Dancing with the Stars to open with moment of silence; ESPN changes course

To call the events of the past 24 hours tragic would be making a gross understatement; with that, Dancing with the Stars and other shows will be opening with a moment of silence in reflection of the horrific shooting in Las Vegas.

We don’t have to tell you about some of the horror that unfolded today, and we know that in general we use CarterMatt as a venue for fun, positive television discussion. Yet, when something like this happens it’s also not something to sweep under the run. We hope many shows do choose to address what transpired, just as we also hope that there are some meaningful discussions that happen to go along with thoughts, condolences, and prayers for those who are religious. A moment of silence should just be the beginnings of all of our reflection as a society following some of what happened.

For Dancing with the Stars in general this may hit close to home. Vegas is a home away from home for many professional dancers, it’s a frequent tour stop due to its status as an entertainment hub, and many pro dancers have lived in the city at one point or another. There are many So You Think You Can Dance alumni on this show, and many of them have been through a round of the competition set in the city. It is the only live entertainment show airing on network primetime so it needs to set the standard here.

As for The Voice and some scripted programming we wouldn’t be surprised if there are title cards or pre-recorded messages airing tonight following the terrible events that transpired.

Over on cable, ESPN (per Deadline) is planning to broadcast both a moment of silence as well as the National Anthem for tonight’s Monday Night Football broadcast. There has obviously been a great deal of conversation surrounding National Anthem performances in the NFL as of late and there probably still will be tonight even with everything else taking place across America.

There will likely be more television-related events and moments of reflection announced in the coming days, but for now this is all we have. What we do want to say in closing is that our deepest thoughts and condolences go out to everyone in need, and hope that some of you can find the medium of television either a comfort or a distraction during this difficult time. (Photo: ABC.)