How to watch Dancing with the Stars: Honoring Len Goodman

Earlier this year on April 26, 2023, Dancing with the Stars and the world lost iconic judge Len Goodman. The former dancer himself was 76 years old and died of bone cancer. If you’ve been watching Dancing with the Stars season 32 since the very start, you’ll know the show has honored him. Well tonight, we’re also getting a whole tribute episode dedicated to him.

Dancing with the Stars: Honoring Len Goodman is not a separate special or episode. It’s part of this evening’s scheduled installment of the competition series. DWTS episodes are two hours long, so there’s plenty of time to honor the great judge. So how can you tune in to watch?

Dancing with the Stars: Honoring Len Goodman airs tonight, Oct. 24, 2023, starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. Episodes are broadcast live on both the network and streamer, so it’s your choice where you want to watch tonight’s tribute. ABC is included in cable packages, as well as platforms like YouTube TV, Sling TV, and fuboTV.

Disney+ costs $9.99/month with ads or $14.99/month without ads. Though I do want to point out that since the DWTS episode is a live broadcast being streamed from ABC, there’s going to be commercials even if you purchase the ad-free tier on Disney+ and tune in while the episode is played live.

If you don’t have time to tune in tonight, don’t you worry! The Len Goodman-centric episode will be available to stream the next day, Oct. 25, on both Disney+ and Hulu. The streaming service’s prices are $7.99/month with ads and $14.99/month without ads. Read on below to find out how exactly the show plans to honor the judge.

What to expect from the Dancing with the Stars: Honoring Len Goodman episode

Earlier this season in the premiere episode, of course there was no way the show couldn’t mention Goodman, who was one of the very first to take a seat on the panel when the show started in 2005. He was just a judge on the series last year for season 31. And so, there was a very heartfelt tribute that the competition decided to do. And that was changing the name of the Mirrorball Trophy that the last remaining dance couple wins at the end of the season to the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Part of the tribute tonight is a dance to “Moon River” by Henry Mancini, performed by judge Derek Hough, co-host Julianne Hough, the current season 32 pro dancers, and eight former pro dancers who aren’t competing on the current season. The performance is choreographed by husband and wife dance pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson. Below, we shared who the familiar faces are that are set to return for the evening:

• Maksim Chmerkovskiy
• Kym Johnson-Herjavec
• Tony Dovolani
• Edyta Śliwińska
• Louis van Amstel
• Karina Smirnoff
• Anna Trebunskaya
• Mark Ballas

On Instagram, former pro dancer Cheryl Burke shared she wasn’t going to be one of the past dancers taking part in the tribute performance because she wasn’t invited back to do so. A reason wasn’t given as to why the show didn’t reach out to her.

Goodman has definitely been dearly missed by the show, his fellow judges and dancers, and of course us fans. Though his critique could be on the tougher side, he always spoke the truth and wanted to see contestants do better. I certainly miss hearing his comments. Tonight, this will be such a beautiful way to honor such an iconic gentleman!

Dancing with the Stars season 32 premieres new episodes Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. Episodes are also available to stream on Disney+ and on Hulu the next day.