Tuesday’s are no Monday and that my friends is a good thing. The new Fall 2008 Tuesday night schedule is more packed in terms of shows I’m interested in watching than it has been in a while. Last season the only thing I really watched on a Tuesday was The Biggest Loser which quickly shot to the top of my must watch list. I was kind of obsessed… just a tad.
This year the night kicks off with Trainer Bob and Crazy Ass Jillian with THE BIGGEST LOSER: FAMILIES and for reals, I cannot wait. I’ve missed doofy Bob and hard as frak Jillian kicking these fatties into shape. Not to mention, I’ve grown to love host Alison Sweeney… she’s kinda great. The show delivers guaranteed tears and let’s be honest… sometimes a good cry needs to be scheduled into your week - why not Tuesday night?
90210 is hands down the most hyped show of the new season but since they didn’t send it to the press or to us TV Bloggers we don’t know if it will be Cloverfield or Howard the Duck. I won’t lie, I’m super intrigued and crazy psyched to see what the reboot will be. I’m not dumb enough to think that it’s going to have the wit and bite that Gossip Girl provides but I hope that it’s not a total cheese-fest. Is there any denying that it’s going to be a huge success right out the gate? No. The biggest challenge for this new crop of West Beverly High kids will be trying to live up to the nostalgia of the original while creating a brand spanking new show of their own that people will care about past the premiere. I can’t promise I’m there past Week 1.
The CBS Psych-like newbie THE MENTALIST had a really fun yet dark pilot that I honestly enjoyed. I’ve never been a huge Simon Baker fan but as the lead observer/one-time fake psychic helping solves crimes from week to week, he’s quite engaging. He has a really dark past that ties into the main arc/big bad of the show but he’s still a man with a sense of humor not to mention kinda hot. As much as I don’t like Robin Tunney past 1997, she’s not nearly as bad and cheesy as she was in Prison Break. Amanda Righetti hasn’t been known for her Emmy winning worthy style of acting but I even enjoyed her here. I make no promises with my commitment to The Mentalist. It’s a good pilot and a fine premise but sometimes procedurals fall to the wayside when I get busy and let’s be honest… it’s up against the 2nd hour of The Biggest Loser and J.J. Abrams new bouncing baby girl Fringe so…
Yeah, FRINGE is pretty much kick ass and I cannot wait to see how this show develops. I did not have the overwhelming sense of being mind frakked after watching the pilot (like I had been with both Alias and Lost) but I’ve watched it a couple times already and I’m not sick of it so that’s a good sign right? I don’t need to go into details of the show because honestly, you’re all just as excited as I am. Anna Torv is a wonderful new find and tough as nails. Joshua Jackson in back in our lives and that’s never a bad thing. There’s a cow and it’s set in Boston… what’s not to love?
Also at 9:00 is The CW’s new series PRIVILEGED but look at the schedule above and know why I can’t watch. Couldn’t they move this to like Sunday night or something? That would work much better for me. CW take note.
Not to mention I’m already watching GREEK Season 2 so…
Finishing out the night is ELI STONE but the more I think about it, I don’t know that I’ll be watching - at least not live. It’s a show that might be pushed to my DVR or iTunes schedule. I’ve got a full night, what do you want from me? Plus I didn’t even mention that I get paid to watch THE JANICE DICKINSON MODELING AGENCY and recap for AfterElton.com so my 10 is full and money trumps Katie Holmes any day.
I hate this show but damn, they’re making it harder for me to ignore Dancing With The Stars. Not only has openly gay singer celebrity person Lance Bass been cast, his partner is none other than So You Think You Can Dance Season 3 Alum Lacey Schwimmer!
As much as I love my girl Lacey, I can’t watch… I won’t. I’m glad she got a professional gig on TV but I cannot watch this subpar dancing show. ’nuff said.
To find out who the rest of the new DwtS cast is, click here.
Ahhh, this is why I loved the previous seasons of So You Think You Can Dance more than the current one. These kids make me swoon… Having both of my Season 2 and 3 boyfriends on stage at the same time was a little awkward but totes hot! Travis Wall and Neil Haskell, for you I will… do anything you want! Good times.
We said we’d be back with another TV Talk Podcast in a week but it took almost a week and a half, I think you survived just fine. GMMR was at the Upfront presentations so there’s plenty to talk about including her celebrity sightings, stalkings, and dancing partners. We’ll even talk about Joss Whedon’s DOLLHOUSE and J.J. Abrams FRINGE starring GMMR’s mega crush Josh Jackson. So You Think You Can Dance might get a couple minutes or five along with her time with The Office and Tina Fey!
