Strictly Come Woke-ing : Or "just Stop Shouting At Me!"

[Vaughan]

Nothing much on here this morning, so I thought I would vent my spleen about the imminent self - destruction of Strictly.

I haven't bothered to follow all the detail but it seems the latest press feeding time, is to troll back though old footage to try and prove that yet another "celebrity" was bullied.  The question I have not seen asked is this :

Why don't they also look back on the footage (live on air) of what these celebs said about their pro partners on the night when they got voted off the competition?  "I would just like to thank my wonderful partner for all he has done to get me here".   "I have never met such a wonderful, kind and considerate man."   "I know that I have made a friend for life."   "I could never have got so far on this wonderful journey without him".  "Strictly has been a wonderful experience for me". Kissy, kissy, kissy.

Well, they all gush this stuff, don't they?  Every single one of them.  So why complain now, sometimes many years later?  Let me guess - avarice and naked hypocrisy.

I think what has gone wrong with Strictly is obvious.  It was conceived by Brucie, as a kind of Generation Game with sequins, where contestants are expected to learn a complicated skill from scratch and we all have a good laugh at the mistakes they (naturally) make.  It was Bruce's show; he made it happen and it was indeed, very funny and gripping family entertainment.  But Bruce has gone now, and what are we left with?  The fun and the humour has gone with him.  The two lady presenters have become so wooden that they just read exactly the same formula of words off the autocue, every single week.  I think by now, I could recite it by heart, like prayers in Church.  So it is just left to the judges to try and have fun and make a few jokes, with more or less success.

For the dancers, what used to be fun has morphed into a very serious, professional style dance competition where we are supposed to be amazed at how someone who has "never danced before" can be taught to achieve such amazing standards in just a few days.  And how do the instructors actually do that?   With what amounts to a list of increasingly unknown and rather boring TV presenters or "stars" of some Soap or other?   By getting them into a hired gymnasium and yelling at them for hours until they get it right!  How else do we seriously think they do it??

This is what happens in military "boot camps" and it works!  And we all know what they say in the Army :

If you haven't got a sense of humour, you shouldn't have joined.

[rightsaidfred]

Sadly it's not just Strictly, it's just one example of where today's poor darling society has taken over, the real world, discipline and strength of character are things of the past, business now exists to pamper to employees and authority only applies to everyone else.

Fred

[Hylander]

Well said.     We stopped watching it after Brucie left us.    It used to be fun.     Now you just want to get the sick bucket out listening to all the rubbish that is said.

[Gracie]

Very well said

Do you know the other show that really winds me up and stopped watching it after so much drivel from the Judges.....Britain's Got Talent.

The boys and I used to watch it when it was entertaining and there were genuine people with actual talent. It should be re-named.....Britain's Got Self Obsessed Judges. Each one trying to be centre of attention at all times, the women Judges wearing barely there clothes and the men so full of their importance it's embarrassing to watch. For goodness sake have some ruddy dignity

Sorry, rant over 

Grace x

[Andrewcook]

It's like watching Ant & Deck trying to pull funny stunts I did not like Thier show even on Britain Got Talents 

[Roy]

Unfortunately that’s how society is going now !! 
The press seem to think we should all be aware when a so called celebrity brakes a nail. I don’t bother with the news papers now and hardly watch the tv news. 
 

I can’t the only person who doesn’t care when someone of love island is seen eating a ice cream 🤣

[Hylander]

Love Island otherwise known as The Meat Market.       What happened to ' leave something to the imagination'  I am speaking about the women on there.    A bit of dental floss up their nether regions and next to nothing on top.   Pumped up lips, false everything else than possible could be false.          I sometimes wonder where it will go from now on.  What is left , completely naked.   ugg!!!

[Hylander]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

Very well said

Do you know the other show that really winds me up and stopped watching it after so much drivel from the Judges.....Britain's Got Talent.

