"Dance Machine" is my new favorite TV program

It was total happenstance that my wife and I turned on the television this evening to find "Dance Machine" on ABC. We had turned on the set and muted the volume while we talked, but I could barely focus on what she was saying amidst the image of these random people doing awkward, ridiculous dances on a sound stage. What the hell is this? We turned up the volume, and I found a new favorite show.

Basically, "Dance Machine," is a game show in which non-professional dancers compete in head-to-head "dance offs" before a studio audience, which votes for the best dancer in each round. The winner moves on, the loser is eliminated. In the episode we saw, round one saw this 22-year old "mixed martial artist" from Las Vegas compete against a 31-year old African dude who worked as a grocery store cashier. The martial artist, not surprisingly, was a pretty good dancer, and he threw in a few pretty impressive acrobatic moves to his routine. Elvis didn't have the same skills, but he seemed like he was having a great time up there, as he mixed in some moves almost clearly inspired by African dance with some contemporary hip-hop break-dance type stuff. The other contestants included a fashion designer, a high school PE coach, and a circus acrobat.

The thing that makes the show so fun is watching these ordinary people dance in the awkward, silly way that normal people do. There is no pretense of any skill, so, unlike a show like American Idol, we aren't laughing at the people who lack skills, we're laughing with them as they show off their lack of inhibitions and their ability to take themselves lightly in front of a crowd of people. And I literally laughed throughout the show, both because some of the dancing was awkwardly bad, but also because the contestants and the audience were having such a great time, and it was sort of infectuous.

The good-natured "DJ Rod" spins records and keeps a huge grin on his face as he watches the contestants having so much fun making fools of themselves. It's honestly the most light-hearted thing I've seen on television for a while. In a day in which TV show contestants are made to take themselves so seriously as the "next big star," and reality shows turns even the most frivolous of relationships into break-down-and-cry human dramas, it is refreshing to see a program that lacks any pretense whatsoever. My hats off to whoever created it.