Following in Footsteps Of British Show, ABC Spreads Dance Fever
Reality Program Has Holyfield
Trading Jabs for Fox Trot;
'Big, Happy, Shiny' Era
By BROOKS BARNES and EMILY NELSON
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 1, 2005; Page A1
As a four-time heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield has endured innumerable right hooks and left jabs without missing a beat. The cha-cha, however, just might do him in.
Mr. Holyfield is a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," a new reality TV program on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC. It pairs professional ballroom dancers with celebrities. Gliding -- or so they hope -- through a streamer-draped ballroom built on a Hollywood sound stage, six couples, the women in garish sequined gowns, perform a different dance each week on a live broadcast. Judges haughtily critique their technique, and the losing couple is banished, leaving the others to continue the dance-off. The winners get a trophy.
Sound absurd? ABC thought so at first. "I am fully aware that this may sound like the craziest show anyone in the U.S. has ever heard of," says Andrea Wong, the network's executive vice president for alternative programming.
In its second season in Britain, from late October to December last year, the show drew an average of 10.6 million viewers, or 43% of those watching television. The British Broadcasting Corp. has licensed it to 11 countries, including Russia, Australia and Poland. Colin Jarvis, the BBC Worldwide director of format production, says Spain, Norway and Finland may be next.
Ms. Wong, 38 years old, says reality TV needs regular reinventing and "Dancing With the Stars" indicates where things are headed. Among the first were gross-out shows such as 2001's "Fear Factor," she says. When those shows started to look derivative, networks went for romance with, for instance, "Average Joe." Wish-fulfillment shows such as "Extreme Makeover" came next, followed by a genre Ms. Wong calls "fix your family." Example: "Nanny 911." Now, she says, reality TV is entering a new era: "big, happy, shiny."
TV does appear to be on the brink of dance fever. Fox is preparing a major dance competition show for July. Cable's VH1, meanwhile, has "Strip Search," where 15 men compete for spots in a Las Vegas male revue. "These men are stripped of their awkwardness," VH1's promotional materials promise, "and rebuilt into hunky, lovable dance machines."
As the executive in charge of reality shows at ABC, Ms. Wong says she looks for edgy concepts that will be a hit with today's TV viewers, particularly the younger ones. Over the years, the Stanford M.B.A. has approved proposals for shows on which wives swap husbands and people have plastic surgery on camera. But when the BBC pitched her a program about ballroom dancing, that conjured up a panicked vision of "The Lawrence Welk Show." It didn't make her feel any better that the series was inspired by "Come Dancing" -- a BBC variety show that premiered in 1949. "I just didn't think ballroom dancing would resonate as popular here," Ms. Wong says. (See article on the dance marathons of the 1920s and '30s.)
She says she turned down persistent BBC producers three times. Then the show's creator, Richard Hopkins, invited her for cocktails while visiting Los Angeles. He says he implored her to watch a full episode of the show, which, as of last October, was a ratings juggernaut. She reluctantly took his videotape. "I continued to scoff," she says, "but then 10 minutes into it, I couldn't take my eyes off of it."
Not only did ABC talk itself into broadcasting the show and marketing it heavily, the network also decided to bring it to the U.S. without changing it in any major way for an American audience. "I wanted the same sequins," Ms. Wong says, "I wanted the same glitter."
The more she pondered the concept, she says, the more she believed it would be easier to sell than she had thought. Teenagers might respond to the interactive element; viewers vote by phone for their favorite couples, much as in "American Idol." Younger adults might tune in for the celebrity hijinks and kitschy feel. ("The tears, the taffeta," read one British promo.) Older viewers, meanwhile, might respond to the nostalgia.
ABC's senior vice president for marketing, Mike Benson, is even pitching the show at young men, one of the hardest TV audiences to reach. Skimpy outfits and lots of leg work in his favor, he says. So does the competitive element. The implicit humor doesn't hurt. "You've got a group of people who take this so seriously that it's funny," he says. He has been running promos on ESPN, the cable sports network, and during NBA playoff games.
A dance floor, "Dancing With the Stars" producers point out, fulfills all the requirements of a TV setting: It is "relatable" -- everyone has to dance at a cousin's wedding -- but also suspenseful since there's always a chance contestants will fall on their faces. Movies have used that dramatic device for years, from "Saturday Night Fever" to "Dirty Dancing" to "Strictly Ballroom." And as in Olympics figure skating, a dependable big draw, ballroom dancing offers over-the-top costumes and back-story drama.
