Good news for
Dancing with the Stars fans!
The ABC network announced early pick-ups of alternative series for the 2008-2009 television series, and chief among them was everybody's favorite celebrity dancing show. The other programs that were renewed for another season include
America's Funniest Home Videos,
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,
Supernanny and
Wife Swap.
During the fifth season of
Dancing with the Stars last fall, the reality dancing show led its time period in total viewers and adults age 18-49. This means that it was Monday night's most watched TV show as well as the number one show each night it aired. In fact,
Dancing with the Stars is ABC's answer to FOX's singing sensation
American Idol:
DWTS was the third most watched show behind the two editions of
Idol.
This is all very good news for
Dancing with the Stars. But I have to admit that it's a tad bit depressing that
Dancing is even in the same category as
America's Funniest Home Videos, which is currently in its 18th season. I understand that there is a perverse and often baffling need rooted in the very viscera of the American consciousness to watch fathers accidentally getting clocked in the nuts by their tee ball bat-wielding toddlers. But
Dancing with the Stars is one of those truly feel-good reality shows that don't appeal to our baser instincts. It doesn't revel in people getting hurt, either accidentally as in
America's Funniest Home Videos or on purpose as in
Big Brother or any other show that attracts soulless backstabbers. It is family friendly entertainment that really entertains, and even educates. How many of you knew what a paso doble was before watching the show?
In other dancing news, season 4 alum
Ian Ziering who was paired with
Cheryl Burke returns to the dancing world as the host of a new reality series on Lifetime called
Your Mama Don't Dance, which premiered last Friday, February 29.
Your Mama Don't Dance explores the complicated relationship between kids and their parents. The Powers That Be fooled talented young dancers from across the country for a chance to be a part of a show that they were taken to believe was called Dance Nation, but when they got there, they found out that they would be competing with a partner, and that partner would be one of their parents.
Which of these other shows do you like the best?
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: ABC
(Image courtesy of ABC)