S27.E01: Premiere Week: Part 1

[spanana]

3 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

spanana, "screeching middle-aged women"? Dang, I can usually discern neither volume nor age nor gender when I read on-line comments! Well, not usually. 

It’s certainly not all middle aged women but on Facebook it’s pretty to discern age from profile pics. Not to mention that is likely the main demos of Facebook at this point. The younger demos have mostly left it behind.  And as for discerning screeching, typing in all caps is generally a sign of yelling so it’s something similar.  

[Phebemarie]

Regarding that 5:

In my early days as a teacher, I worked with a wonderful colleague from England who is probably about the same age as Len.  She was a gifted teacher who would occasionally and privately express absolute hatred towards the Irish.  Could there be some subtle, generational bias happening?  

My other thought was that the powers that be were testing the Harry Potter fan-base with an unfair score to gauge the response.  

Edited September 25, 2018 by Phebemarie

[peachmangosteen]

I really enjoyed the premiere. I skip all the judges comments though, so that helps lol.

I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of people. I kind of expected something more from Juan Pablo and Tinashe, but I still enjoyed them. I really wanted Joe to be at least decent, but alas. Oh well, at least now maybe I won't have to put up with Jenna for too long.

I need to know just how blind Danielle is. Not fully, I'm suspecting. Either way though, I like her a lot and I really loved her first dance. I'm pretty over Artem though, which is a shame.

Bobby is insane and I feel like Sharna hates him. I enjoy it lol.

[boyznkatz]

None of the men were good except Milo and Demarcus. Bobby was really annoying and Grocery Joe and John Schneider were crap dancers. All three of them can go. Juan Pablo was grossly overscored. That stiff dance got an 8? Bleh.

Nancy McKeon, Mary Lou, and Danielle surprised me. I still don't like Mary Lou, but she doesn't dance that bad.

WTF with Evanna getting a 5??? Len is starting to have me believing he's the racist that rumors have made him out to be for years.

Edited September 25, 2018 by boyznkatz

[crowceilidh]

Quote

My other thought was that the powers that be were testing the Harry Potter fan-base with an unfair score to gauge the response.  

This is my thought, atlhough the observation that Len is very hard on Keo is spot on.  I loved Keo's affirmation that he was going to teach her to be such a good dancer that the dance schools would be sorry - very motivating and teacher-y.  Unfortunately, I just hate Keo's duck-walking feet; they just look super odd to me when he is dancing, particularly last night.  There's every chance that's why Len is hard on him rather than any other imagined reasons - Len's personal dance style is almost completely opposite from what I've seen.

[boyznkatz]

4 hours ago, PTVjones said:

First of all, this picture kills me LOL. Even when Erica was being way too much, there was something much more tolerable about her then, then how she is now.

Back on track, I can't thumbs up this comment enough. I am so tired of this narrative of talented, well established, strong work ethic women, ESPECIALLY women of color, being called arrogant because they actually show their confidence. They work in an industry where if they haven't built up that wall of "i'm a success" no matter what they would never make it. Why subject yourself to the judgement of a voting public if you didn't have that kind of confidence? What does a woman have to be to not be called arrogant? I don't need to see someone manically falling all over themselves thanking people every 5 seconds for the opportunity (they work for their opportunities) apologizing for their success (again, they worked for that), over the top bubbly, just so they can fit this narrow view of what being "humble" and approachable is. Sorry I'm just really over the women and WOC on this show being painted as arrogant when I can only think of ... 2  women who seemed to fit that mold, and I'm not going to name names lol. Rumer got that edit too at times but she had Val who people were really pulling to win since he hadn't at that point. 

 

Tinashe seems talented, happy to be there, wants to work hard (since that choreo did not look east for a week 1), and will get my votes.  

People usually prefer the phony, self-deprecating schmucks (usually male BTW). The only self-deprecating contestant who was sincere and funny was Gilles. I don't think we'll ever have a contestant like him again :-(

[BrainyBlonde]

I vow never to say anything negative about Keo's coaching style again because this is incredibly sweet and I'm so glad he was able to make Evanna feel better after the judges were so awful to her.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoI8n72FxUx/?taken-by=msevylynch

[penbrat]

Completely underwhelmed so far - I do have to say that Cheryl looks amazing though.

