Dirty Dancing (2017 ABC) - General Discussion

[WendyCR72]

A thread for the 3-hour adaption set to air on ABC this May. Discuss it, praise it, and/or snark upon it here.

[babyhouseman]

I'm a huge fan of the original, obviously with my name. My profile picture is of Mountain Lake in Virginia, where parts of the original movie was filmed. I also got to see the filming location in NC. Sadly, it's not there anymore.  I'm going to hate watch this. The original came out when I was a teen and having a rough time with medical problems so it'll always have a special place in my heart. 

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, babyhouseman said:

I'm a huge fan of the original, obviously with my name. My profile picture is of Mountain Lake in Virginia, where parts of the original movie was filmed. I also got to see the filming location in NC. Sadly, it's not there anymore.  I'm going to hate watch this. The original came out when I was a teen and having a rough time with medical problems so it'll always have a special place in my heart. 

I, too, adored the original. I even have an original draft of the movie - complete with name changes and such in it - I got from eBay a while back. I was 15 when the movie came out, so I was also a teen, and I had the biggest crush on Johnny Castle/Patrick Swayze.

As I had stated in another thread, I'll likely hate watch this out of morbid curiosity, but I'm at a loss as to why it needed a remake at all. Sure didn't work out too well for Rocky Horror last October.

And I'm so sorry to hear that the filming location in NC is gone.  :-(  Is it just land now? New buildings? Oh, well.

[babyhouseman]

2 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I, too, adored the original. I even have an original draft of the movie - complete with name changes and such in it - I got from eBay a while back. I was 15 when the movie came out, so I was also a teen, and I had the biggest crush on Johnny Castle/Patrick Swayze.

As I had stated in another thread, I'll likely hate watch this out of morbid curiosity, but I'm at a loss as to why it needed a remake at all. Sure didn't work out too well for Rocky Horror last October.

And I'm so sorry to hear that the filming location in NC is gone.  :-(  Is it just land now? New buildings? Oh, well.

The NC filming location was a Boys' Scout camp. It was open to the public for a while after the movie was filmed. It was very plain; they really dressed it up for the movie. Vandalism and fires took it out. A housing development is there now. They say you can still see some parts of the bridge where Baby danced. The Virginia location is still a resort. The buildings and gazebo are still there, but the lake is gone. According to scientists, lakes can drain. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/28/dirty-dancing-lake-dries-up

I've read about the new movie's locations. They seem to be around Asheville, NC and other mountain towns in the area. The resort used was High Hampton Inn.

[WendyCR72]

1 minute ago, babyhouseman said:

The NC filming location was a Boys' Scout camp. It was open to the public for a while after the movie was filmed. It was very plain; they really dressed it up for the movie. Vandalism and fires took it out. A housing development is there now. They say you can still see some parts of the bridge where Baby danced. The Virginia location is still a resort. The buildings and gazebo are still there, but the lake is gone. According to scientists, lakes can drain. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/28/dirty-dancing-lake-dries-up

I've read about the new movie's locations. They seem to be around Asheville, NC and other mountain towns in the area. The resort used was High Hampton Inn.

Thank you for the link! All of this fascinates me. I do recall the movie was actually filmed during the fall. And I read the leaves - which were changing color - were spray painted green again (since the movie took place during the summer). Also know Swayze and Grey froze during the lake lift scene!

[Snow Apple]

I'll probably record it and decide if I want to watch it later. I was obsessed with both the original move and the soundtrack when it first came out, so I don't know how I feel about a remake.

I read Jennifer Grey was offered a role (which she turned down) but she didn't say which character. I bet she was offered the role of Baby's mother just to have her say the line "I think she gets this from me." 

Edited April 16, 2017 by Snow Apple

[Irlandesa]

A trailer for the remake has been released and it looks like it's a shot-for-shot remake which only makes me want to watch the original again.  Right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/25/entertainment/dirty-dancing-trailer/

In another article, they say that they're going to show what happens

Spoiler

to Baby and Johnny after the summer.

[WendyCR72]

In terms of the "after the summer" stuff, isn't that what imaginations are for? Sigh. I just still can't understand why this was needed. The original was a sleeper hit with charm. This just seems like a ratings/cash grab.

[ennui]

15 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

In terms of the "after the summer" stuff, isn't that what imaginations are for?

They realized they had nothing in common, broke up but stayed friends, because "we'll always have the Poconos."  

I think remakes tend to dismiss the charisma of the original cast. Can anyone have Patrick Swayze's sex appeal? Probably not.

[GaT]

I can't imagine who thought this was a good idea.

2 hours ago, ennui said:

I think remakes tend to dismiss the charisma of the original cast. Can anyone have Patrick Swayze's sex appeal? Probably not.

