Reality show captures the 'train wreck' that is Philly's 'Dancin' on Air'

Fuse will premiere a docu-series Wednesday called Saturday Morning Fever, a behind-the-scenes look at the second coming of the once-legendary dance show Dancin' on Air. Why does Fuse care about a show that airs on Philadelphia's public-access channel?

"It's a train wreck to the extreme," said Casey Reed, Q102 DJ and host of Dancin' on Air.

Reed doesn't mince words when she talks about her side hosting gig. Fuse hopes you'll want to watch this train wreck, too. It premieres at 11 p.m.

"It's sheer entertainment without having to be created," Reed said. "A lot of kids think this is going to be their break. But some - not all, but some - have no clue. They're delusional. There's some kids who are very talented, but those are far and few in between."

Philadelphia's children of the 1980s will remember Dancin' on Air as the show that put Kelly Ripa and Tom Verica (How to Get Away with Murder's Sam Keating) on television for the first time. It hosted the likes of Madonna, Will Smith, and Duran Duran before being transformed into Dance Party USA, when it made the switch in 1986 to the fledgling USA Network.

In 2011, creator Michael Nise revived the show on PHL17. It moved in 2014 to the public-access channel Philly CAM. (It will now also stream on www.fuse.tv.)

It's odd for the face of a show, like Reed, to be so blunt about the quality of her program. That blunt tone is also the angle Saturday Morning Fever takes: This little cable-access show is a disaster full of people who think it's their step to stardom.

If these kids become famous, "it'll happen the Snooki way," Reed said, referring to the breakout Jersey Shore cast member, "not the 'you're incredibly talented' way."

Tina DeCara, 20, doesn't think the way Reed does. She commutes from Manorville, N.Y., with her "momager" to shoot Dancin' on Air. "My first thought was, 'Oh my God, I'm going to be a star,' " DeCara said about learning that Dancin' on Air would be featured on Fuse. "I still think that. This is actually happening. I have to pinch myself and say, 'Thank you, Jesus,' every day."

DeCara is not particularly worried about how she'll be portrayed on television. "I'm not nervous at all. I'm a silly person, and I make fun of myself on a daily basis. What is the worst thing that's going to happen? Maybe some dramatic nonsense."

In an interview, DeCara teases a romantic story line she has with fellow dancer Rogelio Gonzalez, a hotel server in King of Prussia, who gives his age as "29 revolutions around the sun." The cameras take particular interest in Gonzalez during the first episode, which isn't a surprise when you hear the way he talks. "I just bring this fire, this desire that no one can match for pushing forward and into new boundaries," Gonzalez said about what he brings to Dancin' on Air. "I consider myself a one-man revolution. I think there are a lot of people in this country that have lost sight of the American dream, and I'm here to instill that back in them."

Dancin' on Air producer Patti Claffy worked with Relativity Media to create Saturday Morning Fever. She referred to the show as being "verité-style, fly on the wall," but it's not. There's a definite point of view when it comes to Dancin' on Air.

Relativity filed for bankruptcy last year but was responsible for MTV's Catfish, a show that takes a similar tone with its subjects, who have been duped into having relationships online with people who don't exist. Are we supposed to feel bad for them or laugh at them?

As Claffy points out, Dancin' on Air's cast is entirely unpaid. Reed herself hosted the show at the behest of her radio station and liked the idea of having television on her resumé. But, she says, "it's not doing anything for me now."

Still, for each shoot, the performers, without fail, make their way to the Dancin' on Air set in Soundgarden Hall at Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue. (Claffy says they'll hold auditions in late March for the next crop of cast members.)

Reed notes the 20-minute episodes usually take 10 hours to film.

"One girl actually told me she didn't mind when the show takes a long time to film," Claffy said, "because she's living her dream."

meichel@phillynews.com

215-854-5909

@mollyeichel

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Saturday Morning Fever

11:30 p.m. Wednesday on Fuse.EndText