[spanana]

I think I was underwhelmed by Juan because I didn't love Cheryl's choreography.  Or as somebody else pointed out to me, the camera men seemed to be having an off night and didn't shoot the performance probably the way Cheryl wanted to suit her choreography.  So I think that is where I was underwhelmed, though it's certainly not like he's bad.

Maybe echoing what I said previously, but what I do like is I feel like there are a lot of dancers on a similar level and this early I have no idea which way that will go in terms of fanbases.  Will Milo capture people? Evanna? Alexis? Juan? So that part I like.

The part I don't like is I already expect both Joe and Bobby are going to outlast people with far more talent.  Which I know is the name of the game and unless Joe redeems himself tonight, Bobby should last longer than he does.  Though Bobby's over the topness personality wise might be more annoying if he doesn't dial it back some.  But it's annoying enough when there is one person like that per season and we may have two here.

As for Danielle, I think she will make it through the first elimination but I wouldn't be surprised if she goes out early.  Trying how to put this delicately. I think she is amazing and did a great job last night and I think Artem did a great job working with her.  But where certain inspirational stories used to be a near lock for the finals, I think the audience has gotten more desensitized the more of those stories we've had over the years.  In Danielle's case also I think there are going to be severe limitations for any dance not in hold or not super slow, though her confidence may build week to week.  I guess I wouldn't be 100% surprised if we lose Danielle in week 2 or week 3.  Also while youtube views don't mean much right now since the view numbers are all very close, Danielle at last look had the lowest views.  John, Nikki and Nancy were in the next tier above her in that order.

[Toonces464]

3 minutes ago, spanana said:

As for Danielle, I think she will make it through the first elimination but I wouldn't be surprised if she goes out early.  Trying how to put this delicately. I think she is amazing and did a great job last night and I think Artem did a great job working with her.  But where certain inspirational stories used to be a near lock for the finals, I think the audience has gotten more desensitized the more of those stories we've had over the years.  In Danielle's case also I think there are going to be severe limitations for any dance not in hold or not super slow, though her confidence may build week to week.  I guess I wouldn't be 100% surprised if we lose Danielle in week 2 or week 3.  Also while youtube views don't mean much right now since the view numbers are all very close, Danielle at last look had the lowest views.  John, Nikki and Nancy were in the next tier above her in that order.

It also didn't help that Nyle won when so many people felt that was a manipulated win (on top of him having two pros teaching him). I think that desensitized people to those types of contestants too.

[vibeology]

12 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

I thought Bobby's reaction was hysterical and I couldn't stop laughing, but I think if he keeps that up it will grate on people quickly. Hopefully he tones it down because I really enjoyed him.

I already hate him. His reaction was ridiculous. He pulled away from Sharna so quickly that it looks like he nearly knocked her over then he jumped around like an ass while she was left to stand there. That screams shitty partner to me and I have no interest in watching him week after week, though I'm sure people found him charming and I'll be stuck with him.

12 hours ago, Emily-D said:

Bruno trying to show blind Danelle what muscles to use was possibly the most Bruno thing of all time. I couldn’t stop laughing for about 5 minutes after that.

Bruno is going to embarrass himself every week giving advice to Danelle. He's such a physical judge and while I normally think that's super useful it's obviously not going to work here and I doubt he's going to be aware enough to break that habit. It made me think of the time Ryan Seacrest tried to high five a blind contestant. He put his hand up and then realized his mistake and slowly dropped it. I laughed and laughed.

5 hours ago, PTVjones said:

Back on track, I can't thumbs up this comment enough. I am so tired of this narrative of talented, well established, strong work ethic women, ESPECIALLY women of color, being called arrogant because they actually show their confidence. They work in an industry where if they haven't built up that wall of "i'm a success" no matter what they would never make it. Why subject yourself to the judgement of a voting public if you didn't have that kind of confidence? What does a woman have to be to not be called arrogant? I don't need to see someone manically falling all over themselves thanking people every 5 seconds for the opportunity (they work for their opportunities) apologizing for their success (again, they worked for that), over the top bubbly, just so they can fit this narrow view of what being "humble" and approachable is. Sorry I'm just really over the women and WOC on this show being painted as arrogant when I can only think of ... 2  women who seemed to fit that mold, and I'm not going to name names lol. Rumer got that edit too at times but she had Val who people were really pulling to win since he hadn't at that point. 

