Dancing with the Stars 1st Episode of Season 11

I thought I'd be doing a lot of fast forwarding through Monday night's 2 hour premiere of the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

Instead I did not find myself hitting the FF button too much.

There is no Pamela Anderson equivalent this season. DWTS held my attention last season til the entertaining Miss Anderson got the boot.

This season the group of, uh, "stars" seems like a good mix.

We have 2 pro athletes this time. The requisite footballer in the form of quarterback Curt Warner. And for the first time, an ex-NBA, LA Laker basketballer in the form of Rick Fox. Both did well with their Viennese Waltz.

I had no idea who Kyle Massey is, but, I quickly liked him, as did the judges and the crowd.

I also had no idea who Mike Sorrentino, aka "The Situation," is, but I found him amusing.

Audrina Partridge, from MTV's The Hills, I also had no clue about. She seemed like a nice girl.

Brandy is a singer, TV actress I have no familiarity with. She is teamed with Maks. I don't know why Brandy has no last name.

Margaret Cho is funny. Her dancing, not so much. Margaret's Viennese Waltz was the strangest of the evening. And really was not all that funny, even though that was what, apparently, she was intending.

Michael Bolton was the stiffest, worst of the night, in my opinion. I suspect he may be the first to go.

I am not much of a Florence Henderson fan. But she sure is in good shape for a 76 year old dame. She is taking the dancing serious, unlike Cloris Leachman, and not going for comedy. Cloris Leachman is one my all-time DWTS favorites.

I have never liked David Hasselhoff. His drunken Whopper on the floor in a motel room video is etched upon my memory. Like the mystery of the French thinking Jerry Lewis is a comic genius, the Germans think Hasselhoff is a musical genius. His pro partner, Kym Johnson, had to fly to Hanover, Germany, where Hasselhoff was in concert mode, for their first meeting. Hasselhoff was stiff and annoying with his dancing.

Jennifer Grey is another one I don't like all that much. Why? I don't know. But, I thought I remember reading that she and Patrick Swayze did not get along all that well during the filming of Dirty Dancing. But, last night Ms. Grey had a big breakdown while practicing, overcome with emotion over the passing of Patrick Swayze. It all seemed hokey to me. She did dance well.

That leaves us with the Big Star of the evening. Bristol Palin. Bristol's mom was not in attendance. It'd been reported that Bristol claimed she would not wear anything skimpy. I thought she was going to be a bit of a bore with no personality. I was wrong. Bristol is way out of her comfort zone. And she did well, or so it seemed to me. It was amusing that the song she danced to was Mama Told Me Not To Come, to which Bristol said that is appropriate, because her mom, Sarah, advised her not to come on Dancing with the Stars.

As for Bristol not wearing anything skimpy. Well, her dancing started with Bristol in a very conservative suit. And then Mark Ballas ripped the suit off to reveal Bristol in a very skimpy red mini-dress. I can see why she told mama not to come.

Tonight the first one gets eliminated. I'm guessing it'll be with Michael Bolton, Audrina Partridge, Margaret Cho or Mike Sorrentino.