It was the dreaded "new creative direction," which is generally code for a shakeup for a shakeup's sake.

That's not to say they didn't have a reason to do it — the show's ratings have been plunging over the past few years (though from a pretty high peak, to be fair) — but the idea behind a high-profile move like changing a reality show's host is to attract interest and get people to tune in just to see what's different.

The early returns say it was a smart move in that sense. The Season 29 premiere — the first episode with Tyra Banks as the new face of the show — drew an extra 50,000 viewers over last season's premiere. That's not a lot in terms of raw numbers, but it's still an increase, instead of the decrease that ABC has come to expect from "DWTS."

Of course, you can only really judge this sort of decision in the longer run, since it risks alienating long-standing fans such as yourself in the name of novelty.

But you can take some comfort from their choice of replacement. They picked Banks as the new host — just about the safest pair of hands you can get in the reality show game.

Her own show, "America's Next Top Model," is a reality TV institution, she had her own Emmy-winning talk show and she's single-handedly altered the English language with terms like "smize" and "tooch."

Picking an established star like Banks shows that ABC is concerned with keeping its current audience while also drawing a new one.

In an interview with Glamour magazine, Banks said she hopes fans give her new vision for the show a chance. "I hope they say, 'You know what? I'm going to stick with this.'"

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