S23.E01: Week 1: Premiere

[LotusFlower]

23 minutes ago, bantering said:

The press is certainly good for Dancing with the Stars. More people will probably tune in.

Probably.  But it was also good for the protesters.

23 minutes ago, bantering said:

Quote

 

Basically, I agree with this columnist who has a line in his column that made me laugh:

"Protesting a reality show because it cast a controversial figure is like freaking out because a passport office has long waits: that’s just the way the system works."

 

The critic also questioned the protesters' goal of "calling attention away from Lochte," which, of course, was not the goal at all.  Quite the contrary - their point was to call attention to Lochte.

[OnceSane]

It's getting snippy.  Move. On.

[BW Manilowe]

On 9/12/2016 at 10:12 PM, Uke said:

Hi Everyone! And so we begin another season.

Marilu:  Couldn't see her feet/legs with the audience crowded up against the stage - what was Derek hiding? Week 1 there's alot of forgivenness - there was no need to hide her.  Intro package a little over-the-top.  Nice smile, lots of energy.  What's with the grand welcoming back? He only took 1 season off.  7s were ok I guess.  Julianne demonstrating her non-favoritism?

James:  Very nice, smooth, looked confident and comfortable. Agree with the scores but I don't know about 8s in week 1.

Calvin:  Definitely a showman.  A tendency toward slight hunching or rolled shoulders but Lindsey can probably fix that.  A large segment of Lindsey over-dancing while Calvin stood still.  Scores a little generous.

Maureen:  She just looked beautiful out there.  She looked nervous and a bit hesitant.  I think there was a little hiccup, more of a stumble (I don't think she forgot).  Scores a little harsh. All 6s would have been more fair.

Babyface:  Well, Allison is back. He's in a dark suit with dark lighting. She's spinning furiously.  Was she presenting Babyface or Allison?   What a huge difference compared to James' foxtrot.  Scores a little high, I would have gone with all 6s.

Amber:  Hmmm. Maks got a little artistic while he was away.  She got all the moves, but it just didn't seem very graceful. Scores were fair.

Vanilla Ice:  He's never watched the show? Seriously? Well, Witney danced alot. Vanilla did his thing. I think I saw a tiny bit of cha cha.  When I saw the troupe jump in, it was clear Witney knew she was in trouble.  (Also I detest those drop-crotch pants.)  Scores?  What were the 7s for? I expected to see all 5s.

Jana: Wow! That was completely unexpected. My impression of Gleb from his previous season was that he was a bit of a bore, and I've never heard of her. Dance of the night so far. I hope they have enough voters to stay for a while.  6s? Bruno got it right. Deserved 8s.

Jake:  He seemed a little off time but otherwise clean and sharp.  I didn't know what to expect from him. The little I've seen on Jenna's snapchat was that he seemed a bit full of himself but he seemed to contain that. We'll see how he does in future weeks.  Scores seemed harsh. I'd have given him a mix of 6s and 7s.

Rick:  So happy Emma is back.  For some reason, he reminds me of Geraldo - he's game for all this but such an awkward, stiff mover.  He seemed to be having fun and gave it a good effort.  Scores were fair.   

How awkward do the judges feel when they are giving a low score and the couple is standing right in front of them instead up in the celebraquarium.

Terra:  She missed alot of steps but she gave it a good effort.   What happened to Bruno's comments-did I miss them or did they skip him? CAI + Julianne sounded a little condescending.   Scores were fair.

Ryan:  Where'd they get that car???  A little awkward but not bad for a non-dancer's first dance.  I hope people will give him a chance - I think he's trying.  What happened? Did someone rush the stage?  Scores are fair but I wouldn't have minded one 7.

Laurie:  Great job but the streamers were a bit much.   I expected she'd be great in latin but I wonder how she'll calm down for ballroom.  Agree with the scores though I don't know why Julianne went for a 7 instead of 8.

Tom said after Derek & Marilu danced that they would get verbal comments from all 4 judges, but the rest of the couples would only get verbal comments from 3 judges (I guess to save time). All the couples got 4 judges' scores though.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Finally saw this ep...