 

Tinashe seems talented, happy to be there, wants to work hard (since that choreo did not look east for a week 1), and will get my votes.  

All of this. I know now to get too attached to Tinashe because viewers/voters on this show never connect with talented, conventionally attractive black women. Either they’re “cold” or “arrogant.” Every one of them. I really do have to wonder if the voters who claim this season after season don't think it's strange that every black woman has the same personality? The misogynoir is strong with a vocal segment of fans.

In terms of dances I enjoyed, Tinashe, DeMarcus and Juan Pablo were at the top for me. None of them were perfect but they managed to put up a solid dance and give me a bit of who they are personally. Doing both at once isn’t easy on the first night when the nerves are high so they’re the three I’m most interested in right now. I don’t have a lot to say about great (for week 1) dances. None of the choreography was exciting but it was challenging enough and well performed.

Nikki has this thing where she never seems really solid or grounded and it makes her dances look uncomfortable. I don’t know where it comes from exactly but I’ve noticed it in the past with some female contestants. Maybe it’s the shoes? But she makes me think she’s going to fall over at any second and I hate watching that.

Evanna’s score was too low. Len is an ass for that 5. She isn’t in that top tier of dancers yet but she flowed, was flexible and seemed connected to the dance. I really didn’t get that score.

Witney needs to de-sex her dances with that child! I am not a prude but there were a few moves in that dance that weren’t okay for a minor and an adult. Otherwise, he’s a maybe. There were some good moments.

Nothing against Alexis but I’m so tired of the ice cream set and costumes. Enough. Come up with a new idea! Also, “Good Golly Miss Molly” only makes me think of the superior Kyle and Lacey Insta-Jive. That being said, she did very well for what I saw. The camera mess up there was unfortunate.

[spanana]

2 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

It also didn't help that Nyle won when so many people felt that was a manipulated win (on top of him having two pros teaching him). I think that desensitized people to those types of contestants too.

Obviously I don't speak for everyone, but I never had too much of an issue with Nyle winning.  I wasn't rooting for him.  If that was the Paige season I was rooting for Paige/Mark, but I also expected from day one that Nyle would win as a combo of his backstory, good looks, personality and enough talent to justify a win.  But you can also see the change even from when Victoria was on.  Victoria lasted a long time but went out pre the semis (I think) despite having an incredible story.  At some point I think people just couldn't justify keeping her in any longer based on what she was doing on the dance floor, and as we all know, the audience tends to be harder on the women celebs.  If Victoria was a male with the same story, we might have seen her in the finals.

[boyznkatz]

I think the disabled celebs had varying degrees of talent. Nyle and Amy were pretty good. Victoria wasn't that good. I don't think Noah could do the dances no matter what. His disability was just too much.

I don't expect Danelle to last long, either. She and Artem have a sweet partnership and she's inspiring, but she's not going to win on novelty alone.

[ams1001]

12 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Witney needs to de-sex her dances with that child! I am not a prude but there were a few moves in that dance that weren’t okay for a minor and an adult. Otherwise, he’s a maybe. There were some good moments.

I forget what they said (or even who said it), but there was a comment that normally I wouldn't have thought much of, but it had me thinking, "maybe not with the minor?" I mean, I realize that in about 6 months he'll be an "adult" and that's kind of arbitrary, but still...

[boyznkatz]

10 hours ago, MsJamieDornan said:

Loved DeMarcus! Milo is a cutie !

Yes! I'm a Cowboys fan as well as a fan of Milos's mother. I hope she does the show!

[Emily-D]

Nyle was well known from ANTM so already had a built in fanbase. Not to mention he was of a good age and good physical shape to learn the dances along with two pros teaching him. Even Victoria was early 20s? Danelle is mid 40s with no fanbase at all. I agree she deserves huge respect and credit for going out and giving it a shot, but no matter how inspirational she is. If she’s only getting 6s with the odd 7 thrown in then she won’t have the fanbase to last long with this cast. So I also think she’ll go in that double elim next week. Nikki should go tonight barring a huge change in her performance and scores.

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

Yes! I'm a Cowboys fan as well as a fan of Milos's mother. I hope she does the show!

