This was one of the most disappointing Dancing with the Stars Semifinals ever. But it wasn’t because of the dancing…

With only four couples left, producers struggled to fill two hours of show time. The evening started with a pro performance.

Apart from that one performance, the first half-hour of the show featured nothing but the couples talking about their previous dances. It was boring and demonstrated how little faith ABC has in any of the other shows in its lineup. Otherwise, why else would they expand an hour’s worth of material into two hours?

Ballroom Round

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke — 30

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas — 30

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani — 28

Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower — 25

Before the Latin Round, there was more filler about the stars’ families and hometowns. This kind of material is fine for the finale, but it was like an anchor on the (already bloated) show this week.

Latin Round

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke — 30

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani — 27

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas — 26

Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower — 23

Leaderboard (out of 60)

Gilles & Cheryl — 60

Shawn & Mark — 56

Melissa & Tony — 55

Ty & Chelsie — 48

My frustration with the excessive amount of filler rubbed off on how I felt about the performances, and I was underwhelmed by the dances. I’ve enjoyed this season until now, but this gratuitous episode reminded me why I sometimes think about abandoning the show altogether.

That said, the judges’ scores made it clear which couples they would like to see in the finale. But will Ty’s low scores spur his fans into a voting frenzy? Are Melissa and Shawn safe?