Non-Fiction TV: I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own
This thread is for non-fiction TV, including but not limited to reality television (So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef: Masters, Project Runway), documentaries (The History Channel, The Discovery Channel), and sundry (Expedition Africa, Mythbusters), et al. [NAFDA]
I just go in assuming that the "street dancers" have more training than what is shown because Nigel wants a story. That said, Big Country is really going to have to show me something to make a believer out of me.
Also, the first episode of Breaking Pointe was amazing and I want that Artistic Director to come and be my friend because he is fabulous.
ARRRGH. My roommate has just gotten me into the Glee Project...and suddenly my shitty-ass cable company has taken half my chanels (including that one) away from me. For no reason. I call them up, and they're like "should be working!" and can't get someone out here for a week. Fer chrissake. It's bad when I WISH I could have Comcast. But no, we're redlined into this awful cable company. THANKS, City of Seattle!
Oooh, Selling London starts tonight on HGTV. I love Selling NY and Selling LA (I can't stand Million Dollar Listing, or the one like it set in New York, though). Selling London should be total real estate porn.
OK, I'd totally forgotten it was coming back, but I'm super excited to be watching a new season of "Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition"! I like how real it is (unlike Biggest Loser--while there's motivation and serious changes at the beginning, they're still living their lives, and doing it over a year, not just a few weeks). ...though it does make me feel like I have no motivation or willpower.
Is it just me, or are they sending everyone to Vegas?
I kinda like the vibe of so many dancers getting to Vegas where there will be ruthless cuts. I don't know, I just find it appealing.
Have there been any ballroom dancers auditioning? I don't remember seeing any.
We haven't seen any ballroom dancers yet, which doesn't mean that there haven't been any, just that they haven't seen fit to show them on TV. I expect to get some in Salt Lake because that's kind of a ballroom dance hotbed. I also think ballroom kids are inclined to give the show a pass. They really haven't had that much success since the very early seasons, S2-S3. SYTYCD is really a show for contemporary dancers and hip hop kids these days. And they have Dancing with the Stars now, so they might as well try to get in their professional troupe rather than go on SYTYCD so they can be voted out first or second or not even make it into the top 20 like Giselle last year. It's sad because some of my favorite past contestants have been ballroom kids.
This could be an entirely non-PC question, but is anyone else finding it weird that not one of the male dancers in Breaking Pointe is gay?
Hah! Yes, Amy. But then again, if you WERE a gay ballet dancer, would Salt Lake City be your troupe of choice? (I mean, sure, if you get in, that's awesome and amazing and better than a lot of people will do, and better than some places like maybe Boise, but...). Also, it's possible they're just not the people the show is focusing on?
That's what I was thinking, too, meara -- both the Salt Lake City thing, and that they're not the dancers being focused on, but then I have to wonder if they're not focusing on any gay dancers *because* they're in SLC, you know?
Just seemed odd to me.
I really did not like how the soloist who wants to be a principal dancer had his whole "I'm not gay"-ness all out on front street in the first episode. It felt very much like overcompensating. The other boys just seem much more low key about it, so I'm not mad at them. That said, I'm sure there must be gay dancers in that company so I can only assume that either they didn't want to be featured on the show because SLC doesn't seem like the gay friendliest place or the show just chose not to feature them. And I mean, clearly the artistic director is gay, right? They haven't explicitly said so, but it doesn't seem like it's a secret.