Dance War: Not Nearly As Awesome As The Title Sounds

Why, oh why, can my TV dreams never come true? When I first read about ABC’s new dance show, Dance War, I immediately pictured kind of a Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome-type thing, but with sequins. There would be a gladiator-style arena, dance-offs, and the promise that not everybody would make it out alive. Boy, was I way off on that.

Turns out, Dance War is more of a So You Think You Can Dance? meets American Idol that’s being shoved into ABCs midseason schedule so your mom doesn’t get the shakes in between seasons of Dancing with the Stars. The newest reality cha-cha show is hosted by ex-boy bander Drew Lachey, winner of Dancing with the Stars’ second season.

According to Zap2It, the show is “based on the British show Dance X, [and] will have DwtS judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli assemble teams of dancers who compete in choreographed singing-and-dancing face-offs.”

Sounds…awesome? I don’t know. It has the potential to be hilariously late 90s boy-band/girl-groupy, filled with matching outfits and emotional breakdowns, but I have a feeling they’re going to take the concept way too seriously and try to make it all inspirational. I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed for a 98 Degrees reunion episode, because the mental image of the Lachey brothers in shiny silver shirts looking embarrassed while the other guys are just happy to be on TV? Now that’s a show worth tuning into. Of course, I would still prefer my original version of Dance War, but let’s face it. I’m a visionary—and just a little too ahead of my time for Hollywood.

Dance War is scheduled to premiere midseason on ABC.