Dirty Dancing (2017 ABC) - General Discussion

[TheOtherOne]

For anyone who hasn't seen it, Colt Prattes is the dancer in Pink's "Try" video. It's considerably shorter than this mess, and he's shirtless and dancing in the whole thing, so it's a much more worthwhile way to spend some time.

[Laurie4H]

Size 6 or 8 is still pretty thin.  I just think she didn't have the right type of body to do they type of dancing.    It also seemed like every character had the same expression throughout the movie.  

[Quickbeam]

I couldn't watch the whole thing (really who could?) but I did see some scenes with Nicole Scherzinger and Abigail Breslin. Nicole looked fantastic and danced beautifully; Abigail looked like a stumpy 12 year old girl. 

[Lovecat]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

It never made it to Broadway.  The previews/touring company were so sucktacular, Broadway plans were cancelled.  It was perhaps the worst live theatre I have ever seen.  

Did the extended B stories for the non-Baby Housemans come from the musical?  I kind of liked remake!Lisa's story, and thought her song with the guy from the band was sweet (though the original Lisa was such a piece of work she cracked me up like no other).  But man, I could've done without watching Marjorie Houseman fling herself at Jake and get shot down 47 times.  Uncomfortable.

33 minutes ago, tanyak said:

3. And the finale, which several posters have rightfully skewered. My favorite part in the original is toward the end when they are dancing slowly and Patrick Swayze quietly sings a couple of lines to her.

::swoon::  I mean, I know Poor Dead Patrick Swayze's sex appeal is debatable (personally, I thought he was quite foxy), but is there *any* woman (and quite a few men, I'd suspect) that doesn't get just a little weak in the knees at the thought of him singing right to them?

The remake just didn't have the magic of the original.  The leads were flat and chemistry-free, and even the supporting characters were pale reflections of the originals.  I couldn't take my eyes off of Cynthia Rhodes in the original.  Nicole Scherzinger won DWTS, but that doesn't make her a professional dancer.  She just didn't have the confidence, the it factor.  And damn, the guy playing Johnnie?  Abs for days, but he's kind of a butterface.  I thought the choreography was terrible, too.  It was billed as being choreographed by the same guy who did Hamilton, but somewhere Kenny Ortega was rocking in a corner moaning, "What have they dooooonnnnnnneeee??"  That Mambo Madness/Finale dance is ICONIC.  It just seemed wrong to be hearing Time of My Life and not see those moves.  But yeah, Abigail Breslin's little pigeon toes most certainly couldn't pull it off.

[DearEvette]

I didn't see the whole thing, but the little I did see it was very clear that Abigail Breslin couldn't dance.  Now, Baby wasn't supposed to have gained the dance stature of, say, Penny, but in the original Jennifer Gray's dancing was markedly approved.  So that the astonished looks on her family's face when they saw her up on the stage were merited.  This was just... not that. 

Also, Jennifer and Patrick simply smoldered together.  Smoldered!  Abigail Breslin just looked like she was twelve and it was just bad.

I will say one good thing.... Sarah Hyland's smallish bit I saw was nice.   Lisa obviously was changed radically.

So the question remains, why not just do a whole new movie?  it might have been actually funny to have this one done from the POV of a completely different vacationing family who were having their own drama at the same time and we saw the Dirty Dancing stuff on the peripheral. 

Edited May 25, 2017 by DearEvette

[FirstHalf]

I've been lurking here for months; just reading since IMDB shut down their message board... but after watching DD last night, I just HAD to post! Lol  What a horrible movie!

 

After about 20 minutes, I decided to just view it as a spoof. I got myself a glass of champagne and my daughter got me something from Dairy Queen. It was MUCH more enjoyable after that.

[msrachelj]

14 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

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

I was just going to say the same thing. I didn't realize what a terrible actress she is or is it just this project? She and "Johnny" have no chemistry at all.. Hate the ending. I fast forwarded a lot. Dancing was great though. Except for Abigail, but she isn't a dancer.

On 4/27/2017 at 5:39 PM, ennui said:

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.

