On Screen

The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN April 9 - 15, 2022 — 23 was just simple dancing, though. They weren't trying to teach me anything." Still, O'Donnell says he be - lieves "Come Dance With Me" is "something that people can con- nect with. Lots of shows coming out now are so dark, you wouldn't watch them if your kids were anywhere near the room, but this is something you can really enjoy watching with your kids." An alumnus of such movies as "Scent of a Woman" and "Verti - cal Limit," O'Donnell maintains he was "heavily inspired" by the syndicated show "Dance Fever" By Jay Bobbin Two action heroes of "NCIS: Los Angeles" might not be ex- pected to produce a dance com- petition. Nevertheless, that's the ad- ditional job Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J are assuming for CBS. They're among the mak- ers of "Come Dance With Me," premiering Friday, April 15, and pairing young dance enthusiasts (ages 9 to 15) with older mem- bers of their respective families who aren't particularly skilled at busting a move. Choreographers help them in their quests to win the approval of the judges: Jenna Dewan, dancer Dexter Mayfield and choreographer Tricia Miran - da. Songwriter Philip Lawrence, a former associate of Bruno Mars, is the series' host. "The idea was brought by a friend of mine," the pleasant O'Donnell reveals. "A parent at my kids' grade school had experi - ence doing reality shows in the Netherlands, and he brought this to me. It wasn't my area of expertise, but I showed it to LL and he said, 'Man, this is hot. We should look into this.' So I told my friend, 'Good news! Not only will I get involved, but LL wants to be involved.' And that was a big bonus for (the series' other producers), since they sort of got to jump the line at CBS in pitch - ing the show because of the access we were able to afford them." That was just before the coro- navirus pandemic hit, but it also coincided with the TikTok craze. "We were sitting around watch - ing our kids teach each other how to do these dances," recalls O'Donnell, "but to me, one of the sweetest memories is of going to father-daughter dances as my daughters were growing up. That CroSSWord Solution Puzzle on Page 17 Sudoku Solution Puzzle on Page 25 filled by client during his youth. "When the performance wasn't good and the judges had to be nice, it was always awkward," he notes. "Here, you have kids involved, and they're the ones who nail It. It's the adults who make fools of themselves." And how does O'Donnell — who's nearing the end of Season 13 of "NCIS: Los Angeles" — rate himself on the dance floor? "With the right environment, I love it, but I'm not going to be Elaine from 'Seinfeld.' You won't find me being the first one on the floor, that's for sure." Editor's Pick Competing youngsters ask relatives to 'Come Dance With Me' Jenna Dewan is a judge on "Come Dance With Me," premiering Friday on CBS. A S E E C Y F E R D V M C F O D U E X I F L I A W B D H Y H O I L V R C H V U J V T M I K P U I A T C H I C A G O T L T V Y N O V Q S N T M S H I E A M C C A L L A N Y E R T S N B I N I J Z S L Z S S I T C C S L Q U O H T K A L Y M E X E I L S A K Y Z N B L X I K W H G T E L L I S U J O H N N Y R I G R L F N S P K E Z A V J C E K O A G T C I K C J L R E N N V M B O R O Q O K O M A R T H A Q B J V L X N B R E V L P M E V E W B E C F B C G A V A H Bingo Solution Puzzle on Page 29 SearCh Solution Puzzle on Page 9

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