The series that ended before the summer break (the 2008/9 series) was 48 episodes. I've read that the new series that started on Saturday is 49 episodes.

SYTYCD was always going to arrive in the UK eventually - though I'm surprised its on BBC One. Although they've tried this sort of thing plenty of times before with Strictly Dance Fever and Dance X, they stand a much better chance of success now they've got the professionals (Fuller and Lythgoe) in to make it. It skews young in the US too, which would be a novelty for a BBC One entertainment show. A nifty way of giving Arlene Phillips something new to do as well and killing that ageism millstone.

I too hope they bring back Cat Deeley. She's a very competent presenter, and it'd be a new face, and a fresh break from the Beeb's doomed recent light entertainment attempts. Leave Norton to Eurovision and Lloyd Webber, where he works quite well.

This gives the BBC three pretty bankable (presuming SYTYCD will at least be decent) talent shows for 2010. The question now is will ITV move DOI over to Saturdays to try and crush it at birth?

I think if Cat Deeley doesn't do it then Claudia Winkleman would seem a likely candidate. I can't see Graham doing SYTYCD? as well as his chatshow and then Wizard of Oz straight after.

I think the show stands a very good chance of being successful here. The judging panel already sounds impressive.

The BBC recent track record with imported formats isn't great though - they always manage to screw them up some how, even if people are gormless enough to accept them rather than change channel.

Labour's objective is to cut a chunk out of the Licence fee, by any means they can.

First it was suggested a chunk of the TV Licence pot would be needed to fund Ofcom's new "Public Service Publisher", until Ofcom realised the PSP idea was a non-runner.

Then there was the mythical cash crisis at C4, but the wheels fell off that claim when C4 started splashing the cash to poach talent, BSkyB revealed the size of C4's cash reserves, and the Tory Party accused C4 of "crying wolf".

Next, Labour moved on to regional news on ITV as their latest excuse for trying to get a chunk of the Licence Fee. Perhaps Tony will "Balls" that excuse up for Labour too.

I think the beeb will need to hope it doesn't skew as young in the UK as it does in the US. Their focus needs to be on overall ratings and in the US, SYTYCD is heavily skewed to young viewers and not particularly high in terms of total viewers. BBC1 will be hoping it takes a wider audience.


I think DOI might have to move. Between their problems with ad restrictions on packed Sunday nights and very few new shows on Saturdays, they probably need a DOI performance show to anchor the schedule. It will probably start the new ITV schedule, though, so it could be avoided.


Nigel Lythgoe will be the showrunner on this, so hopefully he (and Fuller) exercise as much control as possible to keep it similar. And chances are that Talkback will be their co-producers.

Wow, Live at Studio Five is worse than I could ever have imagined.

OH yeah, same here. Much worse than I feared it would be

Surely nobody was expecting it to be good? Ian Wright and Melinda Messenger and some contestant off of The Apprentice was never going to make for anything other than car crash telly.

TBH- it was the only reason I watched

I expected it to be quite bad, but just not as bad as they are

they might settle down and stop shouting over each other.

If you are asking me, ITV are relying on too many new things, all of which could possibly flop. That dating show based on the title looks and sounds dire, The Whole 19 Yards in the media will be accredited as a TW rip-off so therefore has no chance either. Ant and Dec should bring in reliable numbers though.

Do they have any FILM premiere's which they could show on alternate FA Cup weekends in the evening?


Isn't it normally worth just tuning in just for Kate Walsh?

I don't know. Total Wipeout got away with being a It's a Knockout rip off after all.

Good news about about So You Think You Can Dance? but will ITV attempt to kill it off early? I think they will, especially after the Strictly storm. The first Dancing on Ice show will probably be aired 7-9 on Saturday with the result on Sunday, leaving SYTYCD? little room for manouver. I doubt the BBC'll be so willing to clash SYTYCD? with Dancing On Ice.

Strong ratings for BBC1 last night, with the second Casualty hitting Marple, though the figure isn't disastrous. ITV2 did well too. Five's double bill of films did the job for them, while BBC2 did ok. Channel 4 hit a bit though.

Did I miss a treat with Live from Studio Five?

The only good thing about watching Live at Studio Five was the Flash Forward trailer.

What day of the week is this going out ? Should do well for Five.

Agreed, the trailer looks fantastic.

Mondays at 9pm from September 28th.

I'm encouraged by what I've seen tonight in terms of the format. With the right presenters at the helm, they could easily thrash out an hour of this every day.

Unfortunately, the current presenting lineup is FAR too irritating. Ian Wright in particular.

Lucy Verasamy on the weather at 7:25 was the only highlight across the entire hour. *drools*

I sat through it and I agree, the format has potential but it's the presenters who are the problem at the moment, My suggestions to improve the show:

1. Hone in the presenters and make them stop talking each other and stop fidgeting.
2. One person to do the interview and maybe have the other two contribute questions.
3. Rehearse before the show.
4. Stop talking to the floor crew.
5. Get Rid of Ian Wright.

Mondays at 9pm looks like a mistake to me. Its going to be up against top dramas on the main 2 channels.

Surely Thursdays at 9pm in the old Mentallist slot would have been much better.

I agree - what are Five trying to do to it?

Though I'd say maybe Tuesday night rather than Thursday. The Mentalist already had an audience when The Bill came to compete. Flash Forward wouldn't have the benefit of this. In comparison, Tuesday night is very weak and Five'd benefit by pitching a new show there - even if it'd mean CSI repeats would have to be moved.

All sensible suggestions. Although can we change #5 to include the lot of them please?

I didn't rate any of them tonight. I like Kate but she's not a natural presenter. Melinda just talks a lot but what comes out isn't very good and Ian was just painful to watch with no meaningful contributions to make.

They were on the right lines initially when names like Matthew Wright and Natasha Kaplinsky were in the frame.

Thursdays are for football so Five would have a hard time showing it on and off, Tuesdays at 9pm is CSI Miami which is still running until December although I think they could have dropped CSI:NY repeats and given FF a lead in.

The Monday slot is okay and it has a good lead in with The Gadget Show.

I'm starting to wish I'd tuned in to Live at Studio Five - sounds like a blast.

I've also just come across this, which I thought was interesting:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...hp?rssid=20065

Likely to have little short or even medium term impact, but its still an interesting move to see a US broadcaster get into running UK channels. At the moment they say it "compliments our strong ongoing licencing of programming", but you wonder whether they have a long-term ambition to broadcast their shows in the UK themselves.

Studio Five was ok. Maybe something you might consider as background viewing if you were desperate.

A belated well done for Channel 4 on DB's show on Friday. Although, I would imagine that next week's will be halved due to the fact that he didn't actually reveal the trick.

What format?

I think they need to put DOI on Saturdays for that reason. Family Fortunes is good to have in reserve because if the new shows flop, it's a guaranteed 5-6m with a big lead-in.

DOI could be extended a bit as well. It's quite a bit shorter than Strictly as it is and with a bit more length it would run right into the return of Britain's Got Talent. Also, they need to sort out the judges. 4 is enough and let them speak every time.