Catskills.

I agree, remakes usually fall flat. Like this. Nice bod though. 

[msrachelj]

13 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Okay - this is unforgivable...  a pastrami sandwich with mayo???  Never!!!

Yes, at a Jewish Catskill, NY resort. I say NO! Way! 

[TiffanyNichelle]

ABC really was trying to pat themselves on the back by throwing in some racial diversity and giving Lisa an interracial romance but they wasted it by not really developing Marco at all. We had scene after scene of Mrs. Houseman trying to do the dirty with her husband but maybe two scenes of Marco and Lisa? And at the end we have Tito and Kellerman Sr. going "the times they are a-changing!" RME.

 

Quote

ETA:  I gave up during the watermelon sequence.  Not only was it bad, but I rolled my eyes so hard at the couple who was on the ground, her thrusting her hips within inches of his face, then the same two sliding along the floor.  There was bumping and grinding in the original, but that was a bit much for this particular movie, imo. 

That whole scene made me laugh b/c in the original they were in this cramped space & it seemed like everyone that worked at the resort was there so they were all crammed in, grinding on everyone. While here they had maybe 5 extras and they had plenty of space to do their elaborate sexy moves.

Edited May 25, 2017 by TiffanyNichelle

[msrachelj]

4 hours ago, dogfish said:

ONLY redeeming moment for me was when Sarah Hyland and J. Quinton Johnson sang their duet.  Cute song...sounded nothing like a "1963" era song however.

Do you mean "Don't Think Twice" by Bob Dylan, 1963 I believe.

[msrachelj]

Everyone, check out Twitter for a good laugh. On another note, i need to cleanse my palate and watch the original but for the first time in forever I can't find it on Direct tv. This was so horrible!!

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, absnow54 said:

 the plot is timeless enough to fit into any era. 

I don't see how. The movie is about a specific time and place (and there's nothing wrong with that). Dirty Dancing is like American Graffiti in that the story is very much tied to a specific geographic location, a subculture, and a point in a person's life. 

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

So the question remains, why not just do a whole new movie?  it might have been actually funny to have this one done from the POV of a completely different vacationing family who were having their own drama at the same time and we saw the Dirty Dancing stuff on the peripheral. 

This is a brilliant idea, and would be perfect for a series. It would be an ensemble cast. The main characters would be guests and staff. It would be a little like Upstairs, Downstairs/Downton Abbey meets that mini season of Saved By the Bell where the Bayside teens work at a summer resort/beach club. Each season of this hypothetical series based on Dirty Dancing would cover one summer.  

[paigow]

52 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

Each season of this hypothetical series based on Dirty Dancing would cover one summer.  

Except when the Jack Bauer family arrives...that season will cover somewhere between 12 & 24 hours...

Kellerman: Sorry Jack, the kitchen ran out of mustard for the pastrami

Jack: DAMMIT!

[absnow54]

I don't see how. The movie is about a specific time and place (and there's nothing wrong with that). Dirty Dancing is like American Graffiti in that the story is very much tied to a specific geographic location, a subculture, and a point in a person's life.

I guess to me Dirty Dancing isn't tied to a time (I always forget it's supposed to be set in the 60s) but to a time in one's life, one that everyone's been through, which is why people continue to connect with it a generation + later. And I would argue that Dazed and Confused is an example of how a timeless concept, like American Graffiti, can be retold in a different time period. I think this remake could have benefited from distancing itself a bit more from the source material, although it's a moot point, because I don't think anything could have saved this film (and it's not like Dirty Dancing 2 fared much better either...)

[Tara Ariano]

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

 

5 Reasons ABC's Dirty Dancing Remake Is Worth Watching, By Someone Who Seriously Loves The Original

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

FOR THE RECORD: I know it wasn't good. But I truly did not hate it (and ABC did not pay me to say anything good about it). There's a reason I put all the cons up top! I will just forgive a lot if you throw me some decent dancing scenes, which I am a total sucker for.

