HOLLYWOOD — "Dance Fever" is back. Sort of. But not really. At least the title. And the dancing. But not the disco. Nor host Denny Terrio. And it's an hour. On cable.
Got that?
That this rather silly show from the '70s, which became at least a minor cultural icon, should be revived in this post-"American Idol" TV world is really no surprise. And Merv Griffin, who spun the original "Dance Fever" off a segment in his old talk show, is back as one of the executive producers.
"It has nothing to do with the first show," Griffin insisted. "That was disco. It was all disco dancing. . . . There's everything now. Everything!"
Well, not everything, of course. But at least lots of different kinds of dancing, as you'll see if you tune in to the premiere Sunday at 8 p.m. on the ABC Family Channel.
"It's everything from hip-hop to ballet," said host Eric Nies (who's best known as a member of the first-year cast of "The Real World" some 13 years ago). "And whatever else. And clogging!"
Yes, indeed, there are cloggers competing on "Dance Fever." And the show is going to look a lot like "Star Search"/"American Idol"/"Fame" and any number of other shows. There's a search for contestants in various cities across the country. Finalists converge on Las Vegas, where they're eliminated in weekly episodes. (There is not, however, any viewer input. The judges — M.C. Hammer, Carmen Electra and choreographer Jamie King — make the decisions.)
And there's that reality-show element "because we are doing the backstage story, too," Griffin said. "There is a lot of emotion on the show. There's passion backstage, like rage."
Producer Bob Bain added, "We had the unfortunate opportunity to reject someone who just told us five minutes before he went onstage that he had problems with anger management. There was a lot of emotion. It's because these people take it very seriously. In the world of reality . . . that's what makes these shows work."
It's not just the contestants who seem to be taking this seriously. Even though we're told it's all about entertainment, the people involved don't quite seem aware of that.
"It's like dance has just been around for thousands of years, and it kind of connects us spiritually in a way," Nies opined. "And I think it's really important to our culture, and also important to kids, to be able to watch a show like this, because not only do they see dance, but they see dancers in a different light, and they get to see how passionate they are about dance."
OK, Eric. . . .
"It's television and movement and, hopefully, it will inspire kids to dance instead of shoot guns or whatever," said King.
OK, Jamie. . . .
"I kind of went through a couple of years that were really difficult for me and I was in a lot of pain," Electra said. "You can use that through your dance. It's almost like therapy for some people."
OK, Carmen . . . more than we wanted to know.
"It saved my life once," Nies said.
Waaay more than we wanted to know, Eric.
At any rate, "Dance Fever" is back. Because there just aren't enough talent shows on TV right now.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com