Television Musings

Rants and Raves of a Romance Writer
By Kathy Carpenter

So You Think You Can Dance

With dancing shows all the rage right now, there is of course along with everything else the good, the bad and the ugly. Dancing with the Stars is a favorite. Who can resist the urge to watch a favorite celebrity as the attempt something that is new to them.

So You Think You Can Dance is another favorite. This is a show with amateur dancers dancing together trying to become professionals. And they can dance. Each week they dance to other styles than the genre for which they are known. In most cases doing a wonderful job. They learn as they go and get better and better. Making it hard for the viewer to vote for their favorite in the end.

I bring up this show because dancing is art. And even as a viewer I've grown. The first season when the dancers did the contemporary numbers, I just didn't get them. I did not like them at all. Last year the third season. I began to feel some of the contemporary numbers were not too bad. And this season I actually found myself enjoying most of the numbers. Appreciating the art of the dance.

What do you think? People on these shows definitely grow. From the experience, from the judges, and from the other contestants, in the case of the dancing shows, from their partners, and choreographers.

Do you think we as viewers grow and learn from watching reality shows?

I also just finished watching "The Baby Borrowers" I missed the final episodes but I know the couples that took part in this learned a tremendous amount, some even broke up over the whole experience. Finding out their relationships could not hold up under the pressure life might hold for them. The hope for the show was teenagers would watch and learn from what they saw these teens on the show go through. One would hope teens could watch and learn. But I suspect in this case it may be an experience unfortunately they need to go through themselves. But even if the show helps a few I guess the show was worth airing.

Until next time,
Kathy Carpenter
kathy.carpenter4@gte.net