‘Dancing with the Stars Junior’ still
New TV shows deserve a better chance to shine
By Naomi Ambrose, Staff Writer
Can you believe that Dancing with the Stars is in its 27th season? If you can’t get enough of the show, I’m sure you were excited when October 7 arrived as you got to watch Dancing with the Stars Juniors—the latest spin-off of the Dancing with the Stars show.
Or perhaps you were excited to watch your other favourite spin-off shows with your beloved celebrities that either debuted or returned to the television airwaves last month. Before you get excited to watch your upcoming favourite celebrity spin-off show, please take a moment with me to analyze the implications of the overabundance of spin-off television shows with celebrities.
The proliferation of TV spin-off shows with popular celebrities is another reminder about the role of popularity when the executives, chairpersons, and chief executive officers at television networks and studios determine which shows get on the air. Television shows with big name celebrities get a lot of attention. Take Big Brother: Celebrity Edition as a classic example. When the show debuted earlier this year, it “drew a 1.8 rating in adults 18 [to] 49 and 7.3 million viewers, making it the top-rated and most-watched show of the night,” wrote Joe Otterson in a Variety article.
Dancing with the Stars has a similar relationship with celebrities. The show focuses on famous people who dance various types of ballroom dances with professional dancers. Several stars who reign supreme in the reality TV, sports, and entertainment spheres have appeared on the show. Many of these stars have been well known for decades, though some have withered away while others have kept their staying power in the limelight. Whether these stars’ lights have dimmed or continued to shine, they usually still have a large fan base who are excited to see their favourite star in another role—this time as a ballroom dancer.
Maybe these excited fans could instead be given a chance to like the performance of an unknown actor from a well-written TV show that is not very popular. I’m sure you have watched several shows you liked that were cancelled after one season or even after a few episodes. Maybe the show’s ratings were not high enough because the cast was not well-known—or maybe because celebrity spin-off shows are hoarding all the attention. Because of the cancellation, we may never see the extent of the performance given by a brilliant new actor. We will never know if the show could have been a hit.
If a new show was given a chance to become a hit, we could have been introduced to a new way of understanding our world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear some new lines in a new show written by a new producer? Wouldn’t it be awesome to laugh at a new joke or to ponder a thought-provoking comment introduced by a new writer or actor?
Please take a moment to celebrate new shows. In the meantime, enjoy your favourite spin-off TV shows with your favourite celebrities.
