Is This the Worst Dancing With the Stars Cast Ever? Ha!

Two words guarantee this coming season will be very, very watchable: Nancy. Grace.

By Joal Ryan Aug 30, 2011 6:10 PMTags
Dancing with the Stars Season 13 Cast, Cavallari, Artest, Lake, Arquette, Phillips, Kressley, Kardashian, Grace, Canalis, MArtinez, SolGetty; WireImage; FilmMagic

You're thinking George Clooney's ex-girfriend is not George Clooney. You're thinking Nancy Grace is not Kate Gosselin. You're thinking the Millennium Falcon's Han Solo would be a way cooler choice than the U.S. women's soccer team's Hope Solo

You're thinking this is the worst Dancing With the Stars lineup ever.

You're thinking wrong.

You're forgetting you just can never tell about a DWTS cast until it's on the dance floor.

You're thinking it's normal to have beloved movie stars (Jennifer Grey), Super Bowl MVPs (Hines Ward) and storied Olympians (Kristi Yamaguchi, Apolo Anton Ohno, more) on hand when it's just as likely to have a whole bunch of people you've either forgotten about and/or never heard of.

You're overlooking that the very people you've either forgotten about and/or never heard of can turn out to be popular crowd-pleasers like Kyle Massey, Ty Murray and Cristián de la Fuente.

You're selling short Clooney's ex-girlfriend, that would be Elisabetta Canalis, who's oddsmaker Bodog's favorite to win it all. 

You're underestimating the appeal of Chaz Bono's story, if not Chaz Bono himself. 

You're wondering where the plucky old people are—and you've got a point there. DWTS, once the un-rest home of Cloris Leachman, Buzz Aldrin, Florence Henderson and other seniors, has squarely committed to 18-to-49-year-olds. And not a moment too soon, either, when you think of it. Betty White has earned the right to hold down only 50 jobs this coming fall, and not push herself to take on 51.

Besides, DWTS does have exactly one AARP-eligible competitor, and she, more than anyone or anything, is the reason you're wrong about the new roster.

Grace is the new Gosselin.

You'll love her. Well, maybe not you personally. You, you'll probably hate her. You'll scream "Tot mom!" at your TV set to try to make her slip, even though you know that's mean.

But you'll watch.

After all, you've always been a sucker for a great cast.