Adam Shankman Joins So You Think You Can Dance as Permanent Judge

By On 09/16/2009 · 34 Comments · In Nigel Lythgoe, So You Think You Can Dance

Dancer, choreographer and filmaker, Adam Shankman, becomes the new permanent judge on So You Think You Can Dance, to sit alongside judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.

So does this mean the end of guest judges? Or will there now be a 4 judge panel? Nigel criticized American Idol for adding a 4th judge, saying he thinks it’s one judge too many…

If they’re adding another permanent judge, Adam is perfect for the job. He’s both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Thumbs up from me.

From the press release:

Acclaimed producer, director and choreographer Adam Shankman has joined SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE as a third judge. Shankman, who has been a guest judge and choreographer on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE since 2007, will sit alongside Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe and draw upon his expertise to critique the dancers throughout the competition.

The all-new fall season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE airs Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesdays (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Shankman, who serves as a guest judge on this season’s audition episodes, will join the judges’ panel beginning with the Top 20 performance show Tuesday, Oct. 27 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

More from the Press Release after the Jump

‘SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is one of the most important things to happen in the last decade for the art form,’  said Shankman. ‘Choreography is how I found my way into this business, and I’m proud to be a part of the show. As a filmmaker, it’s an honor to be able to recognize choreographers and dancers, and to be able to bring all of this amazing work into America’s homes. These kids challenge themselves every week, and it’s great for people to see how terrific these dancers are.’ 

‘I am extremely happy that Adam has agreed to be a resident judge,’  said Nigel Lythgoe, Executive Producer/Co-Creator, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. ‘We love bantering and bickering, and yet he still finds a way of capturing the sensitivity of every story told on stage. He is a consummate professional with a passion for dance and a discerning eye, which makes him perfect for us. Plus, it must be remembered, it takes a slightly crazy person to work with me and Mary.’ 

Adam Shankman is a master of comedy and one of the most loved and commercially successful filmmakers of his generation. His recent credits include ‘Bedtime Stories’  starring Adam Sandler and Keri Russell, ’17 Again’  starring Zac Efron and ‘Hairspray,’  the feature film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Shankman also directed the hit viral video ‘Prop 8: The Musical’  for FunnyorDie.com, which was honored by GLAAD and has been viewed over 4 million times.

Shankman’s directorial debut was ‘The Wedding Planner’  starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. He followed that project with ‘A Walk to Remember’  starring Mandy Moore and Shane West and ‘Bringing Down the House’  with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. His other credits include ‘The Pacifier’  starring Vin Diesel, ‘Step Up,’  ‘Step Up 2′  and ‘Premonition’  with Sandra Bullock. Shankman’s upcoming films include ‘Step Up 3-D,’  ‘Going The Distance’  starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long and ‘The Last Song’  starring Miley Cyrus.

Prior to directing, Shankman was one of the premiere dance and physical comedy choreographers who put his creative stamp on such projects as ‘The Addams Family,’  ‘Casper,’  ‘Inspector Gadget,’  ‘Anastasia,’  ‘George of the Jungle,’  ‘Boogie Nights,’  ‘Miami Rhapsody’  and ‘The Flintstones,’  for which he was nominated for a Bob Fosse Award. Shankman teamed up with influential video director Julian Temple to choreograph Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight.’  He has also choreographed videos for The B-52′s, Barry White, Aaron Neville, Chic and Stevie Wonder.

A native of Los Angeles, Shankman developed a love for the theater at an early age. After high school, he moved to New York to attend The Juilliard School. After five years as an actor and dancer in New York, he moved back to his hometown and began dancing in music videos for artists such as Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson.

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  • suebrody

    Yay! I lurrrrve Adam. Now lose the guest judges…please.

  • http://twitter.com/cara_lee pj

    Fantastic choice! I heart me some Adam Shankman. Yay. Go Nigel! Go Nigel! LOL.

  • leome

    awwwww This is great news! I love Adam. He’s just so nice, so happy, so emotional. Love love love.
    Nigel knows things!