Back to your regularly scheduled podcast, we head right into GOSSIP GIRL, AMERICAN IDOL, THE OFFICE, GREY’S, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and more. Plus, it’s the return of TWO IDIOTS TALK LOST (*we talk about the finale being this week but listener Michael pointed out that it’s not until May 29th - phew!) where we rehash the first hour of the three hour Season 4 finale, once again proving that even idiots can enjoy Lost. And as a bonus feature, we have a special guest to help us talk about the Season 3 finale of The CW’s SUPERNATURAL.
Sit back and relax because this Podcast almost hits 90 minutes. You read that right, 90 minutes of babbling, giggling, bitching, and TV Talk!
Have a question for Ducky and GMMR? There are a couple ways to contact us:
Free Voice Mail (Comments/Questions):
This is Dan and Kathie’s favorite method of contact because it allows us to hear from you and we use these messages live on our podcast to answer your burning television questions. It’s FREE and you don’t have to do anything but click RECORD BY PHONE on the box below and it will walk you through how to contact us!
It’s super easy and free to leave us a message:
Step 1: Click on “Record by Phone”
Step 2: Dial the number shown and enter the four digit code when prompted
Step 3: Leave a message
Step 4: Listen to our next podcast to see if we answered your question
Thank god this amazing performance from the So You Think You Can Dance kids was the opening number of the show because I didn’t start watching until almost 1:30am.
Amazing energy, amazing choreography, amazing Travis Wall… the only thing missing was Neil Haskell and some Cat Deeley! Hell, the show even had some Mary Murphy screaming, what wasn’t to love?
It’s a great week for all of us So You Think You Can Dancefans!!! First My 2007 Summer TV BF Neil Haskell scored himself a high profile gig in the Off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz and now it seems that a ton of the previous SYTYCD’ers will be strutting their stuff on tonight’s IDOL GIVES BACK special.
Here’s a picture courtesy of Celebrity Dirt that shows some Idol contestants wrapped around some Dance faves. I spy with my little eye: My 2006 Summer TV BF Travis Wall, Hammy McHamsalot Benji Schwimmer, Lacey Schwimmer, Hok, Danny Tidwell, my girl Donyelle, is that Cousin Heidi? Who else? Dmitry? Lauren’s stupid face with Jaymz… I think that’s Season 2’s Ashlee with her damn hat on the right. Is that Sabra with Archuleta all the way to the left?
I’ll try to find a higher-res photo. Until then though, how frakkin fun is that? Too bad I won’t be home to watch it tonight. Boooooo.
Everyone’s sick of end of year lists but how can I not do one on my favorite TV shows of 2007? I always find these lists hard to do because 12 months is a really long time and we watch a LOT of TV. I wish I could prepare enough ahead of time to write up some great “moments” that stand out but let’s be honest… I don’t get paid to do this so that’s not gonna happen.
Regardless, the end of the 2006-2007 season provided lots of thrills and even a few tears. The 2007-2008 season started off so promising but as we all know, many shows just didn’t live up to the hype and the WGA Strike has kind of killed any hope of making this a banner year for television. So what did I choose? Did I pick a previous favorite that ended last May? Did I give a sophmore series about superheroes another nod? Did those Housewives make a showing after being off the list for so many years? Here goes.
Ducky’s Favorite TV of 2007:
30 ROCK I was late jumping on the 30 Rock train but once I gave it a chance late last winter, I instantly fell in love. 30 Rock is the successor to Arrested Development and I actually may love it even more. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin together are impossibly brilliant and the supporting cast only add to the mayhem and madness. Highlights: Season 1’s “I love NY in springtime” moment, Season 2’s return of Will Arnett, “Me Want Food” and “Gay for Jamie“.
CHUCK Chuck Bartowski, how I love you! The funniest thing about Chuck is that GMMR and I had seen the pilot probably 10 times before we hit Comic-Con where Zac Levi and crew got a superheroes reception from the geek gala. I don’t know that the show has lived up to my expectations but I can’t say that I don’t love watching it every week. There’s an inherent sweetness to this action-comedy that makes me squee. Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski are magnificent together and anytime Adam Baldwin gets to be a smartass, I’m on board. So sad that the WGA Strike put an end to our enjoyment of the Nerd Herd! Highlights: The Pilot, Chuck and Lou, Captain Awesome’s many skin shots, and the return of Bryce Larkin.
