Ballroom Duress

[aristophains]

Talking of tangos and slaps in the face, Strictly Come Dancing's back tonight. The rest of 2013 is now sullied.

How long has it been going? 10 years? If you went back in time to before it started and went up and down the country, asking the millions who were to become its regular watchers if they felt that what their lives were lacking was a four-

Comments

[davidn]

Has it seriously been ten years since Strictly started? (You're right, I never noticed how much I hated that abbreviation but now I do, too.) That's rather disturbing, as I remember when it was brought back...

I haven't ever seen the programme, but America has two dance-themed ones which I can't tell the difference between, both involving Nigel Lythgoe in some form or another (namely undead by now, most likely). If anything, provided I don't have to watch any of them, I actually prefer the existence of them to The X Factor/Britain's Got Talent (is there an appreciable difference between the two?) because at least the former don't actually get their entertainment value out of making fun of the mentally handicapped.

Television is really mean-spirited now. And ironically, they don't even virtually kill anyone in a corridor full of saws.

[aristophains]

Nine years, it turns out. They won't let next year's tenth anniversary pass without ceremony, gods help us. There's been some suggestion in the media that the show's years might be numbered, simply because celebrity candidates are running out. On the other hand, I also read that they've moved to a bigger studio this year, allowing space for a larger studio audience and extra room for Forsyth's ego.

Now that you mention it, the destructive criticism that pervades X Factor and BGT do undermine the real talent that emerges. I don't watch them but always enjoyed the TV Burp coverage, so I was excited to read that Harry Hill has written an X Factor musical.

You're right, too much modern television is like a bullying giant, a Goliath who seems undefeatable. And it can't hold a candle to Knightmare, whose first dungeoneer David set out 26 years ago today.

[bristolian_kam]

TV has hit an adversarial point of no return, I think. It doesn't matter if 49% detest what you do, as long as 51% like it.

But I do agree: though I no longer watch X Factor or any equivalent, and haven't done so since 2008, there are individual performers that I have followed. Incidentally, I've spent a lot of the last week listening to the easily-forgotten Will Young, and marvelling at how high-calibre a live performer he is.

I think we've enjoyed the Halcyon age, and what we consume now will always pale in comparison. Did you know about the new Fifteen-to-One? Sadly not featuring William G. Stewart, who, one presumes, can no longer be insured to stand and read. Ironically, an Australian with a missing foot can be.

Ahh, well. when 'Strictly' descends down the chute, they'll create a new dance called the gang bang to liven things up. I might watch it then. ;-)

[aristophains]

I was delighted to learn of Fifteen To One's forthcoming revival, having actively felt its absence for the past decade. It will be inferior without William G. Stewart, who may simply be enjoying his retirement too much to pick up the cards once more. But if a younger presenter is what it takes to increase the likelihood of a full series comeback, so be it. Diminishing returns are still returns. Perhaps they will even restore the Faltermeyer overtones of the original theme tune.

While British television's salad days do seem to have passed, some imported American television can still deliver. Even if their salad recognition is that much less.

[canadanne]

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who despises the nonsensical title and irritating abbreviation of it! Why on earth couldn't they have come up with a better name, like the US version Dancing With The Stars which does at least describe what it is?

I'm ambivalent towards the actual programme... in many ways it annoys the crap out of me, and I hate when a successful programme just gets milked for all eternity even when it got boring years ago. I still find myself watching it sometimes, though, if I warm to a particular contestant and want to see them do well. And I hate absolutely everything about The X-Factor, so SCD is by far the lesser of the two evils for me. But really they're both long overdue the axe IMHO.