  • http://onlinepastrychef.wordpress.com/ onlinepastrychef

    Hooray for Adam Shankman–he’s so wonderful and positive and enthusiastic. I love how dance moves him and how he expresses that in his critiques.

  • gangreen29

    I think Adam is a good choice to round out the judges table. I hope this means no more rotating judges because that always has the potential of ruining the night (Hello Mia Michaels and Toni Basil).

  • tiger92

    YES!!! I love him! He is so passionate and excited about the dancers. I’m happy that we’ll get to hear from him him every week.

  • CindyM

    I think they’re going to go to four judges. I can’t see them totally cutting out Mia Michaels and Lil C. I hope they don’t, four is too many, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It still is the FOX network, afterall.

  • yeahyeahsure

    Adam is a great choice! I love him!

  • jericho

    This is a fantastic choice!

  • jericho

    I can’t see them totally cutting out Mia Michaels and Lil C.

    I hope they don’t use those two as judges ever, ever again.

  • pat

    I just hope Adam is not a screamer like Mary Murphy. I have almost stopped watching because of her screaming. Now I just hit the mute button.

  • pat

    Also, everyone at my office agrees the screaming of Mary Murphy is too much and wonder why the producers can’t tone her down. She must be married to one of them.

  • http://mjsbigblog.com/voronas-ontario-american-idol-tour-recap.htm vorona

    *Arms in air*

    Yes! So happy! I’m a big fan. Apparently this is the year of Adams for me. ;)

  • http://www.twitter.com/sarahruth3 Sarah

    Yay!! Despite initially being turned off by his “arrogant” remarks to Danny Tidwell in season 3, Adam has become my favorite guest judge over the past few years. I agree with everyone that he’s perfect for the job – he’ll be great! So excited! :)

  • t2

    Now if we could just get Shankman to say “That’s Buck”, it would be perfect.

    Love Shankman.

  • Truthiness

    Excellent choice. Adam is knowledgeable, funny, has industry cred., cares about dance and the kids and has a good rapport with Nigel and Mary both.

    See now THAT is how you choose a judge.

  • Dr. Tracey

    Thumbs up from me to permanently adding Shankers, I luuurve him.

    I hope they do keep to the 3 judge format, 4 is too many.
    Seems weird that they would cut out the guest judges like Mia and Tasty Oreo though, that one has me scratching my head but if it is going to 4 i’m grateful it’s Adam and not Ellen.

  • smartcookie

    That means the permanent panel will include Mary, ballroom/Latin expert, Adam, Broadway expert, and Nigel, an expert on… The Frug? Unless they have a 4th judge, there’s nobody with hiphop expertise on the panel, and they do a heck of a lot of hip hop on that show. Nobody really with contemp expertise, either. Hip hop and contemp are about 80% of what they do.

    I’m guessing they will have a 4th judge so people like Mia and Lil C and Debbie Allen have a way to contribute.

  • suebrody

    I would love to lose Mary Murphy. Permanently. Actually, in the wayyy back past, she would sit out when she choreographed a dance, but she doesn’t seem to do that anymore, and you have Dimitri and Anya/Pasha for ballroom now. I love Lil C, Debbie Allen is very good, NappyTab and Shane (LOVE SHANE) can also critique hip hop, and Mia is great at contemporary when she isn’t being incredibly snarky (e.g., remarks to Mark, S4). I actually prefer watching Mia’s dances to hearing her critique. I miss Wade and Brian on the panel. Blake would be cool, if they could get him from SYTYCD Canada.

  • yeahyeahsure

    Now if we could just get Shankman to say ‘That’s Buck’ , it would be perfect.

    Perfect indeed!

  • cheese

    Aww, I love Adam. I can’t imagine them never giving Tyce or Mia a chance to sit on the panel. Didn’t they have two-hour performance shows all summer? How will that work with Glee in the 9:00 spot? (or will they move to a Tuesday/Wednesday schedule? – I need to pay attention!)

    If they stick to a two hour performance show, they need all the padding they can get. I can see them using four judges without having it be overkill.

