S13.E04: The Next Generation: Academy #1

[SnarkyTart]

3 hours ago, awaken said:

Honestly, I didn't like it.  I love this show, but am disappointed with this season being all kids.  It's not entertaining to me to watch a 9 yr old's heart get broken, and see little kids cry over being bullied or being cut, or being told they let themselves and their mentor down.  Just not fun to watch.  

Really dislike watching little girls in bikini tops, kids acting sexy while they dance, and the frequent age-inappropriate flirtatious boyfriend/girlfriend/are you single banter.  And I can't stand precocious, overly coached little adults.

You're not alone.  Their ratings are tanking, heading even lower than last season.  Last season's ratings were bad because the format was bad.  The audience didn't like the "stage vs street" format, so the show decided to fix it...by making it worse.  They've probably guaranteed the show's cancellation. 

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/think-can-dance-season-13-ratings/

[MillyVanilly]

I am back and glad to see some known usernames (hey ElectricBoogaloo!) - I auditioned for this show a long time ago and got cut in Vegas and stopped watching a couple of seasons ago because I got tired of the same old same old. Am on sick leave today, bedbound, and discovered this little erm... jewel.

So my thoughts: these kids are insanely talented but also I don't really want to see kids getting upset on my TV. I watched a few episodes of Dance Moms years ago and holy hell what a shitstorm that was. I hated seeing the little boys crying and being chastised for not remembering a fairly long routine after 90 minutes of rehearsal (if that part was true... who knows). And the all stars will cut 3 more in their teams, so really we will get to see 4/5th of those kids in tears and devastated. Great. Maybe more if they continue the fake out thing. 

It was good to see that their old mistakes are still in place - they still believe the audience is blind and stupid regarding how the solos (or the general lay out of the casting part of the show) work (it was particularly blatant this week as a child went on stage and high fived people on the way up but when she came down off stage all the children in the audience had vanished!). It would be so much more interesting to show the actual way the casting works instead of this crazy version they show, because then the casual viewer would not think that people are making a decision based on 24 seconds of dance. Anyhow...

But I think I might be in for the season now... I am nothing if not a completist (or a masochist, definitely one or the other).

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

So You Think You Can Dance Experiments With Adulting

The all-stars show up for the Academy phase of SYTYCD Babies. Basically, it's The Voice now.

[AlleC17]

On 6/23/2016 at 5:32 AM, Tasya said:

There is no way that Maddie could have been a contestant on this show; she would have likely won it hands down. It's not about being the best dancer; it never has been. It's a popularity contest and when you think about how much exposure she has compared to any of the other kids, it's not even close. If TPTB wanted to draw on that connection and that audience, they had to bring her in as a judge because having her compete would be too blatant. I don't get all the hate of this kid by mostly adults but that's another issue altogether. I think that she hasn't found her footing yet on the show but this was her first episode. I didn't sense any "disdain" from her but I do agree that she was more comfortable with the kids that she already knows.

I don't have a problem with a child judging other children. At least she knows dance and will be able to hopefully comment on some technical aspects. The idea that you have to be "better" than other dancers to judge them is just silly. Most of the top dancers in the world have competed at some point in their lives, are we really to believe that the judging panels are always made up of dancers that have surpassed them talent-wise? Of course they are not. Judges are chosen for a variety of reasons, they usually have technical knowledge but have very likely never been the "top" dancer themselves. 

I can already see that there are going to be some fanbases crying foul when the academy is over. But the way that this show is set up means that some kids that are stars in their style may not do as well in the other styles. I'm looking forward to seeing how the live show plays out. Will the kids dance with their mentors and have a routine with another child? It seems like if they don't the show will be too short, or maybe they aren't eliminating each week? Have they covered this and I missed it? Admittedly i'm watching on DVR so I do skip around some. 

Fair point on the popularity contest aspect.  I wouldn't want any child to judge others though, YMMV.  I don't hate Maddie, although I don't care much for her mom as depicted on DM, and I loathe ALM.  Perhaps it would have been more fitting if she stayed 'interviewing' the other kids or provided commentary...this would be preferable for ME as a viewer, obviously everyone is different. 

[Lemons]

5 hours ago, AlleC17 said:

Fair point on the popularity contest aspect.  I wouldn't want any child to judge others though, YMMV.  I don't hate Maddie, although I don't care much for her mom as depicted on DM, and I loathe ALM.  Perhaps it would have been more fitting if she stayed 'interviewing' the other kids or provided commentary...this would be preferable for ME as a viewer, obviously everyone is different. 

It is going to go be a popularity contest  because they chose children with stage moms who enter them in contests and have YouTube, Twitter, instagrams, etc.. 

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

Perhaps it would have been more fitting if she stayed 'interviewing' the other kids or provided commentary...this would be preferable for ME as a viewer, obviously everyone is different. 

I agree. How can Maddie judge peers who obviously have more talent than her? I view her as a dancer who can do "tricks." She does not have very much technical training (can't even hold her releve), she has some natural ability was on a television show, and is Sia's personal pet.  Some of the kids on this show have spent their lives growing up in studies - studying technique.  More often than not, the "untrained" dancers on this show cannot pick up choreo quickly and cannot dance outside of their genres.  To be fair, I've seen a lot of classically trained ballerinas that have no musicality or cannot dance outside of their genres either. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by chabelisaywow
clarity

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 6/24/2016 at 5:41 AM, MillyVanilly said:

I am back and glad to see some known usernames (hey ElectricBoogaloo!) - I auditioned for this show a long time ago and got cut in Vegas and stopped watching a couple of seasons ago because I got tired of the same old same old. Am on sick leave today, bedbound, and discovered this little erm... jewel.

So my thoughts: these kids are insanely talented but also I don't really want to see kids getting upset on my TV. I watched a few episodes of Dance Moms years ago and holy hell what a shitstorm that was. I hated seeing the little boys crying and being chastised for not remembering a fairly long routine after 90 minutes of rehearsal (if that part was true... who knows). And the all stars will cut 3 more in their teams, so really we will get to see 4/5th of those kids in tears and devastated. Great. Maybe more if they continue the fake out thing. 

It was good to see that their old mistakes are still in place - they still believe the audience is blind and stupid regarding how the solos (or the general lay out of the casting part of the show) work (it was particularly blatant this week as a child went on stage and high fived people on the way up but when she came down off stage all the children in the audience had vanished!). It would be so much more interesting to show the actual way the casting works instead of this crazy version they show, because then the casual viewer would not think that people are making a decision based on 24 seconds of dance. Anyhow...

But I think I might be in for the season now... I am nothing if not a completist (or a masochist, definitely one or the other).

Yay, glad you're back! ITA that watching little kids cry is not my idea of entertainment. During the open auditions, we mostly saw kids who made it through, not the ones who got cut but from here on out we are going to see disappointed kids. Even though I can be a cold-hearted bitch about other tv shows, seeing children cry on tv makes me uncomfortable (even if I didn't like their dancing or personalities) so I'm not sure if I will end up watching the whole season. I have had one foot out the door ever since they announced that this season would be all kids. We'll see how it goes though. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised? Heh, honestly I think one of the main draws thus far has been how little we've seen of Nigel. Once I have to listen to him blather about multiple routines every week, that in conjunction with Crying Kids might be enough to get me to stop watching.