ABC is aware that Hollywood has a terrible track record in retrofitting British hits for U.S. audiences. NBC's efforts to rework a version of the British hit "Coupling" famously flopped in 2003, while Fox crashed and burned with "The Ortegas," a copy of the hit BBC series "The Kumars at No. 42." So ABC is approaching the show with some humility. In a first, Ms. Wong hired the BBC producer, Mr. Hopkins, to run the series. In all the other countries, Mr. Hopkins has left the show in the hands of local producers.
Mr. Hopkins says casting was crucial. To play up the cattiness sometimes associated with professional dancing, the judges on the show will be urged to offer stinging criticism, a la Simon Cowell on "American Idol." In the United Kingdom, dance instructor Len Goodman gained cult status for his colorful critiques. Faulting a couple for being all flash and no substance, he famously deemed their performance "all sizzle and no sausage." ABC hired him, too.
To pair dancers and celebrities, Mr. Hopkins took physical size into consideration. He wanted partners to look good together. But he was also looking for potential drama. One couple with potential: Mr. Holyfield and Edyta Sliwinska, a fiery Pole who specializes in the samba and the cha-cha.
Mr. Holyfield and Ms. Sliwinska are both headstrong, producers say. An added bonus is that Ms. Sliwinska's dancer boyfriend, a Russian who specializes in Latin gyrations, will also compete. He'll be paired with a star from ABC's "General Hospital" -- a move born of corporate synergy that producers hope might erupt in a jealous love triangle.
Ms. Sliwinska says she doubts that will happen but won't rule out an altercation with Mr. Holyfield on the dance floor if he fumbles a step. "He doesn't want to mess with me," she says. "I want to win this, obviously."
Mr. Holyfield, who has been practicing four hours a day for three weeks straight, says he'll do his best. "Going into this, I thought I had great rhythm and balance," he says. "Then I saw a tape of myself and just shuddered. I look ridiculous."
Write to Brooks Barnes at brooks.barnes@wsj.com and Emily Nelson at emily.nelson@wsj.com
Reality Program Has Holyfield
Trading Jabs for Fox Trot;
'Big, Happy, Shiny' Era
By BROOKS BARNES and EMILY NELSON
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 1, 2005; Page A1
As a four-time heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield has endured innumerable right hooks and left jabs without missing a beat. The cha-cha, however, just might do him in.
Mr. Holyfield is a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," a new reality TV program on Walt Disney Co.'s ABC. It pairs professional ballroom dancers with celebrities. Gliding -- or so they hope -- through a streamer-draped ballroom built on a Hollywood sound stage, six couples, the women in garish sequined gowns, perform a different dance each week on a live broadcast. Judges haughtily critique their technique, and the losing couple is banished, leaving the others to continue the dance-off. The winners get a trophy.
Sound absurd? ABC thought so at first. "I am fully aware that this may sound like the craziest show anyone in the U.S. has ever heard of," says Andrea Wong, the network's executive vice president for alternative programming.
In its second season in Britain, from late October to December last year, the show drew an average of 10.6 million viewers, or 43% of those watching television. The British Broadcasting Corp. has licensed it to 11 countries, including Russia, Australia and Poland. Colin Jarvis, the BBC Worldwide director of format production, says Spain, Norway and Finland may be next.
Ms. Wong, 38 years old, says reality TV needs regular reinventing and "Dancing With the Stars" indicates where things are headed. Among the first were gross-out shows such as 2001's "Fear Factor," she says. When those shows started to look derivative, networks went for romance with, for instance, "Average Joe." Wish-fulfillment shows such as "Extreme Makeover" came next, followed by a genre Ms. Wong calls "fix your family." Example: "Nanny 911." Now, she says, reality TV is entering a new era: "big, happy, shiny."
TV does appear to be on the brink of dance fever. Fox is preparing a major dance competition show for July. Cable's VH1, meanwhile, has "Strip Search," where 15 men compete for spots in a Las Vegas male revue. "These men are stripped of their awkwardness," VH1's promotional materials promise, "and rebuilt into hunky, lovable dance machines."
