Mixed Feelings about SYTYCD News

One of my favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance, has been scaled down from two shows a week to one. They’re canceling the results show that normally airs on Thursdays.

To be brutally honest, I fast forwarded through most of the results shows. I loved the group dance in the beginning and that’s pretty much it. I rarely enjoyed the guest artists, except when they were other dancers. Stringing out who was in the bottom three throughout the show was not entertaining. It only got interesting again at the very end, when sometimes you’d get an explanation as to why one person was going home over another.

That said, I’m afraid that by combining the shows the number of minutes devoted to dance routines will be cut. I don’t want to lose even one second of dancing. Therefore I hope that the process of elimination is done extremely quickly, although I just realized they’re in a no-win situation here. If they do the elimination at the beginning it starts the show off on a sad note. If they do it at the end, people will be wondering all throughout the show which dancers are going home. I think they have to do it at the beginning and get it out of the way, and do it as graciously and positively as possible, which they can manage. They’re good at that.

But what about the group number at the beginning of the results shows?? I’m going through the show in my mind, thinking about what they can cut to accommodate both the elimination and the group number.

Oh God, I can’t think of anything! The show with the routines is very tight. It’s dancing and critiques, none of which I want cut. Wait, is this when they give background on the dancers? Except that’s needed too, although that is one area that could use serious improvement. Sometimes we get meaningful information, but most of the time it’s goofy things the dancers say about each other and it’s almost never witty, smart or funny.

I don’t see anything that can be cut in order to incorporate the results and a group dance. I don’t suppose Fox would consider a compromise, giving them an hour and a half?? Please!!

I browsed this wonderful thrift store in Brooklyn yesterday. Some things made me sad though, like this pile of snapshots for sale. Upstairs, I pulled out a painting of what looked like a WWI pilot. On the back it said “To Grandpa, Love John,” and a date. Grandpa must have died, and all of his things were dumped, including the lovingly executed painting I held in my hands.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

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