DAMAGES Week after week this intense drama built to a shockingly graphic climax and it kept me guessing every step of the way. Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Ted Danson delivered crazy intense performances for 13 weeks, proving that summer is not for the lazy brainless reality shows any longer. It was great interviewing most of the cast this summer, it really made me realize how brilliant the writing of the show really is. Kudos to FX for sticking with Damages and granting us 2 more seasons. Highlights: The endless time shifting and the seemless togetheness of it all, Glenn Close’s reaction to Ray Fiske blowing his brains out, the closing moments on the dock.
DOCTOR WHO/TORCHWOOD The one-two punch of Doctor Who and Torchwood coupled with my going to Comic-Con made 2007 my geekiest year to date. Season 3 of Doctor Who was probably the best of the new series. While I loved and miss Rose, Martha was a great companion. Capt. Jack may have ended up on Who at the end of Season 3 but more importantly he kicked some demon ass all season on his own show, Torchwood. Harkness, Gwen, Ianto, Owen, and Tosh made their show so much more than a spin-off. Torchwood delivered thrills, chills, and tears and I cannot wait for it’s return early in 2008. Highlights:Who’s Donna the Runaway Bride, “Human Nature” and the scary intense weeping angels of “Blink”. Torchwood’s gayness, “Random Shoes” with Eugene, Billis the scariest wrinkled creepy since the Preacher Kane from Poltergeist.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS The Dillon Panthers won State, the audience won another season and all seemed great down there in Texas. Then poor Tyra and Landry had to dump a body in a river leading to the most interesting coupling the show could ever have concocted. Some balked at the stunt plotline but I welcomed it once I saw how unbelievable both Adrianne Palicki and Jessie Plemons would make their roles. The Taylors continued to bring one of the most realistic and beautiful families to television not to mention Connie Britton’s acting her ass off. Highlights: Winning State, Plemons acting, Santiago’s first moment in the game during “The Confession”… breathtaking.
LOST Say what you will about Season 3 of LOST but the addition of Juliet and the jump forward solidified the show as greatness in my book. While it took a bit to flesh out Ben’s backstory, Juliet’s arrival on the island, Mr. Friendly’s allegiance, and the involvement of the Whidmore’s it was all worth the wait. We got some great answers this season, some scary twists and turns, some great revelations, some wonderful death’s, and HELLO, the chaos surrounding who’s coming to the island in Season 4? Matthew Fox continued to bring anxiety and sadness to the role of Jack and it’s a damn shame he wasn’t nominated for something this year. I’m psyched for it’s return on January 31st! Highlights: The story of how Juliet came to the island, the death of Charlie, the flash-forward, and Patch!
MAD MEN Seriously, do I even need to explain why Mad Men is on the list? The acting, the writing, the art direction, the costuming, the genius? Another summer sleeper that rocked my socks! Highlights: Jon Hamm as Don Draper, any scene with Joan, the sadness of the era, Don Draper’s carousel pitch.
PUSHING DAISIES The facts are these: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth and Chi McBride are my favorite finds of 2007. Bryan Fuller created a vivid, magical world I didn’t realize was missing from making my life complete until it slapped me in the face. My favorite pilot of 2007 led to stalking Fuller and Co. at Comic-Con, creating a fansite called ThePieMaker.com, and landed me on the Red Carpet interviewing these great talents. What a summer and fall leading up to the premiere of Pushing Daisies. This show makes me beyond happy and I cannot wait for its return in 2008. Highlights: The pilot, Ellen Greene, the musical numbers, Ned & Chuck, Bryan Fuller and Lee Pace recognizing me on the red carpet with hugs all around. Swoon…
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE I have to include SYTYCD because seriously could there have been a bigger obsession all summer long? Sure I loved Damages and Mad Men but sweet lord did it not compare to my lunacy over Neil Haskell and the rest of the dancers on SYTYCD. Highlights: Neil and Sabra’s boardroom brawl, Cat Deeley’s flawless hosting, Mary Murphy’s continued screaming, Wade Robson’s increased involvement, Debbi Allen and Shankman, backstage on tour.
SUPERNATURAL Love those Winchester’s. In a year that saw Sammy go real dark, the demise of YED, and a soul searching Dean, how can I not love Supernatural? The end of Season 2 was a wild wild ride but the beginning of Season 3 proved that this show is not and will not be stereotyped. Broadening the horizons of the demon world has suited the show nicely. Sure the addition of Ruby and Bela has been problematic for some but I can overlook that because the suspense and the gore has increased! Highlights:Visiting the set last May, blood and more blood, Supernatural:Origins comics, the return of Gordon.
