Dancin' On Air (Jayverse)

Dancin' On Air was a 1980s television dance music reality show, forerunner of the TV show Dance Party USA. Both shows were produced and created by Michael Nise and his father Frank. The show started with US$100,000 from a small group of investors that included The Tonight Show Band leader Doc Severinsen. The program earned a 128% return on investment (ROI) within the first six months. Dancin' On Air was produced at WPHL Channel 17 studios in Philadelphia, PA

History
Dancin' On Air broadcast live from October 12, 1981 to December 31, 1987. The program reached seven East Coast states. The program was usually broadcast from WPHL-TV studios in Philadelphia, but occasionally broadcast on-location from other locations such as Penn's Landing in Philadelphia; Ocean City, NJ; Wildwood, NJ; Six Flags Great Adventure; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom; and Hersheypark.

Eddie Bruce hosted the show from 1981-1982 before being joined by Bill O'Brien in September of 1982, Eddie Bruce left in 1984 forcing Bill O'Brien to host the show alone until September when he is joined by Courteney Cox (after her show This Week's Music in which she hosted by Al Bandeiro got cancelled) as the new co-host, however with WPHL in Philadelphia wanted to replace their 5PM slot being occupied by Little House on the Prairie for game shows if Bill O'Brien resigns, WPHL took a chance at got rid of him and replaced with a Rotation of Female Regulars to co-host alongside Cox, giving the 5PM slot to be replaced in September 1984 by The All-New Let's Make a Deal and Anything for Money and it did paid off.

In 1985, Dancin' On Air was syndicated by Cox Owned Stations (Including KTVU in San Francisco, WSB in Atlanta, WFTV in Orlando, WSOC in Charlotte, WHIO in Dayton, OH, WPXI in Pittsburgh, WKBD in Detroit and KDNL in St. Louis) and KDOC in Los Angeles with Courtney Cox being joined by WCAU Radio DJ Christy Springield, Mike Rossi (Who i a Regular on that show) with a 4th Co-Host (usually a female regular) appearing from Week to Week. The show quadrupled ratings in its first week and was then picked up by the fledgling USA Network. Shortly thereafter, the show was renamed Dance Party USA, though both shows were produced for a time.

During 1986 and 1987, the Dancin' On Air studio set was that same studio used for Dance Party USA. As a result during the 1986-87 season, audiences saw the same regulars, guest dancers, and celebrities on both shows on the same days until the following season when Dancin' On Air left WPHL, Dance Party USA stayed here on USA Network.

Dance Party USA (The USA Network Years)
Dance Party USA was an American dance television show that aired on cable's USA Network from April 12, 1986, to June 28, 1991 when the show moved to Tempo. It was originally a half-hour, but was expanded to an hour in 1987.

On April of 1986, Courteney Cox joined with Cindy Stark on the Very 1st Show alongside Holly Raymond after Mike Rossi left Dancin' On Air to focus on Radio however the show started to Rotate Regulars as Co-Hosts after Rossi Left starting in 1987 with the most episodes going to Princess (Heather Day) in which she co-hosted with Courteney Cox until 1989 when Courteney Cox decided to focus on an Acting Career, giving Princess the new host of our show alongside Stark and 2 New Male Regulars (Tyrone Mitchell & Ed O'Neill)

The program was shot live-to-tape in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and based on Dancin' On Air, a program on Philadelphia's WPHL-TV before moving to WGBS-TV in 1989.

Princess stayed on until the move to Tempo Television while Cindy Stark stayed on Until 1990 while Tyrone and Ed left sometime in the Fall of '89, making way for those regulars who replaced them.


 * Aubrey Ayala (1990)
 * Kelly Berridge (1990)
 * Amy Brady (1989-1990)
 * Chris Bustard (1990)
 * Bobby Catalano (1989-1991)
 * Pete Conicelli (1990)
 * Joanna Mistretta (1990)
 * Alvin "Spicy" Ramirez (1990-1991)
 * Matt Robbins (1990)
 * Desiree Wynder (1990-1991)

Note: Those on Bold who went on To Host on Tempo beginning in July 1991

The Move to Tempo
In July of 1991, USA Network dropped Dance Party USA and Tempo picked it up with all new episodes with the first one being aired on July 8th with Princess and Bobby Catalano is joined by Cathi Casumpang (who also Hosted One House Street in which it debuted on Tempo in September), Desiree Wynder and Amy Brady will later join them in September with Rotating Regulars to work as the 5th Co-Host in October.

Then in July 1992, Bobby Catalano decided to pursue a Job on Rhythm Radio to host his new Countdown Show being replaced by Joanna Mistretta who hosted the first time after a 2 year absence giving DPUSA an All-Girl Co-Host Job that continued for the next 20 Years and added new innovations including the following


 * The Custom Made Shows allowed to see the Regulars vote on each part of the hour, what they wanted to see with the Regulars wear Beachwear for the whole episode (in which is the winner of the First Vote before beginning of each custom made show), do a Ladies Legs Line Dance (despite of being the winner beating out other choices like reading the life of show's host Princess in her own photo album, Do a Filmed Segment of Princess' Home, Asking Cathi to sing a random Karaoke Song, and so on.) and the Opening Theme Music of Dance Party USA being replaced with a Random TV Show Theme Song and the end of each Custom Made Show by Showing Names of the Dancers who took part of the episode (which always being the winner beating out other choices like everyone end the show by going home and don't show the credits at all with no closing song).
 * The Host Cam which focuses on One of The Regulars which occurs throughout the show.
 * Smash It or Trash It will be decided on a Telephone Poll to determine which Songs will be a Smash or a Trash
 * Disco Shows (Featuring Music from 1970's)
 * The Dancin' On Air Viewer Mailbag
 * NASCAR Race Weekend Warmup (Aired During Friday Weekend Warmup Shows Only)
 * DOA Weekly Music Round-Up (A Recap of the Week's Music News)

That Success gained an increase in ratings however during the Princess stayed on hosting with her girls until 1997 when she is replaced by Joanna Mistretta later on in 1998, Missy Morrison's successful run to Co-Host the Showstopper American Dance Championships (as well as a Spokeskid and Spokesteen) landed her a Job on Dancin' On Air to co-host alongside Mistretta and Vanessa Baker who first co-hosted the show in 1996 at the age of 16.