That could be an interesting twist. They've had husband/wife competing against each other; parent and child could be fun.

[crowceilidh]

Quote

misogynoir 

Thanks for that word, vibeology.  I'd never run into it before.

[tedd]

4 hours ago, alexa said:

I didn't know hardly anyone, so that was weird.  But I thought many of them did really well for their first time out, which means several are going to be forgotten (not being well known and many in the same ability range).  I thought it was funny that Tinashe couldn't hide her disappointment that she got an unknown when they met.  She looked very disappointed to not know her pro dancer.

their meeting was fake. they already met before. they just shot that as a segment. 

[iMonrey]

13 celebrities and there are only five that I've ever heard of before in my life. And those, just barely. This might be the season to skip.

Frankly I'm embarrassed for my species that "Social Media Influencer" is even a thing.

[BeeBop88]

Well, some bad news for DWTS in the ratings department. The first night (premiere) had 8.07 million viewers and a 1.1/5 rating/share. If I am not mistaken, that is approx. a 2 million people viewer loss from the last fall season of DWTS. The Big Bang Theory and The Voice trounced them. Looks like Val/Jenna romance is not really a ratings bonanza.

Is it time to bring back Maks and Peta, known in the tumblr world as Packs?  Oh nevermind, I forgot. They didn't do anything for ratings either. LOL!!!!

Edited September 25, 2018 by BeeBop88

[spanana]

4 minutes ago, BeeBop88 said:

Well, some bad news for DWTS in the ratings department. The first night (premiere) had 8.07 million viewers and a 1.1/5 rating/share. If I am not mistaken, that is approx. a 2 million people viewer loss from the last fall season of DWTS. The Big Bang Theory and The Voice trounced them. Looks like Val/Jenna romance is not really a ratings bonanza.

Is it time to bring back Maks and Peta, known in the tumblr world as Packs?  Oh nevermind, I forgot. They didn't do anything for ratings either. LOL!!!!

No one pro is going to do anything for ratings.  Even golden boy Derek.  There is always this mass delusion from fans, both of pros and celebs, that if X person leaves the show or gets kicked off then the ratings will tank.  And celebs who vow to boycott the show after X gets kicked off.  Yeah, that isn't what hurts ratings.

[BeeBop88]

25 minutes ago, spanana said:

No one pro is going to do anything for ratings.  Even golden boy Derek.  There is always this mass delusion from fans, both of pros and celebs, that if X person leaves the show or gets kicked off then the ratings will tank.  And celebs who vow to boycott the show after X gets kicked off.  Yeah, that isn't what hurts ratings.

Yeah, I know that any pro dancer leaving is not gonna break DWTS. The show is bigger than they are. But with some of these dancers egos (mainly the C Brothers), it must irk them that they really don't matter. Even with the loss of viewers, I still see DWTS being picked up by ABC. Just look at SYTYCD. That show averages just 2.5 million viewers per week, and it just finished the 15th season. DWTS beats them by 5.5 million.

[Toonces464]

26 minutes ago, BeeBop88 said:

Well, some bad news for DWTS in the ratings department. The first night (premiere) had 8.07 million viewers and a 1.1/5 rating/share. If I am not mistaken, that is approx. a 2 million people viewer loss from the last fall season of DWTS. The Big Bang Theory and The Voice trounced them. Looks like Val/Jenna romance is not really a ratings bonanza.

Is it time to bring back Maks and Peta, known in the tumblr world as Packs?  Oh nevermind, I forgot. They didn't do anything for ratings either. LOL!!!!

I blame this in part on the athlete's season. I've always said if they go to once a year (which is what they basically did by running that crap), people would move onto other shows. I'll bet the ratings take a huge hit tonight up against the premiere of This Is Us.

People also like to blame the lack of star power for the contestants, but I think the lack of star power for the pros hurts them just as much, if not more. I'm sorry, but Witney, Gleb and Keo do not pack the same kind of punch as Karina, Derek and Maks, and bringing in one original pro each season is not enough to attract a large audience. That being said, they really need to up what they consider a "star" -- social media influencers and Bachelor contestants are not "stars." How about switching up the athlete too? I always love the football players, but there are a lot of recently retired baseball players that are big enough names, and there are other sports they can look at too. Maybe they wouldn't have so much trouble getting good contestants if they didn't wear these people down with huge production numbers and two dances in Week 1.