[Misslindsey]

I thought Sarah Hyland, Nicole Scherzinger, and Katy Sagal did the best with the material they were given. I did like the Lisa storyline in this version. Other than that not much else worked for me.

Abigail Breslin was horribly miscast. If there was more chemistry between the leads it might have made this version more palatable. Then again, maybe not.

[WendyCR72]

7 hours ago, ChlcGirl said:

Worse than the Ghost musical?

Wait, what? I refuse to believe this exists! Not after last night. It will throw me over the edge! <Rocks back and forth, sucking thumb>

[Cirien]

7 hours ago, TheOtherOne said:

For anyone who hasn't seen it, Colt Prattes is the dancer in Pink's "Try" video. It's considerably shorter than this mess, and he's shirtless and dancing in the whole thing, so it's a much more worthwhile way to spend some time.

And he seems to generate a lot heat with her- I dunno what wrong here?

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, Cirien said:

And he seems to generate a lot heat with her- I dunno what wrong here?

It could be Abigail Breslin.  Pink was generating a lot of heat on her own in that video and that was probably helping him a lot.

[spaceytraci1208]

21 hours ago, JasmineFlower said:

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. 

I can't remember where I saw it, but someone said her dancing at the end of Little Miss Sunshine was better LMAO 

[NWFan2014]

 well, I just finished watching it On Demand, ...eh, I like that they kept the songs from the original (so far at least)...IMHO I think so far it's better than that crap The Sound Of Music Live!, now that right there was an abomination, the 2 leads had NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL & that was never soo obvious than during the Landler dance....Personally, the only reason I wanted to see this was b/c of Bruce Greenwood playing Daddy Houseman but again that's just me :)

 

Oh and BTW, yes Bruce does in fact sing in real life & personally I don't think he's terrible, not a professional by any means but he's not tone deaf so there's that ;)

[Quickbeam]

11 hours ago, TheOtherOne said:

For anyone who hasn't seen it, Colt Prattes is the dancer in Pink's "Try" video. It's considerably shorter than this mess, and he's shirtless and dancing in the whole thing, so it's a much more worthwhile way to spend some time.

Thanks for that, lovely. 

[babyhouseman]

10 hours ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

That whole scene made me laugh b/c in the original they were in this cramped space & it seemed like everyone that worked at the resort was there so they were all crammed in, grinding on everyone. While here they had maybe 5 extras and they had plenty of space to do their elaborate sexy moves.

I got to see the first 15 minutes online, and I couldn't believe the Do You Love Me/Love Man scene. What was with the rolling on the floor? The choreographer took the whole "Dancing is like having sex standing up" metaphor way too seriously. As an overly excited teenager with a bad 80's perm,  I went to the building where the original scene was shot, and it was a small room compared to the remake room especially when you consider the equipment and other movie people beside the actors in there. The remake room even had enough space for a band. There was a Dirty Dancing tour after the movie which involved some of the dirty dancers from the movie and singers of the original songs. That was better than this movie. 

[WendyCR72]

Maybe it's bitterness or pettiness, or just channeling my teen years when the original movie was out, but I just left a one-star Amazon review for the upcoming DVD release - only to find another one-star rating, longer than mine, beat me to it.

Hey! I did leave sound advice to purchase the original movie...

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Each season of this hypothetical series based on Dirty Dancing would cover one summer.

There was a Dirty Dancing series that came out a year after the movie.  It starred Patrick Cassidy as Johnny, Melora Hardin (who looks the same as now) as Baby.  Even Paul Feig (director of Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy) had a role in it. It was more "based on" as Baby played the resort owner's daughter. 

It wasn't the original movie but from what I remember, it wasn't terrible either.  The fact that Kenny Ortega was the choreographer certainly helped.

5 hours ago, Cirien said:

And he seems to generate a lot heat with her- I dunno what wrong here?

Well Pink is actually sexy.    That said, I don't know that I agree with them bringing heat in the video. I think she's sexy and has great intensity.  I think his expression just reads *grunt* to me.

[chocolatine]

Even from beyond the grave Patrick Swayze can wipe the floor with Colt Prattles. I know he's danced with Pink and whatnot, but Latin dance is not his thing. Nor is acting, for that matter.

