Dancing With My Sensibilites

I spit on American Idol. Yes, I said it. Or hocked it. Whatever. I have a problem with the reality genre. And now I have a bigger problem with it. Dancing With the Stars? Yeah. Um. Eww. But this season, we have Adam Corolla, Penn Jillette, and Marlee Matlin. Damn.

Lately I've reading about how this crop of people is C-listers and won't live up to the earlier seasons. That they'll be more famous after they've done the show. To those writers: *bleep* you. Was Ian Ziering really all that famous. And Mario Lopez? You won't be getting George Clooney on Dancing With the Stars. You will get Steve Guttenberg. So get over yourself. That was the whole premise.

But here's why I take offense. Adam Corolla, Penn Jilllette, and Marlee Matlin have carved out this fan base. I fall into said individual bases as I am a fan of the "lesser known awesome" (this will be explained in depth in a future post). They might not have cinematic "Clooney-like" (see "God like" in the Hollywood universe) powers. But they have my admiration, respect, and my applause. In this particular competition I am torn, but I pledge my allegiance to Mr. Corolla.

Listening to his radio show in the way to work every morning, I was shocked to hear he agreed to do this. Here's a real "man's man" (whatever the hell that means). I mean he DID host The Man Show after all. He's a former boxer and construction worker. And boxing pun aside, he doesn't pull his punches with his opinions. They are filthy and riddled with curse words, but also intelligent and thoughtful. Dancing With the Stars? You participation intrigues me. What's the deal?

Quite simple. Here is a "jack of all trades" type who is trying to advance his abilities in a trade he would ordinarily shy from. He's pushing himself out of his comfort zone. And this particular push involves being up against a hot 19 year old for hours a day. Good for you. This is also a television hit, so there is exposure here. Second good for you. Are there more reasons? Yeah, probably. But it's the outside of the comfort zone that sold me. I continue my admiration and respect. In fact, they are now up a few more notches.

Comfort zone has been obliterated. Bravo, Mr. Corolla, bravo!

To follow in his footsteps, I also will push myself and go outside my comfort zone. I'm going to watch Dancing With the Stars. I'm going to enjoy it and cheer my favorite. Okay, so I spit on American Idol. But I guess I'll spit into a glass for Dancing. And with this glass, I salute you Adam Corolla. Hey, if I drink it, do you think I could get on Fear Factor?