The Joey fan in me is ashamed that I forgot to check out his site during his run and listen to his comments on the Horse's Mouth. It seemed that he fielded suggestions from the website as well, so make of that as you well.

I know he does the voice of King Neptune in Spongebob Squarepants.

It’s editing, I tell ya, editing!


Who did he play on Santa Barbara. Wow, I wish I could remember him as Cricket’s dad. Was this way back when Lauralee first started on Y&R? I watched occasionally then, but don’t remember him.

Cheers barkley! Sometimes I just have to read in words something I have just seen but described in much colorful language than I could come up with!


I might have a reverse take on this. What you mentioned above is why I think the judges kinda got frustrated with Joey, esp. Len and Bruno, because they thought he had greater potential to be a technically good ballroom dancer, but he never lived up to it. And I don't really think it's lack of skill, more like he didn't really focus on posture and footwork.

Every week the judges harked on him about improving his posture/footwork, and it seemed Ashly pointed it out to him how technique is fundamental and tried to work on this with him, but it just doesn't seem like he believed it or it really never sank in. So while he would stard out with pretty good posture, it tends to degenerate because it's the last thing on his mind. I think as an entertainer, he was more focused on performance, which I appreciate as a viewer, but I think he had the talent to actually gain better carriage and extension, he was just being hard-headed. Maybe Bruno should also have recommended ballet lessons to him!

Take for example the Jive, if a more tenuous dancer like Kelly could at least attempt and partially succeed in producing quick, sharp leg flicks, I thought Joey was more than capable. Except he didn't really try or even care to try. On the other hand if Evander even got to the point of doing Joey's swing (that was not ballroom Jive) with the loose leg, I think the judges would have been thrilled to no end.

jacobndiana, I also remember him from Y & R. I remember her mother divorces John Abbott and marries Cricket's father so that she could spend her remaining days with her first love. That was the first time I remember seeing John O'Hurley.

Word on his hotness! If I were to ever meet him in person, I would probably make a big fool of myself. Normally, I don't go for older men but I am a sucker for silver foxes. Hubba hubba!

ETA: I am in my early thirties so no cane here either.

Absolute WORD.

It seemed like Joey decided to go strictly for the fan vote and went for a "screw the judges" strategy. Where Kelly listened to the comments and did what she was told, Joey seemed to do things to spite the judges. I thought Joey with his youth, athletisicm, and stage presence would have been the winner. He needed to listen to the fine tuning points.

There was no reason Joey couldn't have done a traditional ballroom jive. He didn't have to go all swing, he had the athletic ablility and balance to pull of the correct steps. I put a lot of the bad theme choices on Ashly - she's the pro and if it's a case of Joey running roughshod over here, then she needed to get ticked off a whole lot sooner than before the last week.

I must say that even though we didn't have the top tier pros in this guinea pig "season", I really think the general public won't care if they see first tier or second tier. Besides, how could the top pros consider doing this show anyway? The focus is on the "celebrities", not the pros, and I would think world class current competitors don't care to be thrust aside from the spotlight.

The fox trots and paso dobles can now be seen on Raphael Pungin's site!

Dance Videos

The spotlight isn't very glaring in the ballroom world. Even for world class competitors it's a small world, and any dancer who turned down the opportunity to perform in front of 15 million people would be crazy.

I hope that, even if they have a chance to get more A-listers, that they choose celebrities that can actually dance or are at least willing to work at it. The "stars" they had this time had a long way to go and a lot of room for critique, but they were still able to pull off impressive movements and performances, except for Evander. Poor, poor Evander. That said, I would rather see 6 Kellys next time over 1 Evander. Kelly's dancing has a lot of problems, and part of the fun is catching the little "Ha! She slipped!" moments, but overall her and Alec's dances are well-done and enjoyable. If we just have to see famous people lumbering talentlessly around the floor the whole time, it will get boring.

