‘Dancing With The Stars’ Confirms Massive Change Ahead of Tonight’s Premiere

The shift to streaming starts a new era for Dancing With the Stars, which kicks off its first Disney+ season on Monday at 8 p.m. ET. Although the structure of the show will be familiar to longtime viewers, there is one major production change. There will be no commercials, which gives producers something they never had before: extra time.

The first episode will run for two hours, without any ad breaks. When the show aired on ABC, a two-hour episode would really only be about 86 minutes of content, so there’s suddenly an extra 34 minutes for producers to play with. Executive producer Conrad Green told Variety there will not be a problem early on since this season has a whopping 16 contestants, the most since 2009. As the field whittles down, producers will have to find inventive ways to fill the extra time.

“Job one, the first thing, is that there are no longer ad breaks,” Green told Variety. “And a lot of other decisions spun out from that. We’ve got up to two hours on the nose to fill, rather than a commercial version of two hours. And that’s almost a third more material that you’ve got to find for the show.”

The producers need to create “more programming” and new ways to “further engage the audience” with the extra time, Michael Paull, president, direct-to-consumer, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, added. “So it’s a pretty exciting task for the team because it’s a very different format than what it had been historically. And I think people are going to be really excited by some of the ideas that they came up with to complete the story on the shows.”

Green’s team also has to figure out how to reset the stage between dances without commercial breaks. Alfonso Ribeiro, who will join Tyra Banks as co-host, will help with that challenge. He is stationed in the “skybox” area, where contestants get together when they are not dancing. The skybox was cut in recent seasons, but it is back to help take cameras away from the center stage between dances.

Losing commercials is “intense and exciting,” Banks told Us Weekly. “There’s no way I could handle this new format alone,” she added. “We no longer have commercial time to clear sets. It’s nonstop action. So, having a new host allows for cut-aways from the stage so that the crew can get the next act ready.”

Green already has some ideas for potential filler segments. The supporting dance troupe is back, so they could show off their talents. Judge Len Goodman might host master classes in between dances and could explain what the judges are looking for when they come up with their scores. In later shows, they could bring back some fan-favorite segments that have been missing since the pandemic began, like team dances and dance marathons. This season will also be available to watch live nationwide, meaning that viewers outside the Eastern and Central time zones can vote for the first time since the show shrunk to only one night per week.