The rest of the best:Battlestar Galactica, Big Bang Theory, Brothers & Sisters, Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Project Runway, Psych, The Closer, The Office, Top Chef and the end of Veronica Mars.
Should be on the list but isn’t for one reason or another: Dexter (never finished Season 2 because we got rid of Showtime but I’m dying to see the rest), Bones (just got addicted so I felt it couldn’t be added just yet - though let it be known that I’m obsessed), Dirty Sexy Money (something just isn’t right just yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it).
Have a safe and Happy New Year! Looking forward to a wonderful and hopefully television filled 2008.
Here’s a SYTYCD Tour Report from Elizabeth who went to the Columbus show! I know there haven’t been as many reports as we’d hoped, sadly many people who said they would do it bailed. Luckily, Ted from BloggingSYTYCD has had a ton of folks so I hope you’ve enjoyed them over there as well.
*As you’ll read, this is the return of LACEY – her first stop since her injury a while back!
I was so excited to attend this year’s SYTYCD tour, as I was unable to last year. I was dancing in my seat the entire show, it was so engaging. My mom and sister joined me for a girl’s night out, making the event even more special, because they had seen little to none of the season this summer. Most of the dances were new to them—it was great to get their unbiased opinions about the dancers and the dances. We were all blown away by the caliber of talent on the stage last night.
This stop was extra special, because it featured the return of Lacey, after she had taken some time off to heal her injured knee. She only danced a few dances—Shauna took her place in “Dancing” with Kameron and Anya took her place in “Hip Hip Chin Chin” with Danny, but she stood out in the Mia Michaels contemporary routine with Neil.
Each of us had different highlights of the night. My sister loved Neil and Sabra dancing to Mandy Moore’s choreography of “Sweet Dreams” and the Matrix group routine. My mom couldn’t choose between Pasha and Sara’s West Coast Swing and Danny and Anya’s Viennese Waltz, but her favorite group routine was Tyce Diorio’s Lion King number. On my part, I love Sara and Jesus’s Vagabond Cabaret to music from the Triplets of Bellville, but Danny and Anya’s samba to “Hip Hip Chin Chin” was excellent as well. My favorite group number was Mia Michaels’s contemporary routine to Imogen Heap’s “The Moment I Said It.”
Some of our other favorites were Danny and Jaimie’s Jive, Neil and Lauren’s Angel and Devil routine, Pasha and Lauren’s Transformers, and the Hummingbird and Flower routine by Hok and Jaimie. The tour-only breakers dance with Dominic, Hok, and Sara blew us away. Everyone really seemed to be on point tonight. I was impressed with Shauna, as I don’t remember being during the competition, while Jaimie was a favorite of my mom and sister. Neil and Danny were crowd favorites, as well as Sabra.
Seeing Lauren dance in a large venue like the Schottenstein Center transformed my view of her from during the competition. I think that there is something about her stage presence that is made for a large audience as opposed to the smaller audience the television show found. I don’t mean in the studio during the competition, but I wasn’t always impressed with Lauren’s dancing. Something felt a little false for me. Seeing her from a different perspective, watching her dances as a whole rather than in the format that was presented by the show changed my view. Dance is such a hard medium to present on tv, as it is meant to be taken in as a whole, not shown in parts. Having the chance to watch the group numbers without the camera work from the show made me appreciate and love them even more.
Some of the dancers weren’t as comfortable with a microphone in their hands as they were dancing. Dominic stood out—he has the personality to engage with the crowd both when dancing and when speaking. His bit with Sara about knowing famous Hollywood musicals was cute, although obviously scripted.
I have to gripe a little bit about our seats. We were seated on the floor, toward the back by the sound booth. It was difficult to see some of the dances from that perspective. I was constantly craning my neck to watch the dancers as they used each part of the stage. I’m glad I already had a chiropractic appointment scheduled! I wish we had been closer to the stage on the floor, or in the first couple of rows on the first level up. I wasn’t in a good position to take pictures, and I have to admit, I didn’t want to miss anything fumbling for my camera and a good shot.
Saturday night I was able to see the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour in E. Rutherford, NJ. Hell I missed Albany and Boston so I had to do something. When my friends Matt and Armando who live in NYC let me know that they had an extra ticket, I was on my way! After all, they are as obsessed as I am about SYTYCD and their love for these kids knows little boundaries — perfect tour going partners, that and there was always the chance that they’d molest Neil so I didn’t have to make an ass out of myself.
