Hollywood Q&A
Q: Several people, including me, are really disappointed that Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews have been replaced on “Dancing With the Stars.” Why did they do it?
A: It was the dreaded “new creative direction,” which is generally code for a shakeup for a shakeup’s sake.
That’s not to say they didn’t have a reason to do it — the show’s ratings have been plunging over the past few years (though from a pretty high peak, to be fair) — but the idea behind a high-profile move like changing a reality show’s host is to attract interest and get people to tune in just to see what’s different.
The early returns say it was a smart move in that sense. The Season 29 premiere — the first episode with Tyra Banks as the new face of the show — drew an extra 50,000 viewers over last season’s premiere. That’s not a lot in terms of raw numbers, but it’s still an increase, instead of the decrease that ABC has come to expect from “DWTS.”
Of course, you can only really judge this sort of decision in the longer run, since it risks alienating long-standing fans such as yourself in the name of novelty.
But you can take some comfort from their choice of replacement. They picked Banks as the new host — just about the safest pair of hands you can get in the reality show game.
Q: Do you know if there will be another season of “Mountain Men” ?
A: It may not surprise you that the people involved in “Mountain Men” aren’t big on calendars, but they’re dependable all the same.
There’s no word yet on another season of the reality series about fiercely independent people living a hard, cold, happy life off the grid.
But it’s a bit too early to worry; Season 9 just aired this summer.
That, in itself, was a minor miracle. While seemingly every other show had its schedule disrupted by the pandemic, “Mountain Men” came along like clockwork this summer, the same as it has every summer since its debut in 2012. Currently, there’s little reason to believe that won’t happen again next summer.
The only signs of aging it’s shown has been a couple of high-profile departures in recent years — Rich Lewis and Marty Meierotto both departed the show for different pastures (it’s hard to imagine greener ones than you get on “Mountain Men”) — but the show’s been adding new blood along the way.
Q: I’m loving “Lovecraft Country.” Who is Misha Green and what else has she done?
A: Misha Green has been working her way up slowly as a TV writer for a few years now. If you’re a fan of her unique voice, good news: you’re going to get a whole lot more of it.
As the creator, executive producer and head writer of HBO’s newest TV phenomenon “Lovecraft Country,” Green’s hands are pretty full right now. She may continue to keep those hands firmly on the show going forward (she’s already planning out the second season), or she may let the show’s other writers do the heavy lifting while she focuses on the multiple other projects she has on the backburner.
That backburner was already full when “Lovecraft Country” debuted because, popular though it is, it wasn’t actually her breakout moment. That came in 2016, when “Underground” premiered on WGN.