World of Dance (TV series)

Premise

In season two, the format remained largely the same with several adjustments. The episode order increased to 16, six more than the first season. A fourth category, Junior Team, was added for acts under 18 with five or more members. Qualifier rounds were shortened from two minutes to one minute, and Duels routines from two minutes to 75 seconds. In The Cut, the top three highest-scoring acts per division advanced to the Divisional Final, instead of the top two. The Cut, Divisional Final, and World Final routines were reduced from two minutes to 90 seconds. Guest celebrities served as mentors for each division during The Cut and Divisional Final, and intermezzo shows were performed at the World Final.

For season three, Jenna Dewan left and was replaced by Scott Evans. The required qualifier score to enter the duels rose from 80 to 85. A redemption round was introduced in the duels, where the top two eliminated acts in each division with the highest score competed head-to-head to the same music, with judges voting on which advanced. In the Divisional Final, judges selected one additional act as a wild card to the World Final. Each act performed once in the World Final instead of twice, and the guest judge was removed.

In season four, team divisions were merged into Junior Division and Upper Division only. The scoring system was replaced by votes for Qualifiers and Duels. Contestants needed at least two yeses to proceed from Qualifiers, and judges could cast a callback vote for a final performance chance. In Duels, judges chose opponents rather than contestants, and a guest judge selected the pair for the Redemption Duels.

Production

Jennifer Lopez served as executive producer alongside Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Kris Curry, Matilda Zoltowski, David Gonzalez, Matthew Everitt, and Al Hassas. Lopez, who also judged, said dance was her first form of artistic expression and that the series reminded her why she loved dance. The premiere was originally scheduled for May 8, 2017, as a lead-out for The Voice, but was moved to May 30, 2017, to follow the season premiere of America's Got Talent. NBC renewed the series for a second season on June 29, 2017, which premiered on May 29, 2018, again following America's Got Talent. A third season was ordered in May 2018 and aired at midseason starting February 26, 2019, in a Sunday timeslot. Jenna Dewan left after season two and was replaced by Scott Evans. The fourth season premiered on May 26, 2020. The series was canceled on March 15, 2021.