{"id":994278,"date":"2026-08-11T11:47:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T11:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/994278\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T11:47:23","slug":"how-abcs-21-year-old-dancing-with-the-stars-recaptured-the-zeitgeist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/994278\/","title":{"rendered":"How ABC’s 21-year-old ‘Dancing With the Stars’ recaptured the zeitgeist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Executive producer and casting director Deena Katz has brought her daughter to the set of \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d since she was 4 years old. Now 25, Katz says, her daughter is watching the 21-year-old ABC network mainstay \u201cas if it\u2019s new all over again.\u201d The youngster may have tuned in for podcast host and influencer Alix Earle and eventual champion Robert Irwin this season, but she was soon won over by older contestants such as Andy Richter and Elaine Hendrix. As Katz says, \u201cI feel like we do our job best when you might tune in for Alix, but you end up falling in love with someone you might not know, or you weren\u2019t so aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not sheer luck, much less magic, that brought \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d<\/a> its first Emmy nomination for reality competition program in a decade, or its ratings resurgence<\/a> and cultural relevance to a younger generation. It\u2019s strategy. And TikTok.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur social media is now so big during the week,\u201d Katz says. \u201cPeople have to watch our show to keep up with the social media. We used to be the show that everybody talked about the next day. And so we\u2019re in the zeitgeist again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DANCING <\/p>\n

Julianne Hough, Alix Earle and Valentin Chmerkovskiy.<\/p>\n

(Eric McCandless \/ Disney)<\/p>\n

Executive producer Conrad Green says the team behind the show always wanted to engage with a younger audience, but also recognized you can\u2019t always force it without turning off your base. The process began with tweaks to the casting of the dancers<\/a>, evident in social media star Charli D\u2019Amelio\u2019s 2022 run, followed by Harry Jowsey in 2023 and Earle and Irwin this past season. But the show\u2019s professional partners Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa have been just as important, using their own online brands to promote the show \u2014 creating hype that has since spurred the other dancers to get more involved. From there it started to \u201ctake on a life of its own,\u201d Green says.<\/p>\n

It also hasn\u2019t hurt that this season\u2019s contestants were so passionate and invested in the show. As Green observes, they did not treat it as just another reality TV payday. \u201cI think one of the big things in our favor is we\u2019re a really positive, likable show that shows people pulling together for a common purpose at a time when America\u2019s pretty fractured and miserable, really,\u201d he adds. \u201cI think we tell a story about America that people want to hear and are reassured by, in a way. I think this particular cast just hit on all the levels. Someone like Andy Richter staying through and being so warm and really engaging with the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DANCING <\/p>\n

Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold.<\/p>\n

(Eric McCandless \/ Disney)<\/p>\n

Current co-host, former dancer and onetime judge Julianne Hough says all these elements culminated in a \u201cperfect storm,\u201d but it\u2019s also the longtime Los Angeles-based production that\u2019s essential to the show\u2019s comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a part of a lot of different shows or projects where it feels like a great experience and \u2018Cool, we\u2019ll see you next year.\u2019 But this is like family,\u201d Hough says. And this Emmy recognition is \u201clike when your family calls to tell you they\u2019re engaged or they\u2019re pregnant. It\u2019s that moment where you\u2019re so overwhelmed with pride, like, \u2018Oh, my gosh, every single person deserves this for the years of just consistent dedication, not for the award, but for the passion and the creativity of what they\u2019re doing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One theme the trio all kept returning to, however, was the series\u2019 new multigenerational appeal. Hough recently met a fan whose story is familiar to many on the \u201cDancing\u201d team. With tears in his eyes, the young man shared with Hough how he\u2019d watch the show with his mom when he was growing up. She has since died, but those memories meant so much to him that he started watching again with his wife and young child.<\/p>\n

\"DANCING <\/p>\n

Ezra Sosa and Jordan Chiles.<\/p>\n

(Eric McCandless \/ Disney)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to be a through line in memories for families,\u201d Hough says. \u201cI have fans that are 90 years old and then these new fans that are just discovering it, and they\u2019re like, \u2018She\u2019s the host. I didn\u2019t know she danced.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Hang on! I\u2019m one of the OGs. Let me just remind you.\u2019 But it\u2019s so cool because it stayed consistent and relevant, and people are discovering it when they\u2019re ready for it. And we\u2019re on the pulse of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the TikTok dances, zeitgeist-making moments and fans supporting their favorites, Hough thinks the reason for \u201cDancing\u2019s\u201d renaissance might be as simple as viewers looking for a \u201cjoy-filled\u201d escape every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust me, we love a little drama. That\u2019s fantastic in life. But it\u2019s also really refreshing not to have it,\u201d Hough says. \u201cAnd that the thing that is fueling our minds and our hearts is just watching a contestant on the show grow and come alive and do something that they never thought that they could do and have people rooting for them. What? That\u2019s happening in 2026? Are we OK? Yes, we are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Executive producer and casting director Deena Katz has brought her daughter to the set of \u201cDancing With the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":994279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[57813,27488,171,246,1888,398508,138997,398509,3546,5950,4370,645,3007,173,67,132,68,2452,1628,383880],"class_list":["post-994278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-dancer","tag-dancing","tag-entertainment","tag-family","tag-fan","tag-hough","tag-katz","tag-old-contestant","tag-people","tag-season","tag-show","tag-story","tag-team","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-week","tag-year","tag-zeitgeist"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117076720614422211","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/994279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=994278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=994278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}