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2 Alternatives To Local Karaoke Bar Pop Up In New Series With Dancing, Singing Contests

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2008

The television networks haven't run out of concepts for reality shows, but the bottom of the barrel must be close.

Witness: "Dance Machine" and "The Singing Office," two new summer series on which "ordinary" people will perform for us.

If I wanted to see ordinary people sing, I'd hang out in a karaoke bar. And I don't even want to see any ordinary people dance.

"Dance Machine," debuting at 8 tonight on ABC, features six "real people" who compete in a series of "dance-offs" while a DJ supplies the music.

A line from a network news release asks us to imagine a 70-year-old grandmother in a dance-off with a 25-year-old gravedigger to the tune of "Thriller."

No thanks; I'll pass.

"The Singing Office," debuting at 8 p.m. Sunday on TLC, is based on a Dutch series. Oh, those wacky Dutch. What will they think of next?

On this series, "surprise" auditions are held in various workplaces in the Los Angeles area. The five best singers from each office are then sent for vocal and dance training. And then they compete in front of a studio audience.

Urging them on are former "Dancing With the Stars" competitors Joey Fatone and Mel B. Both are former singers. Fatone was an 'N Sync boy, and Mel B. (Brown) was a Spice Girl.

In the finale, Joey's and Mel's office favorites face off for $50,000. Singers Taylor Dayne and Jon Secada and choreographer Travis Payne are judges.

The teams of "ordinary" singers come from places such as an airline company, a dental office, a hair salon, a hotel and a restaurant.

This would be interesting only if you were watching people from your office dressed in '70s threads trying to remember the works to Alicia Bridges' disco anthem "I Love the Nightlife."

SEE THOMAS GO: C. Thomas Howell, who was a cute kid in "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" about a zillion years ago, grew up to star in some B-grade action and horror flicks.

At 8 tonight, he debuts as host and producer of "Hillbilly Deluxe" on CMT. He will travel the country looking at the refined-but-tacky tastes of well-heeled rednecks - or, as he describes it, "the kind of people who like a velvet coaster under their can of Billy Beer."

PAULEY SHORE LIVES: Another whatever-happened-to question is answered tonight when "Paid Vacation With Pauley Shore" debuts at 8:30 p.m. on CMT.

This series rewards hardworking country families. The good news is they get an all-expenses-paid vacation. The bad news is Shore tags along as host.

First treat goes to a Murfreesboro, Tenn., family that spent a week at the Florida Panhandle resort of Seaside.

Comedian-actor Shore has come a long way since his days as the flaky Wiez character on MTV.

NICK AUDITIONS: Auditions for Nickelodeon's "My Family's Got GUTS" will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Universal City Walk in Orlando.

The new TV game show is an extreme sports competition for teams of four (two adults and two kids). "My Family's Got GUTS" debuts on Nick at Nite in September. It will be taped at Universal Studios in Orlando in August.

Registering in advance is strongly encouraged. For additional criteria information and to register, go to www.gutstryouts.com.

VIDBITS: Fox has announced the dates and locations for auditions for the eighth season of "American Idol," and the closest to Tampa is Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville on Aug. 13.

•"The Factory," debuting at 10 p.m. Sunday on Spike TV, is everything you would expect from the macho guy network's first comedy. It's about four blue-collar pals who work in a factory.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

Singin' in the Rain,

8 p.m., TCM

Let's slip back to the 1950s and this fun musical comedy about movie-making in the 1920s. It's worth it just to see Gene Kelly dance his way through the title song.

George Carlin: It's Bad for Ya, 9 p.m., HBO

Carlin, who died Sunday at age 71, was as sharp as ever in his last HBO special that debuted in March.

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