Exactly, there's no way they're going to be able to recreate the chemistry between Baby & Johnny, everybody is going to be waiting for "nobody puts Baby in a corner", & it's going to fall flat. Like the lift.

[Raja]

4 hours ago, GaT said:

I can't imagine who thought this was a good idea.

 

The rapper who ryhmes over the remix of the classic song used during the opening and closing credits

[ennui]

Another problem I see is that the original film is running constantly (seems to be on daily, somewhere). We haven't had a chance to miss it. 

[WendyCR72]

TV Line has given an advance review of the remake with some photos. As expected, the review is not great.

[Sarah 103]

Colt Prattes looks like he has way too much product in his hair. 

[methodwriter85]

Speaking of hair, I wished they had given Baby an actual period hairstyle instead of aping her look from the film, which wasn't accurate at all. I get that they went with it because an 80's perm would be a bitch to brush out, but slapping a wig on Abigail to try and make her look more like Jennifer Grey instead of more like a 60's teenager is stupid.

Edited May 6, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Primetimer]

And yes, there are at least 5 reasons not to. But let's be positive for one goddamn second, geez!

View the full article

[ChlcGirl]

That final point is sacrilege and I won't hear it. Jerry orbach is all.

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah.. I feel this is just going to make me angry. The original is ALWAYS on, and I cabbage quote it and it's great the way it is.

[ferretrick]

Colt Prattes looks like he has way too much product in his hair. 

It is supposed to be 1963. Still in the window of Grease-era.

[chickflick]

Oh man, Tara. I wanted to be convinced to watch this movie but even this attempt seems like a stretch. I don't know if I can stomach it.

[proserpina65]

I was never wild about Patrick Swayze in general, but damn, did he have charisma coming out his ears in Dirty Dancing. This new guy is a veritable black hole of charisma, and while he does have a nice body, he ain't particularly attractive imo.

[Snow Apple]

The article made me interested in Katey Segal's dance scene, but the rest. Meh.

Patrick Swayze made the cheesy line "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" work and was so sincere that it became a part of pop culture. Hearing the new guy say it in the commercial sound so bland and I feel secondhand embarrassment.

[lizzbert]

What about the abortion plot?

[WendyCR72]

Only 10 minutes in, and I'm reduced to hate watching. And this is 3 hours long, to accommodate expanded plots for the rest of the Houseman family? WHY? Does anyone care?

One thing I noticed is the music is all covers. I guess none of the original artists wanted to be associated with this and/or ABC was too cheap. But the music was as much of the movie as Baby/Johnny were, IMO. So these (awful) covers make a tepid redux even more bland.

[ichbin]

4 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Only 10 minutes in, and I'm reduced to hate watching. And this is 3 hours long, to accommodate expanded plots for the rest of the Houseman family? WHY? Does anyone care?

I made it to the 8:18 ad break.  Now I'm out.  Not even interested in hate watching.    I have no idea why this is a thing.  I could understand it, maybe, if it were a live production.  Not this though.

[callie lee 29]

I can't. I got to the first dance scene with Johnnie and Penny and everyone just seems so uncomfortable and charismatic.  I adore Sarah Hyland and dear god, I can't even hang in there for her. Literally any bit of chemistry any of these people have has been vacuum sucked out of the room. 

I think maybe the scene-for-scene remake is hurting them. Every one is just coming off as really really bad wannabe's. Even the actual dancers (I guess they're actual dancers) make me think they're trying to keep count in their heads just to stay on time. 

[WendyCR72]

8 minutes ago, ichbin said:

I made it to the 8:18 ad break.  Now I'm out.  Not even interested in hate watching.    I have no idea why this is a thing.  I could understand it, maybe, if it were a live production.  Not this though.

All I can figure is because this year marks the 30th (!) anniversary of the release of the movie. But in that case? Just show the movie with some of the deleted scenes and call it a day.

And Penny was way too "friendly" just now with the pregnancy reveal. Much preferred Cynthia Rhodes' initial distrusting take, since she was a "have not" to Baby's "have", so to speak. The softening later on worked better.

Edited May 25, 2017 by WendyCR72

[magpye29]

Who is Katey Sagal supposed to be?  

[WendyCR72]

I forget her name in the film, but the older woman Johnny was carrying on with while her husband was otherwise occupied. The one who spied on Baby/Johnny. Oh! I remember her name: Vivian Pressman.

[shoregirl]

Oh my god this is so terrible I'm almost embarrassed for the cast.

I think they needed to cast someone younger as Penny. Nicole Sherzinger is fine in this but she looks her age.