One of the reasons that these top 4, especially Peterman, have done so well is that they're willing to completely commit, and they're not really afraid of taking risks and looking silly. Stars that are closer to the A-list may be more concerned about their images, and they've been fawned over for so long that a lot of them are able to coast and they have lost the original rule of acting: commitment to the role. Very few A-listers that I can think of are able to completely pour themselves into their parts fearlessly...Ewan McGregor is one (not that it would happen, but damn, how much would I flove to see him on this show?), Johnny Depp is another, but I really can't picture him doing this!

This weekend I'll be dancing in my first comp since DWTS starting airing. Much of the US ballroom world will converge on NYC for the event (what a way to spend July 4).

A few things I'll be grateful for:

*The music will be much better. At least there won't be any sambas masquerading as pasos, or rumbas as foxtrots.

*Although I'm sure to disagree with some of the judges' marks, at least I won't have to put up with the twerpish Bruno telling me I'm not dancing a foxtrot when I am.

*It won't only be the guys with silver hair trying to dance elegantly.

*If anyone says 'I'm the grace kelly of ballroom" or 'I'm the best looking guy in the competition" they'll get laughed out of the building.

Word. I'm guessing the average viewer is probably someone like me who knows next to nothing about ballroom dancing. I have no idea who any of these professionals are, or whether they are top tier or B list. It doesn't really matter to me, since all the ones that we've had this season, B list or not, seem to be quite impressive. As long as the pros can do what they are supposed to do, they are all interchangeable to me. I agree that the focus is on the celebrities.

Ok, I vaguely, vaguely remember the plotline. It's been 20 years!

Louis is retired from competitive dancing, but:

Jonathan:

Jonathan & Louis are the most titled, but I definitely give the rest kudos for their awards.

I think Joey thought this was going to be a piece of cake and didn't realize how much he would have to practice and practice and practice. Doing NKOTB dancing is quite different from ballroom. As a lot of people have said, Ashly's fangirlness has kept her from keeping him in check.

I think a lot of the appeal of this show comes from watching how the celebs develop skills over time. If you got people who were already advanced, then the dancing would be better, but the development process might not be so obvious or so interesting.

For all the caviling over each competitor's good and bad points, they've all done astonishingly well. Most people could not hope to improve so fast. Then again, most people don't have access to such focused training regimes, nor do they have the incentive of "screw up, and 15 million will see it".

It was so cute how he kept saying "ok, I love you, bye-bye." But overall, what kind of drugs is he on? Or is he just naturally incoherent?

True...it could be that Joey doesn't lack skill, just focus. And maybe performance is more important to him than technique. Either way, I don't think it's the music's fault that he's gone.

I'm more inclined to agree with the people who think the real disadvantage Joey had wasn't in the music but in the instructor he was assigned. He needed a Charlotte more than John did, because it seems like Charlotte can be very firm when necessary. Not that Ashly's not capable of teaching Joey the basics, just that she's kind of a pushover.

Part of the reason I want to see the same pro's -- besides that they have endeared themselves to me just like our celebs -- is that I want this batch to benefit a bit from the success of the show, considering they put so much effort for this trial season.

Professional ballroom dancers to me are much like gymnasts or figure skaters, there is a narrow window for winning championships, when they retire only a fraction get a successful coaching career. Charlotte & Louis probably don't need the help, but I would like to see Jonathan, Alec, Edyta & Ashly get their names out there a bit more now that the show has become so popular. Let's have them for another season, then rotate in retiring champions every now and then.

Agree. Also it may become too much of a popularity thing with more well known celebs. I like this mix they have this season!

ETA blackwing, you know regardless of all the Kelly love/hate, Rachel love/hate, etc. Trista hate seems to be a uniting concept. I almost feel bad for her, I think we are actually lucky she was around, because when your worst dancer is such a sweetie and trouper like Evander, it feels so wrong to vote him out first... so Trista served to be the perfect scapegoat.
Hee! Joey too cute! He's old school, baby! We use to say this to each other too -- gasp, can't believe -- a decade ago.