Abigail Breslin's dancing was terrible. Jennifer Grey's Baby had some natural dance ability. It was so bad, the positive reactions to her dancing took me out of the scenes. And body type is not an excuse, I've seen bigger women than Abigail dance beautifully.

Why did the original need to be re-made?

[voiceover]

I think America has spoken.  And in case we weren't clear, let us put it into vernacular you 80s-loving TV execs can understand, viz.; to wit:

"We ain't gonna fall for no banana in the tailpipe!"

Edited May 26, 2017 by voiceover
For heaven's sake don't get any ideas about Beverly Hills Cop

[ChlcGirl]

12 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Wait, what? I refuse to believe this exists! Not after last night. It will throw me over the edge! <Rocks back and forth, sucking thumb>

Sadly, yes it does exist and it is exactly as shitty as you think it would be. Perhaps even shittier.  Worst 3 hours of my life.

Of course that could change if I ever watched this pile of tripe but there are some things so horrible even I won't watch.

Edited May 26, 2017 by ChlcGirl

[Angeltoes]

Patrick Swayze was so hot that you could have fried an egg on the screen.  Colt looks like a second-string high school football player who girls dated just so they could say they were dating a football player.

Lisa looked younger than Baby.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Angeltoes

[ClareWalks]

Agree with everyone who said Swayze was scorching hot onscreen and this dude, whatever his name is, has absolutely none of Patrick's charisma or natural sexiness.

[topanga]

22 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Also, Jennifer and Patrick simply smoldered together.  Smoldered! 

Yes, they did--their eye contact alone was enough to make my heart flutter. I just re-watched the original movie this morning. I felt nostalgic after this travesty of a remake. Full disclosure, I didn't even watch the ABC movie, but reading your posts has convinced me not to (maybe. I'm still slightly curious). I do have a few questions about how the plotlines of the two movies converge or differ:

• Was the aftermath of Penny's back-alley abortion still one of the reasons Johnny and Baby got together in the first place? 
• Were there still any tear jerker scenes? I felt so silly crying at the scenes between Baby and her father even though I've watched them at least a dozen times. I'm talking about the scenes with "I'm sorry I let you down. But you let me down, too" and "When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. You look wonderful out there" [Hug]. Oh, and the scene where Baby gets cynical in Johnny's room. "So I did it all for nothing?"
•  Was there any mention of contraception in the remake? Watching the original made me realize that Baby could have easily ended up pregnant, just like Penny. Oral contraception wasn't easily available, and it often had horrible side effects. And I don't know how easy it was to purchase condoms in the '60s.
• I know the TV movie has an unnecessary epilogue scene. I do admit that I never saw Johnny and Baby continuing their relationship after they left Kellerman's. But that's my interpretation--I liked that the original movie had an arbitrary ending. 

[NWFan2014]

Topanga...no, no mention of birth control/condoms in the re-make..as far as tear-jerkers, yes there are two (at least for me they were), the confrontation between Baby & Dr. Houseman was done a bit differently & the other was a talk between Dr. Houseman & Mrs. Houseman out on the lake...As far as your first question,

Spoiler

the reason Baby gave Johnny for accepting the money for the abortion was that she was hiring him for dance lessons

, so I guess you could say...yeah?

Edited May 26, 2017 by NWFan2014
added a forgotten word

[topanga]

17 minutes ago, NWFan2014 said:

As far as your first question,

<snip>

, so I guess you could say...yeah?

Hmm. That is an interesting direction. Thanks. This movie sounds more and more stupid unique the more I hear about it. LOL

[NWFan2014]

yeah it was...unlike others here, I didn't completely hate it, I liked it for what it was..And like I said in my OP, there was LOTS of Dr. Houseman (more than the original) & that's what I was watching for, I've loved anything Bruce Greenwood's done since forever LOL

[TGinKY]

[NWFan2014]

haha fair enough...iconic songs, yes, musical um NO

[ShortyMac]

I need to watch the real movie ASAP. One of my favorites. 