[Toonces464]

5 minutes ago, BeeBop88 said:

Yeah, I know that any pro dancer leaving is not gonna break DWTS. The show is bigger than they are. But with some of these dancers egos (mainly the C Brothers), it must irk them that they really don't matter. Even with the loss of viewers, I still see DWTS being picked up by ABC. Just look at SYTYCD. That show averages just 2.5 million viewers per week, and it just finished the 15th season. DWTS beats them by 5.5 million.

It's funny you said this, because I've been laughing at all Maks's desperate attempts to draw attention to himself since the pro cast announcement that he wasn't part of. His silly little show in NYC with the teachers from his studio that he expected people to pay $1,000 to go see.....the inane idea that anyone is going to pay $25,000 to hear Dr. Seeds talk about health with the added bonus of a dance lesson from Maks and Peta.....the interview yesterday about all the big things he's doing and how he's done for good as a pro (has he ever NOT given an interview about all the big things he's doing and how he's done for good as a pro on premiere night when he's not on?)......all the interviews and sound bites he and Peta have been giving at D list charity events about having another kid. In particular, I thought it was shitty for him to be talking in that interview yesterday about him, Val and Peta touring again next summer and that they hoped to have Jenna join them but it was beyond their control. Jenna's still a new pro and she was nearly dropped a few seasons ago. I personally think her relationship with Val is what's giving her this second chance, but the last thing she needs is Maks pitting her against the show like that.

[spanana]

I'd argue that in part they have an easier time getting football players because football players have been so successful on this show and tend to make it to the end or win.  Nobody wants to sign up knowing they would be an easy out, though you would think with the success of David Ross more baseball players might follow suit.  Though I think that was a case of right timing in his career as well.  Also I don't think basketball players, generally speaking, are as suited to this show as the footballers.  Partly due to the height issues.  I know we had Rick Fox and Jason Taylor, can't remember others.  With Rick Fox the height differential was a problem and if I remember, while Jason did make it to the end he wasn't particularly good.  Or he was good at ballroom and horrible at latin (or possible vice versa as it's been so long and my memory is shot).

I think a good reason is the football players seem to have more of a built in fanbase that some of the other sports can't guarantee, unless it's an Olympic year and somebody is fresh off being an Olympic hero.

ETA: Jason Taylor is not a football player and my brain is fried.  Have we had a basketball player besides Rick Fox?  Metta World Peace I guess.

Edited September 25, 2018 by spanana

[Toonces464]

7 minutes ago, spanana said:

I know we had Rick Fox and Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor was a football player. He made it to second place with Edyta in Season 6.

[boyznkatz]

13 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

It's funny you said this, because I've been laughing at all Maks's desperate attempts to draw attention to himself since the pro cast announcement that he wasn't part of. His silly little show in NYC with the teachers from his studio that he expected people to pay $1,000 to go see.....the inane idea that anyone is going to pay $25,000 to hear Dr. Seeds talk about health with the added bonus of a dance lesson from Maks and Peta.....the interview yesterday about all the big things he's doing and how he's done for good as a pro (has he ever NOT given an interview about all the big things he's doing and how he's done for good as a pro on premiere night when he's not on?)......all the interviews and sound bites he and Peta have been giving at D list charity events about having another kid. In particular, I thought it was shitty for him to be talking in that interview yesterday about him, Val and Peta touring again next summer and that they hoped to have Jenna join them but it was beyond their control. Jenna's still a new pro and she was nearly dropped a few seasons ago. I personally think her relationship with Val is what's giving her this second chance, but the last thing she needs is Maks pitting her against the show like that.

OMG, do they really think anyone cares about them? You practically have to google them to even find any mention of them. Maks is sort of like the popular football player in high school who keeps hanging around because people have moved on from him and he's the only one who didn't get the memo...

[luvthepros]

3 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

 Unfortunately, I just hate Keo's duck-walking feet; they just look super odd to me when he is dancing, particularly last night.  There's every chance that's why Len is hard on him rather sthan any other imagined reasons - Len's personal dance style is almost completely opposite from what I've seen.

Speaking of Keo....Keo over dances to the point I find him distracting. His partners don't have a snowball's chance in hell for the MBT.

