Originally Posted by ethel_wombat:
“After the first couple of weeks Strictly has stopped being "must see TV".
Is is the contestants none of whom seem to have that spark that past winners have had, is it the judges who are now becoming caricatures of themselves, is it Brucie who is past it or are Tess Daly's dresses too ugly?”
I found the first couple of weeks the worst and nearly gave up because I thought the atmosphere coming from the show was so forced and unpleasant. This series also hasn't been helped by the papers trying to create a race row by insinuating voters were being racist because two black dancers got voted off, and the papers just trying to stir the pot in general whenever possible.
But things improved, eventually, and now that the John Sergeant farce is over, I feel I can really sit back and enjoy the remainder of the competition.
It still hasn't been my favourite series though. The celebs are good and there's not been anyone I've really disliked, but I do feel like the sparkle of SCD has started to fade. I think the show has become too "big", if that makes sense. There was no need to increase the number of couples, and no need to screw with the format (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) do the God-awful girl-girl, boy-boy weeks in the beginning, which was so tedious I nearly gave up on the series completely.
I wish the producers of this show would go back to the less is more approach. I don't like the idea of SCD being a "franchise" type thing but that's what it's starting to feel like and the magic is dying as a result.
I don't think SCD has "jumped the shark" - yet - but if it keeps getting too big, it will, soon.