To think Strictly is just a bit....shit?!

[Chocolateflapjack01]

I know the majority will disagree with me but .....

I never watch it, but tonight thought I’d put it on. Just watched the last 40 mins of it and am finding it one big cringe/ cheese/ bore fest.

I have no idea who any of the ‘celebs’ are, I’ve thought all the dances have been a bit meh. The judges all seem to be clamouring over one another for attention.

I’m a big fan of dancing on ice and always watch that, but I guess I like that because of the danger element, just makes it a bit more exciting.

I’m just bored watching this and struggling with all the gushy cheesiness.

Am I the only one who doesn’t get the massive hype around it?

Strictly is a big bit shit and it just shows how shit our lives are when people look forward to it all day

It just goes on for soooooo long. 2 hours is way too long. I’ve been losing interest this year purely because I just can’t commit that much time on the sofa in one go. I might watch it with the ironing on iPlayer during the week, but it doesn’t hold my interest anymore.

To say there's 'no dancing' on the programme is really silly isn't it? You can hate it or prefer something different but don't suggest that those who enjoy it are being conned into watching a dancing show with no actual dancing. If you follow Sir Matthew Bourne on Twitter he's usually watching and is clearly moved to comment positively on technique and ability quite often. Or does he not know anything about dance either?

What you mean is that you, personally, don't like for format or the presenters or the judges etc. And that's absolutely fine. There's lots I don't like on tv but I don't try and suggest it's something it isn't to try and justify my dislike.

YANBU, it’s Saturday night background tv at best.

I like the colours, costumes and music, and sense of routine on an autumn / winter Saturday night is nice. But other than that, I honestly couldn’t care less and couldn’t tell you who scored what etc!!

Course they dumb the dancing down, you can’t expect someone off breakfast telly to do a championship level waltz with a week of training. The ballroom world might laugh and look down on it, but I’d bet most of them would sell their grannies to get the call.

If you don’t like it then don’t watch it.

Anyway, don’t like it don’t watch.

is this the producer?

It’s not for you. No problem. I love or as many people do. We’re all different. 🤷‍♀️

@NashvilleQueen

To say there's 'no dancing' on the programme is really silly isn't it? You can hate it or prefer something different but don't suggest that those who enjoy it are being conned into watching a dancing show with no actual dancing. If you follow Sir Matthew Bourne on Twitter he's usually watching and is clearly moved to comment positively on technique and ability quite often. Or does he not know anything about dance either?

What you mean is that you, personally, don't like for format or the presenters or the judges etc. And that's absolutely fine. There's lots I don't like on tv but I don't try and suggest it's something it isn't to try and justify my dislike.

i'm laughing at matthew bourne being the word on latin/modern ballroom

there are basic dance steps....and i mean basic. the kind you see when kids are working through rosette level exams. ....from age 3!! the rest is mary poppins style (bourne) choreography making it look theatrical.

my parents run a dance school....if your kids want to learn to dance off the back of strictly they will be massively disappointed when most of the focus is on their feet, heels and position! not the throwing your hands around and twirling in the air whilst wearing a floppy sequin dress

its not a dance show at allots a mockery of ballroom/latin dancing

its good to see most mumsnetters can see through it all though

Only ever watched it once. I don't know how long the show was but there can't have been much more than five minutes of dancing in it. The rest was all filler: ZZZ-list slebs talking about themselves, judges being arses, presenters being crap. I'd much rather watch YouTube videos of people actually dancing.

I do like it but it I on for far too long and wish iplayer had a option just to watch the dancing with out of the before and after chat.
Better than last year with the constant references to social distancing but does fell like they have been stories in the papers about the celebs they want out as other people were poorer dancers but stayed in. Though not sure how it works now one had dropped out entirely

Love it and always have! It's not intellectually taxing, but quite happy with a bit of Saturday night night escapism.

I've danced (and competed) for years, and have a lot of friends who do too. We all still watch. Granted, we complain quite a bit about it now (especially couple's choice!).

We all preferred it when the pros were all competitive dancers, rather than "show-style" dancing, and yes, it isn't that representative of what you'd see at a competition.