As the executive in charge of reality shows at ABC, Ms. Wong says she looks for edgy concepts that will be a hit with today's TV viewers, particularly the younger ones. Over the years, the Stanford M.B.A. has approved proposals for shows on which wives swap husbands and people have plastic surgery on camera. But when the BBC pitched her a program about ballroom dancing, that conjured up a panicked vision of "The Lawrence Welk Show." It didn't make her feel any better that the series was inspired by "Come Dancing" -- a BBC variety show that premiered in 1949. "I just didn't think ballroom dancing would resonate as popular here," Ms. Wong says. (See article on the dance marathons of the 1920s and '30s.)
She says she turned down persistent BBC producers three times. Then the show's creator, Richard Hopkins, invited her for cocktails while visiting Los Angeles. He says he implored her to watch a full episode of the show, which, as of last October, was a ratings juggernaut. She reluctantly took his videotape. "I continued to scoff," she says, "but then 10 minutes into it, I couldn't take my eyes off of it."
Not only did ABC talk itself into broadcasting the show and marketing it heavily, the network also decided to bring it to the U.S. without changing it in any major way for an American audience. "I wanted the same sequins," Ms. Wong says, "I wanted the same glitter."
The more she pondered the concept, she says, the more she believed it would be easier to sell than she had thought. Teenagers might respond to the interactive element; viewers vote by phone for their favorite couples, much as in "American Idol." Younger adults might tune in for the celebrity hijinks and kitschy feel. ("The tears, the taffeta," read one British promo.) Older viewers, meanwhile, might respond to the nostalgia.
ABC's senior vice president for marketing, Mike Benson, is even pitching the show at young men, one of the hardest TV audiences to reach. Skimpy outfits and lots of leg work in his favor, he says. So does the competitive element. The implicit humor doesn't hurt. "You've got a group of people who take this so seriously that it's funny," he says. He has been running promos on ESPN, the cable sports network, and during NBA playoff games.
A dance floor, "Dancing With the Stars" producers point out, fulfills all the requirements of a TV setting: It is "relatable" -- everyone has to dance at a cousin's wedding -- but also suspenseful since there's always a chance contestants will fall on their faces. Movies have used that dramatic device for years, from "Saturday Night Fever" to "Dirty Dancing" to "Strictly Ballroom." And as in Olympics figure skating, a dependable big draw, ballroom dancing offers over-the-top costumes and back-story drama.
ABC is aware that Hollywood has a terrible track record in retrofitting British hits for U.S. audiences. NBC's efforts to rework a version of the British hit "Coupling" famously flopped in 2003, while Fox crashed and burned with "The Ortegas," a copy of the hit BBC series "The Kumars at No. 42." So ABC is approaching the show with some humility. In a first, Ms. Wong hired the BBC producer, Mr. Hopkins, to run the series. In all the other countries, Mr. Hopkins has left the show in the hands of local producers.
Mr. Hopkins says casting was crucial. To play up the cattiness sometimes associated with professional dancing, the judges on the show will be urged to offer stinging criticism, a la Simon Cowell on "American Idol." In the United Kingdom, dance instructor Len Goodman gained cult status for his colorful critiques. Faulting a couple for being all flash and no substance, he famously deemed their performance "all sizzle and no sausage." ABC hired him, too.
To pair dancers and celebrities, Mr. Hopkins took physical size into consideration. He wanted partners to look good together. But he was also looking for potential drama. One couple with potential: Mr. Holyfield and Edyta Sliwinska, a fiery Pole who specializes in the samba and the cha-cha.
Mr. Holyfield and Ms. Sliwinska are both headstrong, producers say. An added bonus is that Ms. Sliwinska's dancer boyfriend, a Russian who specializes in Latin gyrations, will also compete. He'll be paired with a star from ABC's "General Hospital" -- a move born of corporate synergy that producers hope might erupt in a jealous love triangle.
Ms. Sliwinska says she doubts that will happen but won't rule out an altercation with Mr. Holyfield on the dance floor if he fumbles a step. "He doesn't want to mess with me," she says. "I want to win this, obviously."
Mr. Holyfield, who has been practicing four hours a day for three weeks straight, says he'll do his best. "Going into this, I thought I had great rhythm and balance," he says. "Then I saw a tape of myself and just shuddered. I look ridiculous."
Write to Brooks Barnes at brooks.barnes@wsj.com and Emily Nelson at emily.nelson@wsj.com