I do hope that one lesson that is learned from all of this is that America hates Trista. And that ABC should never ever ever put her on any of their shows ever again.

"Ok, I love you, bye bye" is a quote from Animaniacs. The "Buster and Mindy" cartoon with the toddler and the dog. It's one of the only things Mindy can say. It cracks me up that Joey says that. I say it all the time.

"America Hates Trista" should be the subtitle of this show.

OK, this made me snort in a very unladylike fashion.

Another reason that they might get better pros if the show is picked up again in the fall: for this show, they had to get pros that were willing to skip Blackpool (effectively the world championships - it's the biggest and most prestigious competition in the world). That meant no really top-notch competing professionals. (Now that the show has taken off, I could possibly see a Blackpool semifinalist being willing to consider it, but when it was a big unknown - no way. And I still don't see anyone missing the finals for this.)

It was killing me not reading this thread all day yesterday, but I couldn't watch the show on Wednesday night, and had to tape it and watch it last night. The other dancers have said most of what I would have said on the thread, anyway. I will comment that I would rather dance to "Big Spender" than whatever it was John & Charlotte were foxtrotting to. I commented to my husband as soon as it started, "nice music!" About "Eye of the Tiger", though, the less said, the better.

Came in on the show during the tango/jive week, and regret I didn't see them all. Only knew Evander, Rachel & Mr. Peterman. So, it was fun figuring out who were the stars vs pros of the other teams, just based on the dancing. Am loving every aspect of the show now, and don't want it to end. Seeing the progress of the celebrities & their commitment to improve, has been endearing. Worked the night of the samba, and now feel lucky I have it on tape & can re-watch. Alec & Kelly's samba was smokin! Loved their choreography and how they interpreted the music.

Agree upthread re: next season as to choosing stars that can actually dance well. I mean those that have a natural ability, along with some that have had dance training already but it's secondary to their primary profession. This first season's cast deserves credit for withstanding the criticism, in front of millions of viewers. And, taking the risk of looking foolish, at times. I would like to see the hosts ask the pros for feedback, after the dances. Seems almost disrespectful to ignore their input, given all their efforts. It really is a privilege to have the opportunity to be coached by elite level dancers.

My dream choices for next season:

John Travolta
Robert Duval-Saw him do a brief scene in a movie where he played Ellen Barkin's dad. Very noticeable he can dance well. Then learned he's an avid amateur tango dancer. Flies down to Buenos Aires annually, to tango.
Patrick Swayze-Wonder if he'd qualify, as his background is as a dancer.
Kurt Browning-The best singles male dancer in figure skating, imo.

Oksana Baiul-Natural ability ala Travolta. But, can they do it all?
Can't think of any other females, except perhaps Vanessa Williams, and she'd be similar to Swayze, as to prior experiences.

Perhaps because the cast are stars, it's been appealing to see them be vulnerable & eager for approval by the judges & audience.

I think they had a really hard time finding "stars" to do the show. I know one backed out for money reasons, but I wonder how many are out there kicking themselves because they passed up the opportunity.

I'd love to see Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) on the next version.

I think Patrick Swayze is an excellent choice for Season 2. His stock has fallen enough that it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think he'd actually do it. John Travolta...eh, I don't think so. Dude would have to drop some of that extra poundage he's gained since his dancing days.

I definitely agree that the caliber of "stars" will improve dramatically for next season. I kinda hope that John O'Hurley finds some way to stick around, too. IMHO, he's what's made this season the success it's been. He and Tom Bergeron have added the dose of humor this show has without seeming to belittle it all.

As the weeks have gone on, and the ratings have remained strong, I've noticed that the commitment of the participants has stayed especially strong. I wonder if that would have been true for somebody like Joey who's had to endure some strong criticism from the judges.

I bet that TPTB at ABC wish they'd been able to extend this season out longer, especially now that they've had to dump that "Welcome to the Neighborhood" show. It's a shame that it all has to end next week. But, please ABC, take a lesson from your "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" days. Don't kill this franchise by trying to make it more than it is -- cotton candy.