- Dancing was terrible

- Leads had no chemistry and were not believable, IMO

- Lisa acted more like the younger sister

- Making it a musical

- Unnecessary plots - who cares about the parents?

- Most of the covers were awful. "She's Like the Wind" was absolutely butchered.

- Epilogue was stupid

I watched it for Katey Sagal, mostly.

[lookeyloo]

Just awful.  Poor Patrick must have rolled over in his grave a hundred times.  Mainly like ShortyMac said above, leads had no chemistry and were not believable.  that was my main gripe although there were the others too.  Sarah Hyland almost could have been Baby, more convincingly.  What is up with Abigail Breslin. She is supposed to be able to act.  She seemed like she was in a school production.  Such a disappointment.  

[NWFan2014]

ok, well, just for my curiosity's sake, which, in your opinion was worse, this movie or The Sound Of Music Live!?

[MsTree]

This movie was the worst. Barely hung in for the first 8 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore.

[shoregirl]

   This was worse. Sound of Music was terrible but this was so bad i felt second hand embarrassment for all involved. Here the dancing was bad and its a dance movie so if one thing should be on point its the dancing. The acting was also ,for the most part, very bad. The covers of the sings were terrible ,Why was this even a musical? The costumes were terrible, like they couldnt dress someone who was not a size zero.  I kept watching because I was talking to my sister and reading comments here and on twitter so it made the night slightly more enjoyable.

Edited May 28, 2017 by shoregirl

[Snow Apple]

This was worse. The Sound of Music at least had a few Broadway actors/singers who sound awesome.  Carrie Underwood was not great, but I didn't cringe.

Dancing and singing aside, I'm shocked at how stiff the acting was in this remake, even from seasoned actors whom I've enjoyed in other acting performances.

[nodorothyparker]

The clips I've seen online were bad enough to leave me feeling pretty good about the decision to not waste several hours of my life on this, feeling secondhand embarrassment for everyone involved, and wondering who on earth thought remaking what's possibly the most beloved dance movie of the last 30 years with people unable to dance was a good idea.  Had it been a local high school production rather than a major network affair at least the awkward stilted nature of it would have been somewhat understandable.

If there's a silver lining in any of this, it did make me pull out my copy of the original and appreciate it all over again.  Sure, some of the story is as goofy as it ever was but the dance sequences are still pretty great and the chemistry is still scorching. 

[Cara]

I'm just now watching this via streaming. It really is as bad as everyone said. The casting is atrocious! The guy playing Johnny has no appeal on any level. The girl playing Baby is fat (sorry but she is)and awkward.

[JenMD]

On 5/25/2017 at 7:40 PM, NWFan2014 said:

 .Personally, the only reason I wanted to see this was b/c of Bruce Greenwood playing Daddy Houseman but again that's just me :)

 

Not just you!  I was going to pass originally, then found out Bruce was in it and had to cave.  Yeesh, I mean, I enjoyed him (as always) and a few of the other actors were fine, but it was pretty awful overall.  Basically in total agreement with how terrible the two leads were, terrible music (except for Lisa and Marco's song, which I actually rewound and watched twice) and terrible dancing.  I mean, it took my sister and me three days to get through the whole thing.  Not sure this is something anyone involved will be highlighting on their resume.

[NWFan2014]

yep Bruce's Dr. Houseman was the only reason I gave this a second look...after the disaster (IMHO) that was The Sound Of Music Live! I was eh till I saw his name & which character he was playing

[WendyCR72]

I must go off on a tangent from this crapfest for a second to lament another remake on the way: The film Overboard (originally starring Kurt Russell and real-life love Goldie Hawn) is apparently being remade with Anna Faris taking over Goldie Hawn's role for release next year.

OK, the original film wasn't high art, but it was fun and had some good supporting actors in Edward Herrmann and Roddy MacDowell.

Stop the remake madness! UGH!

ETA: Whoops! Apparently, Faris actually has...the Kurt Russell role. The genders are being reversed for the prior characterizations. Still think this is completely unnecessary. As all remakes are.

