Modemouth
09-20-2005, 07:50 PM
'Stars' O'Hurley, Monaco go toe to toe
By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY
Kelly Monaco and John O'Hurley talk as if Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8:30 ET/PT) dance-off will be one big love fest.
http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifhttp://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2005/09/20/inside-monaco.jpghttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifReady to rumba: Kelly Monaco "feels like an underdog" even though she won the first go-round.http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifABC
Their training regimens and competitive streaks say otherwise.
"They've been training like lunatics," executive producer Conrad Green says. "They're taking this seriously. They've got something to prove."
Monaco and partner Alec Mazo last faced O'Hurley and Charlotte Jorgensen in the finale of Dancing's six-week summer run, which drew more than 22 million viewers July 6. But Monaco and Mazo's surprise win over the heavily favored O'Hurley and Jorgensen was called into question because of a complex judging system and suspicion the vote was tilted in Monaco's favor because she's in ABC soap General Hospital.
"I feel like I won, but I'm going in as the underdog because the results were disputed," says Monaco, 29. "Until I prove otherwise, that's the situation. This is supposed to be all in fun. I don't want to scratch anyone's eyeballs out. But I'm competitive by nature."
ABC says there was nothing inappropriate about Monaco's win, which was based on a combination of a three-judge panel's ratings of final performances and votes from viewers tabulated from the prior week's show. But heading into the launch of its prime-time fall lineup week, the network hopes the controversy will attract the kind of rematch audience that made Dancing the highest-rated summer series since CBS' Survivor in 2000. Winners will be announced Thursday (8 p.m. ET/PT).
Monaco and Mazo have been training four hours a day; O'Hurley and Jorgensen have been training six hours a day. O'Hurley, who shed 20 pounds training for the show last summer, took up Pilates to boost his strength and flexibility.
"Kelly's a sweetheart. And this is playful competition, but I felt a little ripped off losing to her," says O'Hurley, best known for playing catalog king J. Peterman on Seinfeld.
However fans vote, Dancingwith the Stars has rejuvenated both actors' careers. O'Hurley has a Larry David-style reality show in the works, three movies, a book deal and a Broadway show.
Monaco, prominently featured in September's Maxim magazine, says she's negotiating movie and television deals. "This has catapulted me to another level."
ABC, initially tentative about putting Dancing on its summer schedule despite the show's success in Britain and other countries, plans to bring the show back for a second season in early 2006. It also will add a second weekly "results" show à la American Idol.
Andrea Wong, ABC's alternative-programming chief, says there will be nine celebrity competitors. "It was a challenge to convince (stars) to take a risk for the first season," Wong says. "It has certainly gotten easier."
By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY
Kelly Monaco and John O'Hurley talk as if Tuesday's Dancing with the Stars (ABC, 8:30 ET/PT) dance-off will be one big love fest.
http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifhttp://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2005/09/20/inside-monaco.jpghttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifReady to rumba: Kelly Monaco "feels like an underdog" even though she won the first go-round.http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifABC
Their training regimens and competitive streaks say otherwise.
"They've been training like lunatics," executive producer Conrad Green says. "They're taking this seriously. They've got something to prove."
Monaco and partner Alec Mazo last faced O'Hurley and Charlotte Jorgensen in the finale of Dancing's six-week summer run, which drew more than 22 million viewers July 6. But Monaco and Mazo's surprise win over the heavily favored O'Hurley and Jorgensen was called into question because of a complex judging system and suspicion the vote was tilted in Monaco's favor because she's in ABC soap General Hospital.
"I feel like I won, but I'm going in as the underdog because the results were disputed," says Monaco, 29. "Until I prove otherwise, that's the situation. This is supposed to be all in fun. I don't want to scratch anyone's eyeballs out. But I'm competitive by nature."
ABC says there was nothing inappropriate about Monaco's win, which was based on a combination of a three-judge panel's ratings of final performances and votes from viewers tabulated from the prior week's show. But heading into the launch of its prime-time fall lineup week, the network hopes the controversy will attract the kind of rematch audience that made Dancing the highest-rated summer series since CBS' Survivor in 2000. Winners will be announced Thursday (8 p.m. ET/PT).
Monaco and Mazo have been training four hours a day; O'Hurley and Jorgensen have been training six hours a day. O'Hurley, who shed 20 pounds training for the show last summer, took up Pilates to boost his strength and flexibility.
"Kelly's a sweetheart. And this is playful competition, but I felt a little ripped off losing to her," says O'Hurley, best known for playing catalog king J. Peterman on Seinfeld.
However fans vote, Dancingwith the Stars has rejuvenated both actors' careers. O'Hurley has a Larry David-style reality show in the works, three movies, a book deal and a Broadway show.
Monaco, prominently featured in September's Maxim magazine, says she's negotiating movie and television deals. "This has catapulted me to another level."
ABC, initially tentative about putting Dancing on its summer schedule despite the show's success in Britain and other countries, plans to bring the show back for a second season in early 2006. It also will add a second weekly "results" show à la American Idol.
Andrea Wong, ABC's alternative-programming chief, says there will be nine celebrity competitors. "It was a challenge to convince (stars) to take a risk for the first season," Wong says. "It has certainly gotten easier."