  • wand3rful

    no more Lil C? :( booo LOL i actually enjoyed his long rants. it was fun to decipher what they actually meant in english

  • movin2thabeet

    Love Adam Shankman. It will be great to hear his feedback every week. Even though I don’t like the 4 judge panel in general, I would really miss hearing from Lil C, Mia, Debbie Allen, Shane, etc. I think these judges are better at watching their time than the Idol judges so hopefully they’ll find a way to include them all.

  • chessguy99

    I like this, Adam is very animated and just gives the show an energy boost when he is on the panel. Don’t like losing the other guest judges. Perhaps they could go with four judges from Top 10 on.

  • bmms

    That is terrific news! I only started watching SYTYCD this past season, and I highly enjoyed Adam’s comments, wit, humor, and charisma. I had NO idea he directed many films, and some I really enjoyed watching. He has a pretty impressive resume, IMO. Welcome Adam! ;-)

  • butte009

    I love the fact that Adam is a permanent judge but it means that he won’t be doing any routines (unless it’s the group performance on the results show). I was so hoping he would start doing it instead of Tyce and that other woman whom I’ve tried to erase from my memory – Joey?

    SYTYCD Australia uses 3 permanent judges with an occasional sit in by Mary as a 4th. They aren’t as knowledgeable IMO. They have some good choreographers who I think could do it better.

    SYTYCD Canada has 2 permanent judges and 2 guest judges. Jean Marc gets rambling with his French accent at times but for the most part these judges do a good job. Dan K was a guest judge last night. Haven’t seen him for a long time.

    I wouldn’t mind losing the screamer. There’s too much of it and too many trains for my liking.

  • http://www.twitter.com/sarahruth3 Sarah

    Didn’t they have two-hour performance shows all summer? How will that work with Glee in the 9:00 spot? (or will they move to a Tuesday/Wednesday schedule? ‘“ I need to pay attention!)

    Yeah, as far as I’ve read, it’s going to a Tuesday/Wednesday schedule. Which means one hour of their performance show will compete with the DWTS results show, but that’s not a huge deal.

  • http://absinthedreamers.blogspot.com/ Starrlight

    I adore Adam but I have to say I will miss Tyce. And I am kinda suprised at the lack of Debbie or Mia or Lil C…me thinks they might have occasional 4 judge panels.

  • d. b. cooper

    Of the guest judges I only like Debbie Allen (for the warm fuzzy feeling I get listening to her voice) and Lil C (for the comedy factor). Shankman annoys me, yet Mary Murphy has grown on me to the point that out of all the AI and SYTYCD judges I like her the most, so I’ll reserve final judgment.

    As for a four judge panel, thank god for DVR, cuz I would not be able to deal.

  • sunchick

    Echoing the lurve for the Shankers, but I actually kinda hope they keep the rotating judge, too. I’ll miss Debbie’s Debbie-isms and Toni Basil street references and any time The Wade talks, I listen. Honestly, I wouldn’t miss Mary. No I wouldn’t!

  • Grammie Kari

    What a great decision! Adam is such a knowledgeable and caring person. I love his passion for dance. I was also impressed with his resume. I has no idea.

    Sometimes Mary does get on my nerves, but she adds some spice to the panel. Less screaming would be appreciated. I hope they add the 4th judge on certain nights. I enjoy both Debbie Allen and Lil C.

  • Grammie Kari

    Part of the schedule for SYTYCD. Is this correct, MJ?

    Monday, Oct 26 (8:00-9:00 PM EST)
    Tuesday, Oct. 27 (8:00-10:00 PM EST)
    Wednesday, Oct 28 (8:00 PM-9:00PM EST)

    Sarah, if this is correct, it will put DWTS in direct competition with SYTYCD for two days. This would bother me a bit. :wink:

  • mandabutter

    I enjoy Adam – his energy, his critiques, and his love for the contestants. YAYYY! I do however hope they will have a panel of four at least part of the time. I really enjoy Mia, Lil C, and Tyce.
    I am wondering too…is this another punch in the gut for Paula???

  • ruru