Edited May 30, 2017 by WendyCR72

[MsTree]

9 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Apparently, Faris actually has...the Kurt Russell role. The genders are being reversed for the prior characterizations. Still think this is completely unnecessary. As all remakes are

Here's my take on remakes: If you're going to remake a classic, then stay true to the characters AND storyline. But if you're going to reverse roles, re-write the ending, miscast characters and dialogue, etc...then write your own damn movie with its own title!!  And certainly don't call it a "remake".

[WhineandCheez]

I'm so glad there's a forum for this.  This has to be the most completely charm-free show on TV I've ever seen.

Quote

Stop the remake madness! UGH!

JUMANJI starring The Rock. Jumanji was one of the most perfect movies ever made.

Edited May 30, 2017 by WhineandCheez

[ljenkins782]

On 5/25/2017 at 7:46 AM, dogfish said:

Jennifer Grey was cute...AB is not.  When she ran to do the jump (which they didn't show because she probably had to be lifted up), she looked soooooo awkward.

I had to rewind that lift many times and it never stopped being hilarious. She crouched down with her arms bent and CHARGED that poor guy like a linebacker. 

Like everyone else, I went into this fully expecting it to be shit, but I was blown away by how much worse it was, in every possible aspect. Casting, writing, acting, definitely dancing, and storylines, all so bad that it almost seemed like they were trying to make the worst movie of all time. 

Quote

Damn, the actor playing Johnny was a charisma suck. Abs alone do not make a leading man. Even when Swayze's Johnny was annoyed by Baby, you could see that he found her interesting and connected with her. This guy just stared at her blankly.

This guy stared at EVERYONE blankly. There was not an iota of expression on his face at any given time, which made the sex scenes even more awkward than they already were. 

Quote

Yes. I will say I'm glad ABC didn't feel the need the cast someone whose body type is exactly like Jennifer Gray's. But dressing AB in similar clothing as JG did nothing to flatter Abigail's body.

God, yes. The one and only outfit that looked even a little bit good on her was the black outfit from the Love is Strange scene. Otherwise, she looked atrocious in everything.

Quote

That might have been the one thing I didn't mind. It was nice to see the lead not by a size 2. But pick a size 6 or 8 who can actually dance and has some charisma. And they totally made her look frumpier than she needed to be.

See, in this case, I wouldn't have minded if they did cast someone tiny, because JG was tiny in the original, back in '87 when not every actress was a stick figure. I'd be more annoyed if she'd been a bigger girl in the original and they chose a size 2 woman because that's most actresses now. 

But I felt bad for Abigail Breslin while watching because I was sure the internet was not going to be kind. Trashing the movie is cool, but I wasn't interested in the fat joke angle. I didn't read along on Twitter real time and none of the skewering reviews or featured Twitter barbs went there, but I'm sure many did. The fact that they kept giving her things like tied up shirts just accentuated the differences between her and Jennifer Grey. 

Appearance aside, she was so utterly wrong for this and it makes no sense why they cast someone with apparently zero dance experience. She was every bit as bad in the finale as she was in the opening. Her acting was awful too, her facial expressions bordered on pathetic most of the time. 

I hated all of the extra stuff, particularly the parents' storyline. What the hell was the point of that? Also, why did they make Vivian divorced? I thought her sham marriage was an interesting part of the original character. 

They also didn't make Neil odious enough. 

Overall, this was one of the worst things I've ever watched. I had to break it up into 2 viewings, partly because it was unforgivably long, but mainly because I just couldn't take the secondhand embarrassment anymore. 

ETA:

Quote

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

Much as I'm not a huge fan of hers, Julianne Hough would have made a perfect Penny, and if this had been an actual movie with any type of potential, she might have done it (she did the Footloose remake, which I imagine is awful too). But her career is probably too solid right now to get involved in this mess. Nicole Scherzinger's had a fringe career for awhile now, so I can see why she'd take it. Her "accent" was embarrassing, but her acting was a little better than I was expecting. 

Edited May 30, 2017 by ljenkins782