By Jennifer Larson

It’s official, America loves to dance, or at least we love to watch other people dance. Zap2it.com says “ DANCING WITH THE STARS earned a 12.7/20 for ABC, which helped earn the network an easy win in the ratings war for Monday night.” This really comes as no surprise, since the show has continued to make a steady rise in popularity from the first season to now. At first glance, I thought the show would go the way of PIRATE MASTER. I mean who wants to see washed up celebrities prance round the dance floor? As it turns out, millions of people do. The show owes a huge debt of gratitude to Evander Holyfield, for my money. He was the first mega athlete to have the courage to put on their dancing shoes. Thanks to him, others like last year’s winner, Apolo Anton Ohno and Lailla Ali, have been willing to follow. And now that the show is such a huge hit, they have celebrities coming to them instead of having to chase them down.

This season has people like Jane Seymour, Marie Osmond, and the standout thus far, racecar driver Helio Castroneves. Between him and that Cheetah Girl, this should be an entertaining and very competitive year. These two came out of the boxes already looking like professionals. And that begs the question, is the show recruiting people who are too good right off the bat? Part of the fun of the show is in watching celebrity’s crash and burn. Who can forget Master P, who refused to slip on a pair of dancing shoes choosing to keep his sneakers on instead? Not only that, he didn’t take the show or practice seriously, which was bad for his poor partner, but it was some of the best TV I’ve every seen. Then there was Billy Ray Cyrus last year who, bless his heart, gave it his all but just had two left feet.

It looks like ABC hit on a much needed and long awaited concept … programming appropriate for the whole family. It’s been a long time since parents could sit around the TV set with their children and all enjoy what they were watching. For that I will give the network 3 perfect 10s.