he was asked how he thought he did he would answer that he was just here for the victims of Katrina. I’m not sure how his bad dancing was supposed to help them. His dancing reminded me of Frankenstein and I kept expecting him to bellow “Puttin’ on the Riiiitzzz!”. This comment had my boyfriend in hysterics, the fact that he got the reference was lots of points in his favor.
Tia and Tatum seemed to do okay but didn’t have much style or flair. Tatum definitely acted wonky and my boyfriend and I both noticed this. Giselle did pretty well, she seemed more comfortable with the dancing and Stacey seemed to be the best of the ladies.
Drew did the best of the guys but even if he keeps dancing well, I think he needs a little more oomph or pizzazz! It was kinda nice to see his brother in the audience supporting him, although they could have shown him less.
I was surprised by Jerry Rice, he did well and danced his little heart out and he seemed to genuinely be having fun and that’s the kind of thing I like to see.
If I keep watching I think I may root for Jerry Rice and Giselle Fernandez. Stacey, although good and a knockout seems to have a bit of an advantage over the others.
Welcome to week 2.
Gotta say, my Jerry Rice crush is doubling week by week. He’s so into it! It’s so much fun to watch!
Well, I don’t think Jerry finessed it quite as well as last week, but the judges and studio audience clearly love him.
Best overall, though? Stacy. Day-um.
I think Giselle’s one to watch, too, but if she keeps going on about her alter ego Katrina, or whatever the name was, that’s gonna get old really fast.
I really hope Master P gets voted off. Jeepers, man, it doesn’t tear down your carefully nurtured macho image if you, you know, actually participate a little. And fer fuck’s sake, if you can’t bear to put on dancin’ shoes, at least lose the stupid hat.
Week 1, I forgot - and only saw the end.
This week, I remembered. I set the VCR as I walked out the door. I was going to watch Dancing with the Stars, followed by The Office & ER.
For some reason, though, I seem to have an hour of “All My Children,” a half hour of “One Life to Live,” a half hour of “Days of Our Lives,” and ending with 45 minutes of “Passions.”
I am willing to admit that I occasionally screw up the VCR - but both recordings? I don’t think so. And how do I mean to type in 8:00 - 9:30 and end up with 12:00-1:30? That doesn’t even make sense as a typo. Of course, by the time I get home, it’s figured out the correct time and is reading things perfectly.
Stupid VCR.
I’m apparently not meant to see this season.
Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing Tatum as a whiny twit? Even though her dancing is okay, I’d like to see her voted out just so we wouldn’t have to listen to her sorry comments afterwards. “I’m an actress,” she said. Honey, you won an award as a child. Get over it already.
Oh, yeah. She was okay last week when the judges were fawning over here. But when they had criticism this week? She was all but pouting. I hope she goes soon.
P has to go first, though. That whole “I gotta wear my lucky shoes” crap.
I was disappointed with George this time – he (most of the men, actually) seemed very heavy and most of all flat-footed. Shouldn’t the guy be more on the balls of his feet, at least in a dance like the quickstep?
Gotta love his takeoff on P, though. "I’m here to represent my homeys. The people in <rich town I forget> and <rich town I forget.> Next week maybe he’ll insist on wearing his lucky polo boots. 
Beverly Hills and Palm Springs. I laughed.
Tatum is coming across as pretty nuts – leading credence to John McEnroe’s version of things (i.e., that she’s pretty well destroyed by years of drug abuse). She’s not quite in Gary Busey territory, but her eyes don’t track quite right, if you know what I mean.
amarinth – the first couple weeks of any reality show tend to be missable – you’re still just shucking the cannon fodder at that point. I do hope P is the next to go – the guy’s got some serious bad attitude happening.
Giselle’s Rosarita thing is pretty off-putting – I’m rooting for my guy Jerry and for Stacy – who, ringer or not, is showing a delight in the process that I find totally charming. And Drew is also into it, so I don’t hate him either, much as I expected to.
Is it my imagination or do the female singers suck on this show? Both last week and last night I was cringing at the music. When you can’t hit the two notes required for a Nelly Furtado song, it’s time to hang it up.
And Tatum O’Neil? I agree, I think she’s O’Nuts. That interview after her dance was just surreal. Of course, every interview with that spare announcer girl is pretty cringeworthy. Was that the best they could find? Brian Dunkleman wasn’t available?
Master P was pretty bad, but at least he tried a little this time. I feel bad for his partner, who seems like a cutey. They should have put him with Anna for some tough love. I like seeing him though, if only because it reminds me of what my mother-in-law said while we were discussing the first episode: “I didn’t like that guy with the P on his hat.” Then later, she topped herself by stating "I wanted that Mister P to go home. I don’t like that Mister P.
iRosarita! I thought she did good. Best aside from The Chosen One Stacy.
Speaking of Stacy. Her last name is Keebler? Who’s her partner? E.L. Fudge?
Poor Tia. My wife is supporting her as a fellow new mom, and I’ll throw some tacit approval as a fellow Hawaiian (disclaimer: I was born there, and moved to CA when I was 6 weeks, but still :P), but she’s doomed. Notice the deafening silence when they mentioned her during the recap? My wife and I both said, “Oh man, someone clap… please!”
I didn’t catch the first season, so this is all new to me. Fairly entertaining stuff so far, although 1.5 or 2 hours is a little long for me. The judges seem pretty cool too, although I think ABC needs to invent a device that monitors the Italian guy’s excitement level and automatically add subtitles when he gets going.
Yeah, I concur. I keep wishing someone will say that to her or ask her what big acting jobs she’s had lately. She says it like she’s the only actor on the show. Tia and Lisa probably have bigger acting resumes than she does. Didn’t I hear Tia say “so am I” in the background when Tatum made her “I’m an actress” comment? I was going to give Tia a couple votes just for that but I was never able to get through for anyone I tried to vote for.
I agree Master P has to go. Everyone else is genuinely trying. They get into the whole package, the dance, the costume, the competition with the others and they appear to be having fun. P doesn’t want to go the extra mile (won’t wear the right shoes or take off the hat), he did better than last week but the only way he could have been worse than last week was to stand completely still. I’d hate to see someone that is genuinely trying go before him, even if it’s Tatum.
What bothered me the most about P? When his partner gave him the dancing shoes, and he not only threw them down, but actually kicked one of them away. Way to be rude, there, dude. Setting a great example for your homies back in the hood. Ass.
I love Jerry! It was great watching him show his partner that he can definitely do the fast footwork. But she’s right about his posture – although he was definitely standing up straighter this week. I hope he continues to improve; he may be the bit surprise of the competition.
Although he’ll have trouble beating Stacy with her ten-foot-long legs. Good heavens! And I think Drew is also doing great, too. They may be ringers, but they – as well as Jerry – are really having fun and are totally into the process, and I think I enjoy that more than the actual dancing.
And last but not least, George. For a guy his age with injuries and a bad knee, he’s doing really well, I thought. Yes, he could be lighter, but he may be struggling because of his knee. As the possessor of a bad knee, I totally sympathize – it’s hard to maintain control when the knee is trying to trip you up at every available opportunity. I hope he goes a long way, though; he’s just so charming!