The boys and I used to watch it when it was entertaining and there were genuine people with actual talent. It should be re-named.....Britain's Got Self Obsessed Judges. Each one trying to be centre of attention at all times, the women Judges wearing barely there clothes and the men so full of their importance it's embarrassing to watch. For goodness sake have some ruddy dignity

Sorry, rant over 

Grace x

Well said Gracie.

[Hylander]

Every time I type the name Gracie it reminds me of my Mum whose name was Grace but they called her Gay for most of her life,   well that was until a few years ago when it was frowned up.      Mum was in a Care Home towards the end and because they could not call her Gay (my father would be horrified to hear this) they called her Kay.    Apparently one day she spotted the breakfast cerial box with Special K on it and from that day on was quite happy in her world to be called Kay.    Now I think that is terrible.   All to please who?

[grendel]

if there ever was a reason I stopped watching TV it is this ^^^^^^^^^^^

[BroadAmbition]

I’m amazed there are some members of the public with an IQ low enough to enjoy watching love island. 
 

I tried it once, muting the sound improved the experience. Changing channel made it really satisfying 

Griff

[CeePee1952]

42 minutes ago, Hylander said:

          I sometimes wonder where it will go from now on.  What is left , completely naked.   ugg!!!

It's already happened!! Ages ago I was flicking through the channels trying to find something decent to watch (yeah right!) and suddenly I was confronted with naked full frontal male/female contestants!! Having picked my bowl of peanuts up off the floor after the shock and before the dog could devour them, I discovered that it was yet another reality tv show on Channel 4 (no surprise there then!). It was called Naked Attraction.  What on earth possesses these members of the public to flaunt all on national TV is beyond me!

Oh - and no - I didn't watch the rest of the programme!

Chris

Edited July 21 by CeePee1952
typo

[Gracie]

It is beyond belief the lack of quality in these programmes. My boys would love to watch Love Island But I won't allow them to watch something that is degrading to both men and women and I hope when my boys are adult, they will have not been influenced by such rubbish, have dignity and intelligence and the belief that you don't need to take your clothes off in front of millions of viewers to get on in life

Grace x

[MauriceMynah]

I think we were far better off when we had far fewer channels to choose from. Yes there were still some awful programs on, but even the dross was of a higher quality than is to be found today.

Obviously we tend to find channels that reflect our normal viewing preferences,  and I tend to watch three or four of them, further,  I have often fallen into the trap of watching things I'm not that interested in rather than turn the thing off, suggesting that I'm old or lazy, or dumbed down or possibly all three.

One thing that does seem to have remained consistent is the high quality of the soaps. I've never followed any of them and doubt I ever will, but they do display a quality to be applauded. 

Well, that's my take on all this, so now you know.

Now, what time is Naked attraction....?

 

[annv]

Hi Vaughan Couldn't agree more. It's not the Ballroom dancing that i use to go too twice a week to learn and pass medals competitions. It may be dancing, but it's not Ballroom. We now get the poor darlings unable to take coercion so they say they were abused. Not unlike the report of bullying in the army by recruit nco's who all they are trying to do is get the best out off lazy recruits. If they could go back to the 60's recruit training !! they would jail the lot. The world's becoming a load of mamby pandys. Man up and take responsibility for your own life not sit back and expect someone else to wipe your ar!!!. John

[SwanR]

4 hours ago, Vaughan said:

For the dancers, what used to be fun has morphed into a very serious, professional style dance competition

Vaughan I think your post was spot on and is what I have thought myself. I enjoy seeing the dance, the costumes, the live music. But the pros have become household names to the viewers themselves. And they’re naturally competitive. There were a few like Anton who made the best of whatever celebrity they were paired with and were entertaining. 

To me the unsung heroes are the band and the singers. They barely get mentioned these days. I’ve seen Tommy Blaize perform live and he’s absolutely incredible. 