Edited September 25, 2018 by luvthepros

[luvthepros]

3 hours ago, penbrat said:

Completely underwhelmed so far - I do have to say that Cheryl looks amazing though.

I guess Cheryl lost those extra pounds that so many people insisted she didn't have. Those folks insisted she was "healthy" and looked great just the way she was. I always thought Cheryl was too heavy for a dancer before she lost the weight and I posted as such on this very forum. Don't get me wrong...... I would LOVE to have the figure Cheryl had prior to her weight loss. But......I'm not a dancer.

I'm very happy for Cheryl that she slimmed down. She does look absolutely awesome and she kept her curvy hips too.

[Mrs. Hanson]

15 hours ago, Emily-D said:

Bruno trying to show blind Danelle what muscles to use was possibly the most Bruno thing of all time. I couldn’t stop laughing for about 5 minutes after that.

Joe and Jenna are going to grate very fast when they’re still here outlasting better dancers in a few weeks time. Bobby Bones will also grate if he continues the way he did after his dance. Also something was a little off about Alexis but that may just be me.

Enjoyed the premiere though in large, no real standouts. Tinashe, DeMarcus and Juan Pablo will all go far you’d imagine. Despite the 5 you could tell Evanna was a good dancer as well by the speed of her spins and movements, she’ll get much better scores in the future. 

See, I am a sped teacher and totally appreciate that he spoke to her like a non disabled person..  Her partner can give the feedback later on what Bruno said.  

I  must be old as I recognized three people:  Nancy, Mary Lou and John Schneider.  JS has aged VERY well!!!!  

[MsJamieDornan]

4 hours ago, crowceilidh said:

I just hate Keo's duck-walking feet; they just look super odd to me when he is dancing, particularly last night. 

And, if he wasn't a pro and just a contestant, they would rip him a new one about his feet. They always point out if a contestant has turned in feet and want them to correct it. Sometimes you just cant.

[calipiano81]

The level of dancing across the board last night was very satisfying to see. I thought even Joe showed he is capable; he just unfortunately made obvious mistakes.

I was most surprised by....Milo! He had a fluidity that I wasn't expecting from a tall, lanky 17-year old male. I'll have to rewatch, but I thought his technique was better than Demarcus and he had more content than Juan Pablo.

I only heard of two names on this cast (Mary Lou and Nancy), but the upside of having a lesser-known cast is that maybe it can actually be more about the dancing this season!

Edited September 25, 2018 by calipiano81

[spanana]

55 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

Jason Taylor was a football player. He made it to second place with Edyta in Season 6.

Lol, yeah that.  I'm so up on my sports people.  I think my brain is either trying to think of someone else or I confused Jason because he was super tall? My brain is compromised.  Thanks for the correction.  I do remember him only being good at one kind of dance though.

[MsJamieDornan]

Jason Taylor is 6'6" and DeMarcus Ware is 6'4"

 

For some reason I thought everyone needed to know ! lol

Edited September 25, 2018 by MsJamieDornan

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, boyznkatz said:

Maks is sort of like the popular football player in high school who keeps hanging around because people have moved on from him and he's the only one who didn't get the memo...

I've used that very same comparison when talking about Maks.

22 minutes ago, spanana said:

Lol, yeah that.  I'm so up on my sports people.  I think my brain is either trying to think of someone else or I confused Jason because he was super tall? My brain is compromised.  Thanks for the correction.  I do remember him only being good at one kind of dance though.

That was my first season watching and that was my team, that's why I remember it so well!

[MsJamieDornan]

4 minutes ago, Toonces464 said:

Maks is sort of like the popular football player in high school who keeps hanging around because people have moved on from him and he's the only one who didn't get the memo...

That is perfect. He's Al Bundy.

[vavera4ka]

2 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

 How about switching up the athlete too? I always love the football players, but there are a lot of recently retired baseball players that are big enough names, and there are other sports they can look at too. 

They really need to do that. I mean so many athletes already live in LA area. I want more hockey representation. There are two NHL teams, one more up north, bunch of AHL teams. Usually if a player stays in California long enough to justify acquiring property, they retire there.

(And no, Sean Avery is not hockey. There are pesty players who you hate until they are on your team, and then there's Sean Avery.)

