Not only does he annoy me everytime he talks over the judges ( who in fact is the 2nd most entertaining part of the show) but his old, tired, corny "one liners" are just that ...corny!

I think if the producers can't get rid of him then I think they should consider giving him a diff role on the show like doing special dance /song numbers between the breaks.

Otherwise....Bruce you are just not funny!

I'm with you on this one, Brucey is certainly past his sell by date on this show

He's the entire reason I always tape SCD and ff through his bits. I know he's a showbiz legand etc, but he is painful on this show. My suggestion would be Anton to replace him.

No, no, no

As much as I dislike Bruce, I think he's part of the bigger picture. If the show went too dancy, too "Come Dancing" it would lose it's appeal.

I agree that Bruce is annoying but the success of the programme was probably based on him presenting it, and anyway who else could they get to present it?

The next spin-off of Strictly Come Dancing will be hosted by Graham Norton....I think he's 10 times worse than Bruce!

I think Bruce's bad jokes are part of the whole set-up now. A part we can all groan at while we anxiously await the results. I am getting mad however at the way he cuts the judges out and still makes time for his own jokes. I think the public at large would like to hear the comments more than the joke. I don't know who could replace him though... Anton is good BUT I would rather have him in the competition. Can I whisper Natasha, Natasha, Natasha?

I agree about the "jokes"

But the contestants have to be in front of judges when they're speaking and Bruce fills while they dash to the green room.

Without changing that format, we're stuck with him.

i think bruce is past his sell by date. but it works here because we know he's a great ballroom dancer, from the hay day of live caberet type stuff, and as such works perfectly - i think its a big part of the success of the show.

much like the way in which the scene in "pulp fiction" with the jack rabbit flash dancing competition works so well - we know what a great dancer john travolta is.

Iain

Ah no, Brucie is a legend and one of the last true professionals of the golden era on TV. Yes, he's corny but that's his appeal ! His one liners are supposed to be bad, even Brucie himself sends them up " I got a laugh for that one !".

I would say the Producers need to have a word with him about talking over the Judges though, he seems to be doing it more and more week by week.
Actually, my one major gripe with the production is, I would love them to either scrap or trim the pre-dance video of training which would allow time for each of the judges to comment on every single dance. That's one of the most important parts of the show, but it's given the least consideration.

Nooooooooooo.... seeing the training gives you a perspective of how the contestants are actually feeling... lets you see whether they are nervous or just how their training is going.. makes them appear more human rather than purely going on and performing the dance. I think that personal touch is contributing towards the show's success. The show is a mix of personality and dance. Take the training videos away and you lose some of that personality.

Totally agree PeachUK. I want to see less of their training videos. Thats how we get to know the individual personalities. As you say.

xx

I didn't have digital TV last series so I never saw the BBC3 show... now I realise how much I missed seeing behind the scenes! I think we should campaign to see more of Natasha and Brendan rehearsing for the Christmas Special. What do you think?

Well all the training videos are shown at least once on ITT on 'BBC2 over the week ! I agree that it is nice to see the personality behind the dance, but I do think they could certainly trim it down quite a bit, there's lots of talk and waffle in some of them, and personally I'd rather hear each judges comment on the dance, which to me is the most important part of the show, then re-watch the same video I've seen 4 times on ITT. It would only take 30 seconds off each video to make an extra 3 minutes of Judges comments !

That depends on exactly which Judge's comments you want to hear. I'd be interested in Len's comments but the others really don't know much about Ballroom at all. They let themselves down at times with their lack of knowledge by the things they say... I think it was Craig last week who told Denise to get up on the balls of her feet in the Cha Cha. You don't go up on the balls of your feet... what you do is use your feet and dance through it which Denise doesn't do well at all due to her flexed athlete's foot.

They're all choreographers and dance experts, they were talking about what they did on ITT a few weeks ago and I've seen Arlene on quite a few dance judging panels etc. The BBC wouldn't hire them if they didn't know what they were talking about. I mean, Sharon Osbourne and Neil Fox were both on signing competition panels and one is a manager of her own husband and the other is just a DJ so SCD certainly has a more informed panel than most of these types of shows.