Edited May 25, 2017 by shoregirl

[callie lee 29]

Heh, so I'm flipping through cahnnels and hit the other ABC channel I have and it was the "Fever" dance scene with Katey Segal (aka as Peggy from Married with Children) and all I could think was "Peggy, Peggy...Kelly did this dance way better with the hot janitor." (that would a MWC reference).

[WendyCR72]

I'm glad Jerry Orbach isn't around to see this. (OK, Jake Houseman wasn't a huge role. But come on here...)

[JasmineFlower]

1 hour ago, shoregirl said:

Oh my god this is so terrible I'm almost embarrassed for the cast.

I think thet needed to cast someobe younger as Penny. Nicole Sherzinger is fine in this but she is two years older than me and im too old to play Penny.

Nicole's acting (but not her terrible attempt at an accent) has been fine even if the writing for the character is a bit off and too trusting of Baby already. But, her dancing looked as uncomfortable as everyone else in that scene. Hers maybe even a bit more so since she was like grinding against a side wall or something.

This is feeling like a bust.

Edited May 25, 2017 by JasmineFlower

[WendyCR72]

Not that she was "old", by any means, but Cynthia Rhodes was 30 (not quite 31) when the film was made, so Nicole Scherzinger's age here is one of the few things I don't have too much of a problem with.

[ebk57]

I did like Debra Messing telling her husband to go on back to the room during Fever.  She wasn't about to leave.

[WendyCR72]

Yeah, I can't do this anymore. The lake scene...the remade song...this whole thing is awful.

[Mountainair]

I had to come in late so you guys are ahead of me. If it weren't for my husband who is also hate watching this with me, I'd change the channel. 

This movie has been shoved down my throat for so long (I live where it was filmed) that I felt compelled to watch. I feel like all the secondary characters were actually cast pretty well but the two leads really missed the mark-looks wise. I have no clue who is playing Johnnie but he looks like a cross between Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise (two people I don't personally find attractive) and I just can't! He's got crazy eyebrows and nothing oozes sex appeal about him.

[ebk57]

I think it's helping me get through it because I really don't have any strong feelings about the original.  It's a fun movie that I first saw on a plane on the way to Kenya, which I thought was perfect.  So while this isn't great so far, I don't hate it.

Also, Mr ebk never saw the original.  So he can develop his own, original hate for this one...

[Quickbeam]

Abigail Breslin is so horribly, terribly wrong for this. Really? Someone greenlit this casting choice? 

[WendyCR72]

The Twitter reactions are BRUTAL. A silver lining. Hee.

[Linderhill]

I can't help feeling that its painful every time Abigail dances. And this Colt guy may be able to dance, but he sure can't act.

[WendyCR72]

Abigail Breslin can play delicate sheltered flower okay here, but as a girl transitioning to a sexual woman, not so much. And this guy playing Johnny is sooooo zzzzzzzzzzz.

[Snow Apple]

I'm not watching live, but recording so I can skip to any "good" parts. So it sounds like I can delete because there aren't any?

[Laurie4H]

Their Sheldrake dance made me feel like I was watch Dancing With the Stars.   I'm just not sure why they cast her in this.

[WendyCR72]

6 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I'm not watching live, but recording so I can skip to any "good" parts. So it sounds like I can delete because there aren't any?

I'm biased but...no, not one. But Twitter is giving me life right now.  LOL!

[Snow Apple]

Update: I just turned to the movie. It's the sex/dance scene in Johnny's room. So sexy in the original. So awkward here. I'm cringing.

I don't have a twitter account, but I'm loving the comments here and on Tumblr. The comments are sure as heck more entertaining than the bits I've seen. 

[Linderhill]

wardrobe must hate poor Abigail. Her costumes are not at all flattering.

[ebk57]

So far Debra Messing is the best thing in this.  I love her You Can't Take That Away From Me.  

I don't love the orange lipstick she's wearing though.  Almost makes her look like a blow-up doll...

[JasmineFlower]

Does Abigail have any background in dance? I'm not aware of any, but I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised at some point and she's been fooling us thus far. Because I'm not clear on why she was cast and I'm halfway through. Jennifer Grey was certainly known as an actress, but she was also the daughter of a professional actor, dancer, and singer and had taken dance lessons since forever. Unless I'm missing something about Abigail, it's like that was unfortunately forgotten in the equation here.

[Laurie4H]

I'm just baffled with the casting of Abigail Breslin in this.  I mean Jennifer Grey was no beauty but she had dancer type body and a manturity that Abigail doesn't have.  She looks like a 15 year old who is still loosing  baby fat and needs braces.   And her acting isn't that convincing.  At least in my opinion. 

Edited May 25, 2017 by Laurie4H