New on TV: So You Think You Can Dance

There's a pretty simple way to explain this show:

(American Idol-singing)+dancing=So You Think You Can Dance.

That's all you really need to know. The mechanics of the show are the same: tryouts across the country bring together people with talent and people without talent. The former get a chance to go to "Hollywood," the latter are mocked. Those making it to "Hollywood" (usually played by some other part of greater Los Angeles) will be winnowed down to a group of finalists, who will compete weekly until a winner is named (though apparently by a group of choreographers rather than YOU, the public).

There are other substitutions as well, as we keep our acerbic Brit (Nigel Lythgoe rather than Simon Cowell), vapid host (Lauren Sanchez in for Ryan Seacrest), and person who has some idea about the business (Carrie Ann Inaba - last seen as a judge on Dancing With the Stars and apparently not metioned at all on this show's web pages - subbing for Randy Jackson).

We do not sub for Paula Abdul, as she'll be popping up here to teach regular schlubs something about dance. Or giving out her phone number, I'm not sure which.

As you might imagine, a show that borrows so much is likely going to be a copy of the original at best. And when the original is already on the light side, the copy is that much more obvious. The show will benefit from a built-in audience of American Idol viewers and a dearth of competition, though the lack of voting may cause folks with lower interest levels in dancing to wander away until the tone deaf start appearing on our screens in January. I don't see it attracting non-dancing fans the way Dancing With the Stars did.

Which, being said, means I'll be reading or something as this plays out across our TV screen.