Tom Bergeron Would Like To See This Major Change For Next Season’s ‘DWTS’
Tom Bergeron wants Dancing with the Stars to score some more real estate on ABC. The longtime host of the ABC celebrity ballroom competition tweeted a sentiment about the possible revival of the long-gone results show.
Bergeron shared an article written by TV historian Marc Berman about network scheduling suggestions for the 2019-20 TV season in which it was proposed that ABC should revive the Tuesday night DWTS results show in a half-hour format, Gold Derby reports. In the article, it was suggested that Dancing with the Stars air in its normal Monday night time slot as well as Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. as a lead-in for the struggling 10 p.m. hour.
Bergeron retweeted Berman’s article and then wrote that he wanted to “second” Mr. TV ‘s thoughts about the two-night return of Dancing with the Stars.
Dancing with the Stars scrapped its two-night format more than five years ago. The downsizing of the show and loss of the results show has made for some controversial changes in the voting format as performance scores are now added to the viewer votes from the previous week, meaning a star could be sent home even if they gave a perfect performance because votes were based on a previous dance. Many longtime DWTS fans questioned last season’s winner, Bobby Bones, whose surprising win wasn’t completely based on his finale night dances due to the nonsensical voting structure.
When Dancing with the Stars changed to a one-night format back in 2013, The New York Post noted that the two-night extravaganza had become too expensive to produce.
“[The producers] will use this time to figure out how to restructure the show and trim fat off the budget,” an insider told The Post. “The show has become too expensive.”
But fans have missed the real-time results show, where a combination of that week’s votes and the judges’ scores determined who would go home.
While ABC did not air a spring cycle of Dancing with the Stars this year for the first time since 2006, the show will return in September.
ABC has not announced the format for the upcoming 28th season of Dancing with the Stars, but during last month’s Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke announced that the reality dance competition series would definitely be returning for Season 28 this fall. As for the number of nights DWTS will air, there has been no indication that the show will go back to two nights a week, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that Tom Bergeron would like to see that change.
