Why do people want Bruce out?
Why change the judges?
What is wrong with this current format?

I like Strictly exactly how it is.
It went a bit mad over the whole John Sargeant affair, but I thought last Saturdays SCD was brilliant, and a great return to form.

Please leave it alone. It'll be horrible if it changed!

I think that the overwhelming majority who watch the show agree with you entirely.

However this is a forum and as such there is a vocal minoroty who dislike some or all aspects of the show.

But at the end of the day we are all entitled to our opinions.

It doesn't need a radical change. It just needs to get back to its roots as a lighthearted entertainment show based around dance. It has all got too serious - based on what production team thought was needed no doubt.

Judges back to giving feedback on dance only (no personal comments)
Contestants in it to enjoy dancing not constantly going on about winning (a pink trophy!!)

It has lost some of its innocence as it has grown as a ratings success. The atmosphere is being ruined by it being seen as a 'real' talent show.

Although don't you think that some of the viewers (posters here) are also taking it all far too seriously?

It doesn't have to change - change just for change's sake wouldn't be good. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it should always remain the same either. As long as they're well thought out and are for the programme's good, rather than being introduced as a hasty reaction to a ridiculous media circus, then hopefully any changes will be ok.

I'm always a bit shocked when I see people on here slating Bruce. I think it's remarkable that a person of his age is still working and this is something that should be commended, not condemned. His jokes might be very safe, but I don't think that's a bad thing. There are plently of other shows where you can hear jokes full of swearing and smut if that's what you're after.

I would like Strictly to change, but only in the sense of undoing some of the changes they've made in recent years i.e. go back to 12 couples max and alternate latin and ballroom dances - that's all.

Yes - of course. I mention the producers as the judges going OTT could (& should) have been stopped & the underlying message via VT's/ITT is too competitive. Its focus on being a talent show is out of balance with what the show started out as being. This has led to extreme views on both sides which is what exploded over recent days. Those who want a 'serious' dance competition against those who just want a bit of fun on a Saturday night. SCD laid very successfully inbetween these two extremes for 5 series. The producers are the ones who can get this under control via the messages they send out & keeping a tighter control of the judges. It seems this is underway as ITT seems very much more to be concentrating on the fun side this week. Good.

Yes, exactly. Those are the only kind of changes that really need to be made. Oh, and also not having so many weeks where all the couples are doing different dances. To me, it's more interesting to see how differently each couple interprets the same style of dance when I see them in the same show. But these are all minor things and aren't a drastic overhaul of the programme.

The only thing I would like to see changed is that they make arrangements to cover if/when someone is forced to leave so that we don't end up with a 2 couple final. This will be the 3rd time it's happened - with Tarbuck, Brook & now Sergeant all leaving different series.

I've already mentioned on another thread but: if someone leaves dwts, they have a week without elimination, but they name who would have been going out. To keep voters happy, all the couples scores & votes for the non-elimination week are added to the following week .... It works for them. It could work with Strictly.

That sounds like a good idea. That, would work over here!

Because certain people didn't like it when the voting didn't go their way.

If the show is going to give a voice to the people, it cannot dictate how they speak.

Either remove the public vote altogether or accept how it goes.

I agree with both of these points too.

I can't understand why we don't follow the DWTS idea and I was really hoping the BBC would do that this time.

The only change I would like to see is that the judges should just make comments about the dancing and not try to influence the voters.

The BBC made the rules up, the judges should abide by them.

The recent carry-on was a complete shambles.

I think it's a dodgy assumption to make that a forum like this one is in some way representative of wider opinion.

There's a lot of hype, hysteria and general silliness in here...real cringeworthy stuff...which is best ignored or laughed at.

Like the show itself, it's best not to take other FMs too seriously.

I think criticism is valid in two areas. I really think Bruce Forsyth should go as he's just not up to the job any more constantly fluffing his lines, some people may see it as charming I see it as plain embarassing incompetence. What is he there for and what does he bring to the show that someone else couldn't?

I think the general format and the panel should stay as they are, on the whole it's entertaining.

What will have to change is how they select the celebrity dancers, a precedent has been set last week and they need to make sure that all celebs are at least basically competent enough to pass as possible winners, which means no more have-a-go plucky celebs. This might mean a very low number of couples next year. They really can't afford any more "bad" dancers or we may well have a sorry rerun of last weeks events which may kill the format forever.

I also agree with both of the posts you're agreeing with

I used to want Bruce out untill Fearne Cotton stepped in for CIN - since then I've decided that he can stay as long as he likes.

Agreed Fearne proved that it's not as easy as it looks...and I don't mind her but she's not right for Strictly unlike the man himself.

SCD is a winner for BBC so they are not going to cut back on the nos of celebrity dancers/weeks on tv. Likewise the have a go celebs are part of what makes SCD fun in the early stages. To have weeks & weeks of 'competent' dancers does not good reality tv make. What will kill the format is if they go too far in making it a 'serious' dance contest.

So what exactly is to prevent a week by week repeat of the Jon Sergeant debacle next time? If they do nothing about the quality of the dancers then it's an accident waiting to happen, and does anyone honestly think the show could survive that?

Yes.
It wasn't JS as such it was the reaction to him.

If a poor dancer going all the way was going to ruin Strictly, it would have been ruined in Series one and we'd never have seen it again, but it didn't. It straddled the twin entertainment/dance show stools through Chris Parker, Julian Clary, Fiona Phlips, Kate Garraway, Kenny Logan ...

JS wasn't in the bottom 2 as many times as Kate, he didn't get as far in the competition as Kenny ... but neither of them were dragged onto ITT 2 weeks running to justify their continued presence or had some of the judges saying in any media outlet that would give them time or space just how wrong the public were and how everyone who had voted should go away and think about what they had done.

If they are going to keep the public vote, they have to accept that their actions and comments does affect it for good or ill. I would guess they actually want less able celebs - in the same way that people watch X-factor during the auditions only, it gives an instant hook to the series and it also means that the more able dancers generally get a bit more time to improve quietly in the background.

My changes would be: fewer couples; no seperation of male/female contestants (all it did this year was shine the spotlight on how poor most of the men actually were!); alternating dances, I would also have them dance a ballroom and a latin dance apiece before the first person leaves to give a more rounded view of their capabilities; some sort of (or even any) contingency plan for withdrawals and no dance off.

I love it just the way it is right now, I love the judges, professionals, Tess, Bruce... the lot

Yes, I agree there - I feel that much of the conflict between the judges has been whipped up (dare I say stage-managed?) by the producers. It certainly feels that way to me.



Agreed.

Yes, and I would really like to know what they would do if a second couple had to pull out. They would be up the creek without a paddle it seems.