But I think you and your family are being a bit unfair sneering at it gardeninggirl — dance classes and university societies all over the country have had a numbers boost from ballroom and Latin (ish!) dancing being shown on prime time BBC.

I'd love somebody to do the same for classical sequence!

I used to really enjoy it. Then it wasn’t as good, so I recorded it, so I could fast forward over all the crap (amazing how quickly I could watch it this way). Then I just thought, what’s the point, I don’t know most of the celebrities and it is more a popularity competition than a dance competition! Can’t be arsed with it now.

i stopped watching it after 'fringe' lady.

These days I tend to wait until the latest installment is over, then go onto YouTube to just watch the clips of whichever performances interest me that week. No stupid comedy skits, scoreboard 'drama' or gushing from the hosts or relatives. Ahh.

I watch it on catch up and fast forward all the filler, I want the dance, judge feedback and scores, same with the results show.

Haven't a clue who the celebs are though

Apart from Robert Webb

I think the show is running out of people with bigger personalities to dance now, those who added a bit of the fun factor to the show, such as Ann Widdicome John Sargeant, Russell Grant etc.Each year now, there are some people you may not have heard of. And of course, some of the humour has gone out of the show, since Bruce Forsyth left, and then passed away.

When we moved back to the UK six years ago I was really looking forward to it as I had heard it was so loved. We watched a couple of episodes and couldn’t be bothered any more. We were most bored with the clips between the actual dances and thought the program was about three times as long as it needed to be. Had it been dance after dance it could have even watchable. Haven’t bothered for years now.

YANBU

Whenever I have watched I've always thought "They're pretty good" for a judge to score then a 2! I think you probably need to know a bit about dancing to fully enjoy it - I don't.

I have to say I also object to Strictly on a bit of a moral basis due to the 'Strictly curse' of people leaving their partners/spouses/mother or father of their children for their dance partner. Why do so many people do it!! And why doesn't the show ban these relationships? It must be so hard to watch your OH dancing intimately week after week - just seen a clip of a pair last night who seemingly nearly kissed I think is the BBC can't stop their dancers breaking up couples and families they need to look at the kind of dancers they employ

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams

I've danced (and competed) for years, and have a lot of friends who do too. We all still watch. Granted, we complain quite a bit about it now (especially couple's choice!).

We all preferred it when the pros were all competitive dancers, rather than "show-style" dancing, and yes, it isn't that representative of what you'd see at a competition.

But I think you and your family are being a bit unfair sneering at it gardeninggirl — dance classes and university societies all over the country have had a numbers boost from ballroom and Latin (ish!) dancing being shown on prime time BBC.

I'd love somebody to do the same for classical sequence!

I lurk on the Strictly thread and love your insights Polka! I rewatched (clicking through from your thread) some of the best of the earlier years (Austen Healey's Paso remains possibly my OMG! moment) and agree that it's become too lights and action. I'd love for them to go back to simple production without all the flashing colours. I know precisely NADA about dancing but loved the original pros but it's still leading-up-to-Christmas relaxing nostalgia for me. I remember when DD was little and would want to see the "ladies in their pretty dresses". It could do with losing 45 minutes though. Anyway, I shall be catching up with the thread later, just wanted to say thank you for the loveliness!

The thing is, you don't need to watch it.

Dd loves it, so it's something we do together on a Saturday evening, and she loves to research what makes what dance good / bad, can tell me whether a dance is Latin or ballroom and talk about various steps etc after researching online - I'd rather she googled that than watched random shite on YouTube.

It's a harmless, family show that my dds love. Is it my taste? Not particularly, but it's not offensive IMO.

The great thing about TV now is that there are a million channels and streaming services, so there is always and option to watch something else. Not like we only have 4 channels and nothing else on.

I really enjoy Strictly. It is just a lot of fun on a Saturday evening. Nobody thinks for one moment it’s on a par with championship level dancing. It’s great to see people push themselves to do something they’ve never done before especially people with disabilities. The same sex couples have been groundbreaking too. The pros dances are usually pretty incredible. It’s just meant to be joyful and lovely and it mainly is exactly that.