As interpretive-dance memorials for fallen movie icons go, you will likely never see a higher-profile piece of work than last night's Patrick Swayze tribute on Dancing with the Stars. And well-intentioned as it was, this morning I can't be sure if that's not a bad thing. Watch (or re-watch, if you dare) and decide for yourself after the jump.
Look: Tom Bergeron delivers a classy enough intro, and I don't doubt the show's dancing pros undertook the number from a place of sincerity and respect. And as I'm reminded today from within the second-guessing sanctuary of Movieline HQ, it's Dancing With the Stars -- a place where earnest tackiness is the high-rated coin of the realm. At least it wasn't Tom DeLay and Cheryl Burke grooving in erotic, finger-locked harmony to the strains of "Unchained Melody," right?
Well, sure. Nevertheless, that wasn't a goose-bump chill I experienced during the "Time of My Life" finale. It was more like a shiver, an involuntary reaction to a stiff breeze of bad vocals, plain-Jane choreography, bared flesh and the worse-than-usual stench of bad cheese. And anyway, what about the exploitation factor? Bergeron calls Swayze a friend of the show, but as far as I can tell, the late actor made exactly one appearance as a guest back in 2005. The whole thing was lacking in imagination even by DWTS standards, both patronizing and uninspired. Maybe a DeLay/Burke groin-grind was in order. Thoughts?
ยท Dancing with the Stars [ABC]