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Strictly- how many more years??
boddism
Posts: 16,436 Forum Member
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Following on from todays announcement about BB, it made me think about the iconic shows on TV and their longevity....
How long do we reckon Strictly has left?? Is it safe for another 5 years? Or would a poor year be the beginning of the end?
Just wondering on what everyones thoughts are on this... I can see the tinkering with the format is a sign of inertia starting to set in just a little....
Whats yr opinion??
How long do we reckon Strictly has left?? Is it safe for another 5 years? Or would a poor year be the beginning of the end?
Just wondering on what everyones thoughts are on this... I can see the tinkering with the format is a sign of inertia starting to set in just a little....
Whats yr opinion??
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...and what would I did from September to December :eek::eek:
I agree, but I do wonder when the publics love affair with dancing will start to wane...
I think theres the slightest hint that the X-Factor show format is starting to tire a little. People are beginning to find it a bit samey (the ending of THAT era cant come fast enough for me! PMSL!!:rolleyes::p:p:p)
Any reason??
I actually think this years line up, which may look uninspiring on paper might actually be a good one. I think theres some characters on the show like Tuffie, Natalie Cassidy,Martina etc and I reckon that the human element might make it more interesting this year...
Plus more of a level playing field than last year. Last years fatal mistakes were: blandness of celebs and dancing, and pretty obvious from the beginning who were gonna be the big hitters...
This year has potential...
The format is of interest too. For the first two or three series the show seemed to take itself a bit less seriously, but perhaps that was down to a few fun characters taking part, and the freshness of it all. In that time it became a huge hit. As they tinkered with it, adding more couples and the dreaded dance off, it's got altogether more intense, with training hours etended massively and more seemingly at stake. Bad temperedness is an inevitable result, culminating in the JS furore of last year. Notice how the Maria/Joseph/Oliver shows used a similar sing-off style decider for the elimination process, but these shows have fallen by the wayside.
To balance the argument, I would say there are some TV genres that just keep on going. Cookery programmes and gardening have carried on in one form or another for... well, for ever. Now they're about beating the credit crunch with recipes and growing your own - they've adapted to suit the times. So maybe, and hopefully, Strictly will carry on in one form or another, and will be in the category of the enduring/adaptable entertainment/dance show. Or at least if it really has jumped the shark, lets hope dance itself will continue as a lifestyle trend for the nation for many years to come. After all, like cookery and growing stuff, it's pretty damn good for you!
Its greatest enemies are the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and the Murdoch-owned newspapers, which have already identified the PR gaffs linked to the show as a means of attacking the BBC - their raison d'etre. :rolleyes::yawn:
SCD7 will be under fierce scrutiny and you can expect acres of disparaging coverage. :yawn::sleep:
I am not confident that the BBC is able of managing its own executives' stupidity - but I am crossing my fingers that this year's line-up might keep everyone's attention on the dancefloor - which is, after all, where it should be ...
The Daily Express this morning (not that I read it - we have it available for customers at work) was screaming "Row as cocaine ban Martina Hingis joins Strictly", and I was just thinking... they're INVENTING "rows" for the show now.
This year looks promising from their ability to get interesting celebs including some in their 20s. There was a danger on SCD and similar shows that they couldn't find the right people in terms of personality or ability and anyone young or very good wouldn't go on after being bad and just belonging to the right age group became a ticket to do well. The issue is whether they can keep the relationship between effort and ability and staying going becuse if it becomes Strictly Panto And Bad Dancing no one good will do it and much of the audience will turn off. On the other side the judges have to tone in the criticism so its not an unpleasant experience for anyone actually doing the show.
This year may be important because it has to reverse the trend from last year towards anti-judge voting and voting ignoring the dancing. First impressions are that they will have to be careful as several of the people who might dance really well in this year's list might be the people who don't come with a standard SCD fanbase.
The hidden problem for strictly may be that at some point there may not be many people left who would be good but there will be a longer list of people who would be really excellent but actually have too much dance training to go on. As more and more younger celebs have been properly trained at some point there will only be overqualified people and sportsmen left. There are lots of singers and actresses who could dance better than Alesha - the question is do you want them on and who else will there be in 5 years time?
I would say that Strictly has a few series' left in it.
God yes; especially now that they've changed the format to basically a singers only version of Britain's Got Talent.
I think the reaction to alesha will be an important thing for this years show. If the public warm to her then all is well for both her and Strictly. If she doesnt then Id say that she could be replaced pretty quickly with someone like Darcy Bussell or Camilla, but the effect on Alesha would be catastrophic. Its liken the Jade Goody thing when she went back to BB. If its what really "made" you (and yes, its NOT what made alesha but it certainly bought her legions of new fans) then returning is a considerable gamble...
methinks the ratings will be more important than ever this year... which is why I think the "personalities" this year are quite important... its drama and human stories which make these shows so appealing..... I think thats what fueled the enormous success of Series 5, and where series 6 was a bit of a let down. Likewise if X Factor cant produce any more SuBo's or similar people to capture the publics imagination they too will suffer a dip in popularity...
Well some papers cant wait to slag the BBC.... but tbh I reckon the BBC are pretty pleased with any publicity that takes attention away from the X Factor. And "celeb takes drugs" isnt going to shock anyone too much REALLY is it??:rolleyes:
I agree with nearly all of that. The one point I would disagree with is I think that they will almost certainly stick with Alesha to the end of the series come what may, because after all the fuss over signing her it would be a disaster for the show to admit it hasn't worked. When you leave someone you've been in a long-term relationship with for someone half her age you have to stick with the new relationship for a certain amount of time, even if it's going horribly wrong, because to admit you made a mistake is even worse. Or so I'm told.
I think you misinterpeted my comments on Alesha a little. I meant replace NEXT YEAR, which I think could be done with a minimum of fuss tbh if another decent signing was made.
I also wonder how much longer we are going to have Brucie, Tess, Len and Anton. All are getting a bit long in the tooth. I could see Alesha moving quite easily from judge to presenter (replacing Brucie) if she proves popular. She seems to be heading in a TV presenter direction in general tbh...
Sorry, when you said pretty quickly I thought you meant during this series. I can certainly see her only being a judge for a year and agree that it wouldn't be a big problem for the producers if that happened.
Alesha would be a better fit as a presenter than a judge, but I don't see her replacing Brucie because I think the producers will want a man as the main presenter and a woman in the green room. If Bruce is replaced from someone within the show I can only see it being Anton.
Unless Arlene's sacking is like Louis' on the X Factor. "Oh the panel isn't working, get Arlene back"...cue extra publicity.
The SCD vs X Factor rivalry is a lot less real than it's made out to be, and I don't think the BBC should be pleased that one of its flagship shows is getting this kind of publicity. Of course "celeb takes drugs" is a total non-story - but the angle the Daily Fail, Hellegraph and Excess will take is that Licence Fee-payers' money shouldn't be used to employ a drug addict, the BBC is eroding public morals, etc. ... :rolleyes:
This kind of coverage is a total :yawn: but it is designed to tarnish the show in the minds of the public. If the anti-BBC press can succeed in rubbishing Strictly, they've made much more headway in their mission than they would in attacking the likes of Jonathan Ross.
As I said, the focus needs to stay on the dancefloor this year - more than ever ...