It's annoying as a viewer to want to hear how the judges differ, what their comments are and to have two get to speak and the other two cut off for lack of time, it's sloppy production. A bit less video waffle or a bit less Brucie banter would leave ample time, and real experts or not it's one of the best parts of the show for me to see if I agree/disagree with the Judges.

Gosh, you have put into words what I have been thinking all week, watching anton on BBC2, he even reminds me of a young Brucie!
Allie

Ohh Anton rocks! I think this show has turned him into quite the celebrity!!! And he has such a great sense of humour too

Bruce kind of adds the cheesy old lady appeal to the show... it's kind of something that you can't live with but can't live without!!! But yes when he talks over the judges it is VERY annoying!! You have to admit though he is improved from the first series - I found him really quite annoying at the beginning of series 1! =S

[quote=Swonky]They're all choreographers and dance experts, they were talking about what they did on ITT a few weeks ago and I've seen Arlene on quite a few dance judging panels etc. The BBC wouldn't hire them if they didn't know what they were talking about. I mean, Sharon Osbourne and Neil Fox were both on signing competition panels and one is a manager of her own husband and the other is just a DJ so SCD certainly has a more informed panel than most of these types of shows.
QUOTE]

They are dance experts but not Ballroom experts. Len Goodman is the only one who has the right expertise for the job. Ask anyone in the Ballroom field what Arlene, Craig and Bruno have to do with Ballroom dancing! It does make some of their comments invalid when they clearly don't know what they are talking about. Yes, the competition is a DANCE competition but it's also a BALLROOM DANCE competition and when everything else is being done in so much specific detail - costumes, teaching, choreography, live band - you'd think the judges or at least 50% of the judges would be Ballroom experts. It must be heartbreaking for the Professional Dancers in the show when they work so hard on the correct techinque and image for the dance to be told they are doing it wrong by some of the judges on a Sat night show. When Julian said the other week that Craig wouldn't know a Paso Doble if he sat on it... he was probably right. The non-Ballroom dancing judges add value in terms of the whole over-view of the picture of the dance but when they lure the audience in to believing that they are Ballroom experts and give us false information as to how a Ballroom dance should be performed then that is a farce to the Ballroom Profession and Ballroom viewers.
And as for the BBC hiring these "experts"... yes they would hire them if they weren't experts because they have obviously already done that. Please note I am talking about BALLROOM dance (I know of their other dance achievements and admire them for that).

Anton is great fun, but I'd be sorry if he was presenting if it meant he wouldn't be in the competition any more.

My thoughts exactly Pony.

Bruce just did another oh so funny joke on Jonathan Ross! Lol

Bruce's jokes are only there for a tie in between the judges opinions and the dancers interview. I personally think u should blame the writers for the jokes as they make him say them...plus the bits where brucey ad-libs are always much funnier than the 'scripted' ones.

Nat
xxx

ps - I'm loving the Anton Appreciation Society here...does that mean I can count on your votes for Anton and Lesley in the Xmas special????

I agree.
Bruce is a legend - and his adlibs are often very funny. I don't know who writes his links, I assume it's not him, but they are often quite lame - but then again, that is part of Brucie's appeal somehow.

The show just wouldn't be the same without him, he gives it an authenticity and a traditional Saturday-night feel that I can't imagine anyone else being able to accomplish.

Thought Tess worked very well with him last night too, I never used to like her but she does a good job.

I do agree. He is a legend and the show may struggle without him for now. When the original Come Dancing was axed, Rose-Marie Ford was hosting it.... and I never did like her presenting it. She just didn't measure up to Angela Ripon.. not sure entirely why but she didn't.

Yeh well what's happened to Rose-Marie's career since then? She was a dancer wasn't she, presented a bit on the Gen Game? I don't think she had the 'authority' to carry a show on her own. (Like Cat Deely - pretty useless. Whereas against my expectations, Kate Thornton has been excellent on the X Factor.)