I didn't know that John was on soaps. I didn't know that Kelly had posed nude. I didn't know about dancing shoes. TWoP is educational!

I'm officially on the Alec is hot train--I rewatched the last performance and wow! I am in my mid thirties and think Peterman is cool, funny, good looking and I would love to hang out with him but I wouldn't put him in the "hot" category. Alec oozes sex, John not so much. I still want John to win, though, and will be upset if he does not.

About the next season: I like the idea of these same professionals coming back (any idea that gives more Alec is good by me) because it would be interesting to see how they do with different celebs. I would love to see "tough" Ashly wrangle her celebrity into shape.

Someone way upthread suggested that all the couples dance to the same music. I love and don't love the idea. It would equalize the playing field, it would be interesting to see how the dancers work to the same music, but it would be repetitive and possibly boring. I think the music on this show has, for the most part, sucked and that is one thing that really needs to be reworked.

I would also love to see all of the couples have a chance to keep working on their dancing for a longer period of time. I want to see their progression as dancers and some of them were eliminated too soon. I don't know if that could work, but I would like to see it tried. Would Evander have improved with another week to work on his dancing? Would Trista? It just seemed like they were gone before they really had a chance to get into a groove.

I don't want former "dancers" (like Swayze or Travolta) to compete. I enjoyed seeing celebrities who like to dance but have had little or no real training give this a shot. I like seeing how they get better (or not) over time and with lots of work. No matter, though, I'm looking forward to the next season.

ITA. I also like the combination of audience votes and judges' scores for elimination.

For the next season it would be fun to start with the same number of contestants, so there aren't too many of them to do good comparisons, but slow down the rate of eliminations to one every two weeks. Give the judges and the audience a chance to see and judge the progress before eliminating somone. Overall, I think the order of eliminations has been pretty fair on this show. If it weren't for the audience vote, Kelly would have been eliminated first by the judges and we would not have gotten to see how much better she could get.

Someone upthread mentioned wanting to see Paul Mercutio on DtWS. He currently judges on the Australian and New Zealand versions of the show...so maybe he will do a US version!

I'm the "I want to see the same professionals again" camp. I definitely want to see what they can do with new celebrities and what new connections they will form. I also read Alec's Q&A on Kelly's site and he mentioned that the professionals that did the British version of the show did experience some career sucess as a result. So I'd like to see "our" professionals benefit as well.

A story I read suggested that in other countries producers continue to have trouble recruiting celebs despite the popularity of the show, so any sense that the celebs might be upgraded is probably wishful thinking.

In fact, when they see from this year what the celebs are being asked to do, future celebs might be more reluctant, not less, to join (I gathered from Evander's remarks that he had no idea he was actually going to be required to learn to dance, and none of the celebs thought they would have to put in so much time.)

My totally unbiased suggestion would be to move the show to NYC where there's a more diverse minor celeb pool--not just tv series' cast offs and other entertainment types.

I mean, wouldn't we love to see Diane Sawyer or Katic Couric shakin' n bakin' on the show? A morning show host in the UK did Strictly come dancing and promptly fell for her male partner (Katie and Louis? Well, maybe not)

Wouldn't the ladies love to see if Derek Jeter or A-Rod could get down?

Matthew Broderick facing off against wifely Sarah Jessica Parker?

And someone from politics/the culture wars, like maybe one of those babilicious radio commentators. Monica Crowley (photo)

Or maybe the very leggy Ann Coulter doing a tango.

Jaz:


That is just what I was thinking of but I forgot which show it was from. Are the Animaniacs on DVD? Time to catch up on stuff like the State Capitals sung to the tune of Turkey in the Straw.

edited to add: Standard -
'

My TV would not survive. I would go all Elvis on it (and I don't even own a gun!).

I would rather have hot pokers rammed through my eyes than see any more of Katie Couric on TV.