I

[scenicbyway]

Danielle is legally blind, but that doesn't mean she can't see shadows.  I thought it was interesting with her skiing montage, her husband wears a florescent ski outfit and skis in front, she must be able to make out something from that.

 

Joe seemed to be ok in the first part of the dance but it looked like he lost the footwork and then was never able to get back on track.  Maybe nerves, maybe blanking, he seemed to know there were steps he was supposed to do.  He hasn't seemed excited at all about doing the show, it's interesting he was there pick from the Bachelor franchise, there would've been other willing contestants.  The judges were just cruel to him though I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out tonight and refuses to dance.

 

Evanna getting a 5 was bizarre.  I wonder if Len coming from the UK was worried about her being too big of a celebrity and was trying to even it out with the score?  She's not really a celebrity here and I thought she had a pretty good dance with it being night 1 and Keo (always goes out first) as her partner.

 

I feel like Val is being wasted with Nancy.

Mary Lou and Sasha are a great pairing, size and energy wise.

 

I do feel a bit sorry for John Schneider, I'm sure he's only doing the show to pay his alimony bill.

[Toonces464]

20 minutes ago, vavera4ka said:

They really need to do that. I mean so many athletes already live in LA area. I want more hockey representation. There are two NHL teams, one more up north, bunch of AHL teams. Usually if a player stays in California long enough to justify acquiring property, they retire there.

(And no, Sean Avery is not hockey. There are pesty players who you hate until they are on your team, and then there's Sean Avery.)

I

As long as we don't get Erin's coke addled husband, I'm okay with a hockey player.

 

7 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

I feel like Val is being wasted with Nancy.

So only other pros should be "wasted" on contestants that are older or aren't ringers?

[vavera4ka]

1 minute ago, Toonces464 said:

As long as we don't get Erin's coke addled husband, I'm okay with a hockey player.

 

My picks would be Brad May, Niedermayer brothers, Louongo... I know they are all Canadians, but... lol oooh oooh let's get Bryz!!!

and my pipe dream - Hilary Knight <3

[HappyDancex2]

I liked Tinashe and the new pro.   Don't know who either of them are but she had great energy and attitude.  I'll be interested to see her translate her skills to other types of dance styles.  I did think the new pro did choreo a teeny bit "frenetic"....it was go go go and no pauses!  Exciting but I got what the judges were saying.  That being said , nice job.

I think Keo is cool and I'd love to watch him dance with a pro.   In all the seasons he's been on he just hasn't conformed to the formula or he never watches the tape back.  Or if he does watch the tape back he isn't seeing what a lot of us see.   He's just super dynamic with his body and if other pros are taking it down 50 percent he needs to take it down 75 percent to make it look like a proper pairing with an amateur.   When he dances all I can see is him.....he is tall and powerful and just neat to watch.  His movements are so crisp.   Which unfortunately drowns out his partner and makes them less visible and even more unskilled compared to him.   He just might not be capable of dancing down.

I definitely would not have tuned in to watch last night if it didn't show up on my DVR.  For me this came to lack of marketing.  Or marketing in the wrong area.  I remembered the announcement of the cast came out a bit ago but I had zero idea of when it was starting.

[RomanKat]

3 hours ago, BeeBop88 said:

Well, some bad news for DWTS in the ratings department. The first night (premiere) had 8.07 million viewers and a 1.1/5 rating/share. If I am not mistaken, that is approx. a 2 million people viewer loss from the last fall season of DWTS. The Big Bang Theory and The Voice trounced them.

Maybe the Emmy-delayed start put the DWTS premiere up against stronger competition than usual??  Also, maybe there's dance show burnout, with SYTYCD and WOD both wrapping up 2 weeks ago, and WOD planning a winter edition.  And yes to what others have noted, that Athletes season probably disrupted established viewing cycles.  Curious to see how Junior DWTS pans out ratings-wise.

[TeeMo]

Jenna noted in one of their “get to know the pairs” interviews that she was really noticing the difference between teaching someone who has no idea what he is doing like Joe and someone, ahem, more trained like Adam. I am not sure if she forgets about her first go round as a pro with that kid Jake or what but so far it seems that perhaps she is a decent choreographer but not so hot at actually teaching someone without any experience. Joe wasn’t the worst I have ever seen on night one until he forgot the steps and then panicked and he was the only contestant with such a glaring mistake last night.