Maureen was every bit as fragile as I feared and expected.  Did anyone catch what Florence Henderson called her when she embraced Mo?  It felt like a call back to what she may have called her on the Brady set.

Generous and gracious are not two adjectives that most would first think to use in describing CAI.  Good to see in her reaction to Rick Perry's dance that she continues to be the same she ever was.

Laurie has a legit shot to reach Kristi-levels of ballroom excellence.  I do feel for Val.  It is far more difficult to have the goods and know it - very much like the Final Five gymnasts understood all year, ending in Rio.

I was quite happy to have Cheryl and Emma back.  

Edited September 16, 2016 by Lonesome Rhodes

[BW Manilowe]

On 9/12/2016 at 10:31 PM, bantering said:

 I can understand Meryl Davis doing it because she has the physical conditioning from years of gruelling training.  Ditto for Laurie Hernandez. Not so sure about Vanilla Ice...

Vanilla Ice, though, isn't touring as a solo act. I think there are a good 4-6 total acts in his show (I linked to the promo art Tweeted by the venue here & showing the entire group of artists involved) so, presumably, they could just say he wasn't supposed to play 1 or more of the shows on the tour if need be. There should still be enough acts on the tour without him to make most/everyone happy. As I said in his thread, his show's coming to my hometown on November 3rd--if DWTS isn't over by then, he could be out or else we'll be seeing his partner around my town.

[BW Manilowe]

On 9/12/2016 at 11:54 PM, McManda said:

Local affiliates still preempt programming for local teams. Chances are if you're at all in the Pittsburgh area you got a football game. 

And Tom said during this ep that LA & somewhere else in CA/the Pacific Time Zone would get this coming Monday's ep (September 19th) live at 5PM Pacific (the same time it's live in Eastern & Central Time) due to ABC airing NFL football that night in LA & another western/California city.

[BW Manilowe]

On 9/13/2016 at 11:50 AM, boyznkatz said:

This is why I don't like having children on the show. Val didn't do anything inappropriate, but it looks weird to see him dancing with a child. Likewise, Artem and Derek look like they are dancing with their grandmas. Why don't they just get some older or younger ballroom dancers on the show? If they are going to allow children, then get a child ballroom dancer to be Laurie's partner. Or get an older gentleman for Marilu and Marcia Brady.

They have gotten age appropriate partners before, but it was "case by case". Mark's dad was brought in to dance with Florence Henderson (I'm positive) & Cloris Leachman (I'm almost as positive) in their seasons.

[STFUFrank]

11 minutes ago, BW Manilowe said:

They have gotten age appropriate partners before, but it was "case by case". Mark's dad was brought in to dance with Florence Henderson (I'm positive) & Cloris Leachman (I'm almost as positive) in their seasons.

He was brought in for Cloris for sure but they've never brought in an older female for the older men before. (Example: Ashley Costa one of the original pros who left was brought back to partner with Buzz Aldrin and she's probably in her 30s) 

[boyznkatz]

I would have liked to see Shirley Ballas with Buzz.

[Uke]

12 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Tom said after Derek & Marilu danced that they would get verbal comments from all 4 judges, but the rest of the couples would only get verbal comments from 3 judges (I guess to save time). All the couples got 4 judges' scores though.

Thanks! I figured that out later. I actually write my comments during the show, usually during all the applause after the dance while the couple moves toward Tom and before I hear what the judges say.  At the end of the show, I just drop the whole review into the reply box here and just fix the typos and grammar.  So sometimes I miss Tom's comments.  

[Princt1]

Let's hear it for sanity! :) & dancing!!

[Thadeeeyus]

I watched this again last night with someone seeing it for the first time and we both came away liking Calvin a lot.  For me, it was about seeing an unknown (for me) having a positive attitude and giving an enjoyable performance.  Sometimes my favorite competitors are those who I knew nothing about and for whom I had no expectations.

[marriedaniac]

Poor Emma.

I love when old TV stars (or any TV stars) come on shows like this. Who's gonna go further, Maureen or Marilu? #placeyourbets

Tom (will never not love him) was very sweet to Laurie after the Lochte incident.

Tom being subtle at the start due to lack of prompter was amusing.