Me next please. And preferably before that hatchet-faced hatchet job Ann Coulter comes on too.

The only way I want to see that bitch dancing across my TV is if she falls and breaks a hip.

So agree, but that's just not entertaining enough. She'd need to be doing a fast samba roll with her partner, and somehow spin terribly out of control, flinging freely like a spinning top, straight into a camera and spontaneously burst into flames, thereby incinerating her into a pile of ashes on the spot. Now THAT would be good TV.

Okay, somehow a woman with a gun makes me want to dance with her (You saw that dance scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, no?)

But if not, then how about her ?

I like it just as it is. Nobody too overexposed (well, except Trista this time and she left early enough that she didn't bug too much...) No major divas in attitude, nobody that I already see way more then too much of, but celebs that I could enjoy because they were enjoyable, not celebs that I've watching in the hopes of seeing them crash and burn. I don't enjoy screaming at people to get off my TV. DWtS is cotton candy TV; I'd hate to see TPTB turn it into trainwreck-TV or famewhore-TV

I scanned the previous ten pages and am just contributing this:

I have no "natural" flexibility whatsoever, but when I spend enough time (months) stretching, I can do a sit split and flatten my upper body between my legs. When I don't spend the time, I look like I have arthritus. If I work for months, I can sit with my legs straight out and fold my torso over. If I let it go, I can't even sit up with my legs straight out. So for me, flexibility = being in tip top shape. I have a friend who is out of shape yet can split her legs so her hips are double jointed, and when she does her 1/2 assed yoga, the instructor makes her do the "turtle" (forearms sliding underneath her split legs while she's sitting) to give her a real stretch. I hate her.

I think John is winning because he excels more than anyone else at the "two shall dance as one" thing. He and Charlotta are always a pair, always in concert, and she seems to trust him. Even if he's not a great dancer, she seems to know he's not going to fuck up. I don't get the sense of her "taking care of him" while they're dancing, even if, when you look at his feet, he's not doing much and he's selling the thing via his attitude. She just rocks. Without being any kind of dance afficianado, to me she's obviously the class of the professional field. John lucked out with her.

Ashley and Joey were a car crash waiting to happen.

Alec has a lot of ego and I think that matches well with Kelly. She actually doesn't strike me as hot, hot, hot - she's hot LOOKING, but pretty matter of fact and unassuming in her style, which works, IMO. She can throw stuff away and not tense up.

Rachel reminded me of my coffee table book "Astaire Dancing". I LOVE Fred and Ginger (love Croce's book and this one). "Astaire Dancing" critiques Cyd Charisse, of the fabulous line and killer legs. The author feels she was great in posing and not a great mover. She "slammed into position". I feel Rachel had the line, but she wasn't the best mover.

ETA - J&C sucked with the rhumba - not organic to either one, but otherwise, they're the ones who make me understand the dances. I can see J O'H isn't as athletic as others, and he's cheesy, but he gets what each dance is saying, and he delivers.

I also hope that ABC doesn't go all Who Wants to be a Millionaire on this show, but I'm betting that they, at the very least, will change to a more American Idol style of voting so that they can add another night each week for a ratings-grabbing results show. I have mixed feelings about the current "audience last week + judges this week" results method, so it might be nice to change that up a little. Plus, yay for another night to feed the obsession! (Until the inevitable overkill starts to get to everyone and a huge backlash happens and we all begin to hate the show.)

I'd hate it if Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer, Ann Coulter, or Monica Crowley were cast on the show. I particularly loathe Sawyer and Coulter, and probably wouldn't watch any episodes with them.

I like the idea of Kristen Bell, but being from a non-ABC show is probably an obstacle. How about Yunjin Kim and/or Daniel Dae Kim?

Lisa Canning definitely has got to go. I'm sure there are plenty of cable access programs out there which match her hosting skills.