Year in and year out I’ve noticed that the most successful pros are the ones who you can always notice are keeping eye on their partners and adjust their own dancing accordingly. Your partner is moving a bit slow? You slow down too. They get nervous and start moving ahead of the song? You pick up your pace too. You can watch Cheryl or Lindsay or Emma or Sharna or even Val and see them do this. Jenna does not and neither does Keo. They perform the dance as choreographed no matter what the hell their partner is doing and it amplifies the mistakes their partners might make. Witney used to be guilty of this too but she has improved a lot. Anyway, I am curious to see if Joe can recover tonight or not. 

[Beatrice]

What has happened to me. I don't like anyone yet, not even any of the pros. Usually there is at least one person that captures my attention. Like someone else mentioned, I'm over all the for lack of a better word sob stories. Just let me see some non dancers learning to dance. 

I think I could get behind Nikki except for Gleb. 

[Quickbeam]

19 hours ago, Wings said:

I am just watching now.   Jesus, Mary Lou’s grimace, some would say smile, rivals Giada (chef).  That is not a compliment.   Time has not done her favors. 

Maybe it’s my own advanced age but it is so hard to watch these gymnasts age. She made me wince, that rictus grin. Time’s a bitch. 

[BeeBop88]

4 hours ago, Toonces464 said:

I blame this in part on the athlete's season. I've always said if they go to once a year (which is what they basically did by running that crap), people would move onto other shows. I'll bet the ratings take a huge hit tonight up against the premiere of This Is Us.

People also like to blame the lack of star power for the contestants, but I think the lack of star power for the pros hurts them just as much, if not more. I'm sorry, but Witney, Gleb and Keo do not pack the same kind of punch as Karina, Derek and Maks, and bringing in one original pro each season is not enough to attract a large audience. That being said, they really need to up what they consider a "star" -- social media influencers and Bachelor contestants are not "stars." How about switching up the athlete too? I always love the football players, but there are a lot of recently retired baseball players that are big enough names, and there are other sports they can look at too. Maybe they wouldn't have so much trouble getting good contestants if they didn't wear these people down with huge production numbers and two dances in Week 1.

ITA with you. The fact that there are a lot of unknowns dancing this season, also hurts ratings. But for a long time now, the DWTS pros have been more well known than their "celeb" partners.  I think it is getting harder and harder for DWTS to find contestants that want to do the show. And the outcome of that is what we have now. Plus I don't think winning a MBT really increases a celeb's career. I have a hard time remembering what pro and celeb won a couple of seasons ago and I am an avid DWTS viewer. I don't think any big time Hollywood producer would ever say to their assistants "Sign that gal/guy up for our next big movie, they just won a DWTS MBT!!" No one in Hollywood gives a flip.

[BeeBop88]

25 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

Maybe it’s my own advanced age but it is so hard to watch these gymnasts age. She made me wince, that rictus grin. Time’s a bitch. 

Man, I am glad that I am not the only one that noticed that grin/grimace/snarl, whatever it was, that was plastered on Mary Lou's face 95% of the time.  Her face looks like a man. I am no Miss America, but I mean, come on!!! Usually I don't comment on people's looks, but the fact that Mary Lou was on the side of a sexual predator, is unbelievable to me.

[Wings]

28 minutes ago, BeeBop88 said:

Usually I don't comment on people's looks, but the fact that Mary Lou was on the side of a sexual predator, is unbelievable to me.

I missed that, who? 

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, BeeBop88 said:

ITA with you. The fact that there are a lot of unknowns dancing this season, also hurts ratings. But for a long time now, the DWTS pros have been more well known than their "celeb" partners.  I think it is getting harder and harder for DWTS to find contestants that want to do the show. And the outcome of that is what we have now. Plus I don't think winning a MBT really increases a celeb's career. I have a hard time remembering what pro and celeb won a couple of seasons ago and I am an avid DWTS viewer. I don't think any big time Hollywood producer would ever say to their assistants "Sign that gal/guy up for our next big movie, they just won a DWTS MBT!!" No one in Hollywood gives a flip.

And sometimes the ones who don't win get the career boost. Look at Erin.....she came in third, and now she's got the high profile gig co-hosting the show. What are Nicole Sherzinger and Evan Lysacek doing these days?