Has Strictly jumped the shark?

We are only four weeks into the new, long awaited series, and already it sometimes feels as if we are embarked on a long, slow train journey, rather than a rollicking good ride towards Christmas.

What with the negative publicity before the show had even started, the mis-steps of the PR department, the aggressive anti X-Factor scheduling, Alesha's slow start in her new role, and now the race row over Anton's crass comments, are the sequins looking a little tarnished?

I am still an obsessive fan, but there are various issues which seem to be contributing to the slow burn of a start.

The length of the series. 16 couples is just too much of a good thing. I really like the idea of couples dancing both a ballroom and a latin before elimination, but it was a big ask to expect fans to tune in to a Friday night show then a Saturday night show over the first two weekends. The two hours fifteen minutes of the past two weeks has been a tad bum numbing at times, with so many "interesting interpretations" of dance to witness. I think that a show has to earn loyalty, even when it returns to our screens on an annual basis, rather than demanding it from the start. Next year, please cut it back to 12 couples, so that interest stays piqued throughout the series, and we know that we are on the countdown to the end of the year, and further festive treats.

Bruce - no longer a safe pair of hands at the tiller (but I guess the million dollar question is who else would be? And I think we now know who would not be!). I salute Bruce as the consummate showman, the last of a dying breed, but would dearly love to remember him at the top, with the current crop of presenters referring in awestruck terms to "doing a Brucie". I am starting to feel tense and nervous when he comes on the screen, and for once I can feel sympathy with Tess the Terrible. That frozen grin must be masking a look of complete panic!

The chemistry amongst the judges has ceased to be. Veritably it has died and fallen from its perch. And the new look "friendly" panel it not preventing the "anti-judge" vote (and the constant ties at the lower end of the leaderboard are making it even easier for the public to vote the bottom scoring couples back in). I know that shock exits and near misses are par for the course with SCD, but it seems so tedious to have to sit through another re-run of Kate-gate or Sargeant-gate.

The show has lost some of the big hitters among the pros. Whilst it is great that a completely different pro has a shot at the trophy (and surely, even with the sympathy vote, Brendan won't even be seeing the quarter finals), I think SCD is missing some of its bigger personalities. Karen and Camilla have left, and Matt, Lilia and Darren have lost out in the dance offs. These are not only among the show's best known pros, but they are also amazingly good at their jobs - they are great at teaching and choreographing for their celebs, and are entertaining both on and off the dance floor. The new pros have got some pretty big shoes to fill, and are getting off to a slow start.

All the big personalities among the celebs are in the middle ground, rather than in the top half of the board. There have always been celebs who have danced well, but haven't caught the public imagination (Zoe, Emma, Kelly, Rachel, Lisa), but they have been counter-balanced by those who have scored well with both judges and public (Jill,Ramps, Alesha, Matt di, Tom and Austin). Ali, Ricky W, Jade, Zoe, Laila - none of them look set to inspire public affection in the same way.

Mark Lawson, writing in the Guardian over the summer, had some interesting observations to make about the longevity of popular TV formats. He wrote that there is statistical evidence that suggests that the optimum life-span of an entertainment format is 8 years. He cited 90s phenomena such as Changing Rooms, Groundforce, Noel's House Party as examples (all before reality TV "graced" our screens), and looked to Big Brother as the weather vane for popularity in this genre - apparently its most sustained ratings dip came after the 8th year. Both SCD and its arch nemesis the X-Factor are now in their 6th year (with SCD in its 7th series), so maybe both shows have started the final lap in the race.

Mark Lawson also pointed out that one of the big factors in the final death throes of Big Brother this year was that the tabloid press simply lost interest. This could have been for many reasons (he cited the prevalence of big "real" stories dominating the headlines as we entered the silly season - such as MP's expenses, swine flu, and the death of Michael Jackson - that filled column inches without recourse to the antics of wannabees in a stale TV format). But the end result was that whereas in previous years the non-Big Brother watching TV viewer could keep abreast of any key development by just walking into a newsagent, this Big Brother only existed in the eyes of its most hard core fans.

Maybe this is why the bosses of both SCD and X-Factor seem desperate to keep those tabloid headlines rolling, to keep the shows in the frame of reference for even non-viewers. It might be wise to remember though that not all publicity is good publicity. I also think that what attracted the original fans to SCD was its air of almost innocence - the surprise hit that really should never have been - and that a feeling of over-production/too overt manipulation could be a turn off for some of the die hard fans.

And yet, and yet - there are still so many things that I love about the show! Claudia has not put a foot wrong in any episode of ITT this year, and should in fact be made Queen of England at the very least (if the present incumbent object too strongly, our Claude could of course take on the even higher profile role of Brucie's replacement). The pro dances have been spectacular, right from the word go. We have got through 4 weeks with never a glimpse of Westlife or Cliff Richard (guess they are saving him for the semi finals though, grr). There are 4 really interesting celebs on the show - Natalie, Ricky G, Chris and Phil can all dance a bit, are all set to go on a journey, and come across as refreshing, funny and highly watchable people. Can it be third time lucky for a cricketer?