STEP WHAT UP, BRAVO?

If you watch TV - even only a handful of select shows, here and there - you're probably aware of Bravo TV. The Bravo TV network is one of the cable networks in the NBC - Universal family. It started out, before the shows about housewives and haircuts, as a network devoted to the performing arts... but now, it is the "high end," or, "high concept," reality show network.

Along with shows like Project Runway, Top Chef and The Real Housewives of Orange County, there are a number of new, largely contest-based reality shows. The newest, is a dance competition called, Step It Up And Dance, hosted by Elizabeth Berkley.

Bravo heavily promos the show on all of the NBC - Universal networks, in the hopes of driving up viewer interest. But two main thoughts creep in to my head when I see the commercials for SIU&D:

1. Another dance show? Really??? Is this the best you could come up with? Maybe you should step your game up, Bravo, and try and come up with something original. At least Fox, when they steal an idea, offers a twist: when ABC found viewer ratings gold with Dancing With The Stars, Fox rolled out Skating With The Stars. While neither show boasts actual "stars" on its cast, at least the second, ripoff show tried to aim for something new and interesting. What, exactly, is Bravo aiming for in rolling this show out?

2. Would it kill you to cast some good looking contestants, Bravo? I mean, this isn't Project Runway, where personal appearance doesn't factor in to the actual content of the contest. Dancers are cast for their talent and their looks. What's with the uggos? Have you seen Manuel, the weirdo? And while we're on this subject, what's with casting the guys who just have to brag about how they are straight in an all-gay field? Internalize your homophobia much, Bravo programmers? I guess not, as your self-hating homo tendencies now rise to the surface of casting.

I know which of these two concerns is the more serious... but if you're going to stuff bland, seen-it-before programs down our throats, how about a little eye candy to go with it?