Well, they are very clear in the opening minutes that this is all about America’s "favorite" dancer — not America’s best dancer. And that is mostly the strength of the show, now in its third season, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The modest hit for Fox (with average of 10 million viewers, it’s the summer’s most lucrative reality series), kicked off last night with its New York auditions.

Here are some the highlights:

-- Judge Nigel Lythgoe, also American Idol’s executive producer, makes a mantra out of "I’m not going to be mean this year." And for a day of auditions it works. Although he holds his tongue, he also needs to work on his poker face. By day two after a flood of fatties and freaks (one woman did a bizarre routine in the role of Jesus), Lythgoe broke down and unleashed the zingers. He tells one poor portly girl: "It was the dancing version of Ugly Betty."

-- Speaking of freaks, the show opened with an over-eager "Dancing" Derrick. He’s an odd one, but made for good TV. Some of selected quotes: "Yo! Yo! What it be. Dancing D in town" and "I’m kinda of a historic landmark." He exploded on the audition stage, but not in a good way. He spazzed out so much that they had to administer oxygen. The shot of him dejected and rejected with an airbag strapped to his face wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be. It was sort of heartbreaking.

-- One (possibly) local girl surfaced and did well, moving on to the Las Vegas round. Heather Zampier, 25, says in her initial appearance that she’s from Solomons Island, Md. Yet, later her on-screen ID says Massachusetts. Maybe she’s a reverse LaKisha. After suffering from bone spurs and other hip-related conditions, doctors told Zampier that dancing wasn’t an option. But the rebellious tiger-tattooed woman wasn’t listening. It was her first audition since her surgeries and the judges loved her. "They said dancing was out," she said. "And I decided that I was going to prove them wrong. I have been trying my hardest, and I did it today."

-- The show wasn’t all train wrecks. Two ballroom dancers, Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garins were perfectly in sync and smoking. And Hanna Lee, a charming girl who was victim of a bombing in Israel, wins over the judges after getting some pointers on choreography from the producers. In all, 32 dancers moved on to the next round.