Put me down for a NO vote on this one - I don't want to see "Dancing with the Dancers" - I want to see fish out of water. What would this show have been without Evander? The interest is watching them learn something they aren't good at.

Let's say they had a formula other than desperation to land anyone willing, and they go with the previous formula...

Trista Rehn = ABC reality star, leads to Bob Guiney (who also started as first a contestant, then became the prize, though I cringe expressing like that).

Kellie Monaco = ABC soap star, might as well go for Mrs. Bob Guiney, Rebecca Budig (Greenlee on All My Children).

Rachel Hunter = model once affiliated with aging rock star, leads to Christie Brinkley.

Evander Holyfield = Someone where you might think they could have some athletic grace and dexterity, but it just doesn't translate to ballroom dance, leads to Howie Long.

Joey McIntyre = Beloved of teenage girls twenty years ago, leads to Jason Priestley.

John O'Hurley = Scene stealer from supporting cast of a popular sitcom, leads to the guy who played Wilson on Home Improvement.

Would you watch?

I agree.

One way for them to stretch the show out would be to have dances that are original, and then a compulsory dance where each couple gets the same music and choreography, so we can compare apples to apples.

It might be difficult. Earl Hindman, who played Wilson on Home Improvement, died in 2003.

Maybe Richard Karn, who was Al...or even one of the boys. They are grown up now.

I also don't mind the scoring system either as it's designed to reward consistency. One can't necessarily strategize to slum a week as any past mistakes (or past brilliance) effects the outcome later.

To me this just screams Barry Bostwick.

I like the scoring system too because your fate really depends on how you dance from week to week. Have a bad week and you risk the chance you might be going home.

I got a cramp just reading that passage.


I would watch that in a heartbeat. What a wonderful mental image.

Several of the professionals have wins at Blackpool maybe they have less experience overall--Edyta and Ashly just because of their age need more help on the choreography end of things.

It's interesting that Jonathan didn't dance until he was 20, but was athletic in high school.

I'd as soon poke my eyes out with a hot iron than see Ann "Skin & Bones" Coulter on Dancing with the Stars.

Famewhore married to another famewhore: Amber Brkich Mariano
Seasoned (Soap) Actor: Eric Braden (Y&R) Yummy!
Ingenue: Amber Tamblyn
Teen Heart Throb: Ricky Martin (he can shake his bon bon anytime! but can he couples dance?)
Sports Figure: Howie Long--I bet he'd do it, too! Good Suggestion
Former Supermodel w/ older man: Cindy Crawford--What's she up to these days?????

The way they should do it for the finale is this: John and Charlotte dance their dance and Alec & Kelly do their dance. That takes us to 9:20. The phone lines open up from then until 9:55. The others who were booted do their thingg. At 9:55, the judges reveal their scores for J&C and K&A without knowing the phone vote score. Those two things make up 90% of the vote (45% each) and the phone vote from this week adds in the rest. I don't like that this week's voting determines the winner when we haven't seen them do their final dance.

That would take out the whole West Coast because they don't see the actual live show, it's on tape delay.

Isiscloud, your suggestions are good, but they are strongly tied to CBS (Y&R, JoA, TAR/Survivor), and that would probably be an obstacle. However, Joan has been canceled, Amber's soap role was on ABC, and we know her father can dance so that could work.

AT actually danced with her father more than a couple of times while she was on GH. The show did an annual eppy where there was a charity ball and members of the cast provided the entertainment. AT did some Broadway style singing and dancing with her Dad on those several times. However, she's got a fairly hot movie career going right now, so I don't think she'd have time to do DTWS.

The problem with getting anyone with a lot of current popularity is that the commitment to this show is 2 months. That's a lot of time for an actor who has a day job to add another 20-30 hours to their workweek. Unless he or she wanted the exposure (or unless the network pressured them as perhaps was the case with Kelly), I doubt many working actors would want to give up so much of their time for the show. Even doing it on hiatus would eat up the majority of their down time and prevent them from taking movie roles, etc. as so many TV actors do in the summer.