[NeilB]

I've not had access to terrestrial TV for about 3 years now and don't miss anything!  Plenty online and I can pick and choose what I want to watch and when.

A friend of mine put me onto a Scottish comedy called Still Game, it's available on Netflix and BBC I Player.  It's like a naughtier version of Only Fools and Horses but with a couple of pensioners and a few regular extras.  Took me a few episodes to get into and it's giving a few belly laughs now.

To give a guide to age suitability I would probably rate it around a 15, couple of clips below as a taster.

https://youtu.be/gKTzGwBdoHk?si=ZEVQ9SBdMu5RDfy2

https://youtu.be/cSPfDY-RcGA?si=XfxzW8EoWp5ToQn8

 

[rightsaidfred]

To be honest the only thing I watch is sport and the odd decent drama series preferring the radio, sadly you can't avoid the dross when others have the TV on morning, noon and night.

Fred

[Meantime]

It's hard to disagree with any of the comments on this thread, apart from the misuse of the word woke in the title. The debate surrounding Strictly is one of bullying. It has nothing to do with being woke. Woke is increasingly being used as a form of insult in place of snowflake or PC, but it is something different altogether.

To be woke is to be consciously awake or alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.

[gancanny]

20 minutes ago, NeilB said:

Scottish comedy called Still Game,

 

  yes, i watch it whenever it is on,  very funny

[twowrights]

3 hours ago, CeePee1952 said:

It's already happened!! Ages ago I was flicking through the channels trying to find something decent to watch (yeah right!) and suddenly I was confronted with naked full frontal male/female contestants!! Having picked my bowl of peanuts up off the floor after the shock and before the dog could devour them, I discovered that it was yet another reality tv show on Channel 4 (no surprise there then!). It was called Naked Attraction.  What on earth possesses these members of the public to flaunt all on national TV is beyond me!

Oh - and no - I didn't watch the rest of the programme!

Chris

Love Island, Britain's Got Talent et al, different year, different contestants, same sheep watching. 

[FairTmiddlin]

My Television has one thing on it!

 

 

 

 

 

DUST.

[OldBill1945]

What I don't get about this Strictly nonsence, is that any of the socalled celebs didn't have the gumption to tell the jumped up dancers that as they are the bigger names,  if the so called abuse didn't stop they'd walk away from the show. People keep referring to Strictly as a competition but it is not, it's an entertainment show. If it was a comp. all the couples would dance their version of the same dance each week & the number of people's votes would be announced. As it is how does anybody know whether the voting system is manipulated?

Sorry to disagree with you Vaughn but Bruce Forsythe should have retired 20years before the show, which I seem to remember (or misremember) was originally used to raise money for Children in Need.

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, OldBill1945 said:

What I don't get about this Strictly nonsence, is that any of the socalled celebs didn't have the gumption to tell the jumped up dancers that as they are the bigger names . . . . . . . . . 

Totally disagree.  The professional dancers have spent years training and are all competition winners and champions in their field.  Some of the ‘so called’ celebrities are either influencers, making a living from YouTube videos, or have been in ‘reality’ TV shows and have little claim to having earned the right to be called celebrities.

They probably enter the show, with the promise of a fat pay cheque at the end and don’t realise the physical effort and training that is required to perform.  Like any professional, I guess that there is a desire to win, so the pros push the celebs to make progress and be able to compete.  I agree that kicking someone is probably not the best way to coerce your partner, but achieving excellence doesn’t come without effort.

Sadly, social media has much to do with how some people become household names, with little or no talent, particularly from shows like Love Island or The Only Way is Essex, where qualification for success stems largely from having pumped up lips, big hooters or a deep sun bed enhanced sun tan!

Rant over!

[JanetAnne]

Not had a telly for over 20 years now.... it's bliss!

Instead I watch this....

Channel 1

Channel 2

Channel 3

And finally, channel 4

Oops, nearly forgot, the wildlife channel

Sad to hear Brucie is no longer with us though