So I’m in NYC eating at Kate’s Joint when I get a voicemail. When we leave I check my message and who is it? Oh, it’s a Neil Haskell sibling wanting me to call her back. So, I punched holes in my iPhone trying to dial Erin Haskell back as fast as I could to find out that Neil is hooking me up with backstage passes.
*record scratches*
Does everyone know that I wrote about attacking her brother all summer long? Granted, she knows its all tv blog crushing but whatevs, a little funny. So yeah, I currently heart The Haskell Family more than my own. Fact.
So, after telling Matt and Armando and resuscitating them we were gearing up for the show. Look out Jersey tweens, the bitches are on their way.
Problem #1: We get there and they tell us no camera. I point out that the website for the stadium says the cameras are allowed. They try to pull some crap about at the last minute, production said they didn’t want cameras. Pants on fire much? So we went back to the parking garage, put the camera’s in our crotches and walked back through.
All I could think was, here Lacey hold my camera and then her finding a pubic hair stuck on the lens or something. It was in my crotch afterall. I’m just sayin’…
Problem #2: Go to pick up our backstage passes and realize that as much as I think Neil Haskell is my new BFF, he’s so not. He misspells my last name. Who cares right? Call me Sally Sunshine if needed. I was ready to start saying I was Benji Schwimmer. Any. Means. Necessary.
We get our passes and head on up to our seats. After some borishly lame videos of the dancers telling us random Tour facts and acting quite poorly (I love you kids more than my parents but WOW), the show began.
Executive Producer and Judge Nigel Lythgoe intros the 5 worse auditions from Season 3, we laugh but really it’s just being polite because 5 is a manageable number. 6 and I would have been slapping little children.
Then the lights dimmed, Cat Deeley into’d the kids and the show began! Like I said in my pre-teaser yesterday, I didn’t take notes this year because I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the show. I wanted to take in all the choreography, study the dancers, and obviously be a catty little school girl.
There were a couple new routines just for the Tour, there were the usual favorites, there were solos by each of the Top 10 dancers, there were some dancer introductions, and there was plenty of screaming!
My favorite routine to watch live this year had to be ‘Hip Hip Chin Chin’ with Lacey and Danny. It was good on the show, but there was something about seeing Lacey work that sexual magic on stage that just made my sizzle. I know I’m gay as the day is long but sweet jesus…
I also loved the Imogen Heap number “The Moment I Said It” with Danny Tidwell half naked leading the rest of the cast. It was one of my favorites from the season and it did not disappoint or lose any of its impact in a large stadium. The number is sick! Here’s one of the two videos I took from E. Rutherford.
Watch Danny Tidwell and Cast Dance Imogen Heap’s “The Moment I Said It” Routine
While it was great seeing the actual tour of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE 2007, it was even better getting to hang afterward and meet the gang. No, I wasn’t by the buses this year (though seriously nothing wrong with that) so I didn’t have to beat down any tweens… instead I was backstage with the dancers post-show, pre-bus.
And then there’s the picture that deserves it’s own page… (more…)
Remember a couple weeks back when I was pretty positive I was not going to be able to catch the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Tour? Remember I went through the 5 steps of grief? Anger, sadness, shopping, random acts of douchery, and pushing a old man down a flight of stairs? That’s them, right?
Well my grieving days are behind me and so were plenty of people backstage when I was trying to become BFF’s with the dancers. Yeah, you read that right. From nothing Ducky has risen and bathed in the embarrassment of riches courtesy of The Haskell Clan.
“Shut the front door!” Yup, a Haskell family member heard the cry of a weeping Ducky and hooked a brother up! Big thanks to Erin and Neil Haskell for scoring me passes and for enabling my SYTYCD obsession, enablers…
Quickly, the venue was great; the kids were frakkin fantastic, the routines ridiculous, and the show seemed much longer than last year and I could totally be making that up… still in a SYTYCD haze. It seemed like they danced a thousand and one dances before the intermission, and let me tell you… the 3 straight guys there with their girlfriends or wives hoped it was over if for no reason other than the constant commentary, laughter, and little girl screams emanating from around them. And that was just Matt, Armando and myself!
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t take notes or anything because I just wanted to sit back and have a blast. I have some pictures and some videos that I’ll post when I return home. At the moment I’m still in NYC but I had to quick post letting you guys know that the show was amazing.
