SYTYCD: The Top 20 (Kind Of) Compete

So You Think You Can Dance: Top 20 Performance/Elimination Show

I don't really appreciate that America doesn't get any kind of say in who goes home this week. I know the World Series messes up the schedule, but they could have done the regular competition last night and the results tonight. The judges just picked the Top 20--if America wasn't going to get a say until next week, the judges might as well have just picked the Top 18 right off the bat.

The play-by-play:

• Cat is wearing an Asian-inspired red mini dress with 1940s hair and red lips.
• Billy Bell became very ill so he's out of the competition. (I heard he broke his hand, but Nigel's really hitting the word "ill" hard here.)
• Additionally, Noelle had an accident and her leg is in a massive brace thing. And apparently she gets a free pass this week. Interesting. In Season 3, when Jessie didn't dance during the performance show, she still had to dance for her life the next night (even though Pasha, her partner, received enough votes to be safe) and ultimately went home. They are employing entirely different rules now.
• So choreographer Melanie has to sub in again! She's the only person who has ever had to do that on SYTYCD, and she's had to do it twice now!

Channing and Phillip (Jason Gilkison jive):

• The featurette: This is not the most dynamic pairing ever. Oh dear, Phillip does spoken word.
• The dance: Well, SYTYCD couldn't do its Michael Jackson tribute, but they do get to use "Rockin' Robbin" by The Jackson 5. Channing looks hot in her feathery outfit. This performance was not bad. It didn't look entirely effortless though; they looked like they were thinking pretty hard about everything.
• The judging: Adam liked it, Mary says it was "not bad" (I think that's the exact phrase I just used) but SHE. WANTS. MORE. Nigel wants Channing to get her weight over her toes more so she can bounce.

Ashleigh and Jakob (Tyce Diorio Broadway):

• The featurette: Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Ashleigh! BTW, Ash couldn't dance for 6 years due to illness and injury. Oh no, Jakob got saddled with Tyce! Tyce says Ash and Jakob need "to find that man/woman thing."
• The dance: Why is Ashleigh's dress looking navy when Jakob's wearing a lot of black? Wow, Jakob can leap like nobody's business. Well, I liked Jakob, but I could take or leave Ashleigh on that one.
• The judging: Jakob is sweating up a storm. Adam says that Jakob is amazing and it will be hard for Ashleigh to keep up with him. Mary thinks Ashleigh was phenomenal and that she didn't think Ashleigh was capable of dancing as well as she just did. Mary to Jakob: "Everything you do is just kind of perfect!" Nigel calls Jakob one of the most gifted dancers ever on the show (and he adds that Billy Bell was too). Nigel goes so far as to say that Jakob will go very far in the competition and will take Ashleigh "to the finals as well" is she continues to dance well. Um, I hope not?

Ariana and Peter (Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop):

• The featurette: Napoleon and Tabitha are sooooooo annoying. The dance is about androids.
• The dance: Peter can to some b-boy style tricks. There is an awful lot of head banging in this routine. Too much, I'd say. Apparently, androids act as though they're at a grunge rock concert in the early '90s? The dancing also wasn't really the best display of hip hop ever.
• The judging: Adam says they weren't dancing similarly. Then he does a Lil C impression. Mary loved the beginning but thought it was sloppy in the middle. Nigel was disappointed by these two for the first time. Could it be because this was the first time he's had to watch them do a NappyTabs routine (not counting the group routine in Vegas)?

Noelle and Russell (Tony and Melanie fox trot):

• The featurette: Hahahahaha! Melanie has to dance with Russell! This is going to be classic! It's not every day you see a krumper try the fox trot...
• The dance: Melanie looks hot, and Russell is so debonair! I loved it! I think they should make Melanie dance with someone every week.
• The judging: Adam can't believe how fantastic Russell is. Mary takes her hair off to Russell. She says he did a respectable job. Nigel says Russell's rise and fall wasn't good, but his lines were.

Bianca and Victor (Travis Wall contemporary):

• The featurette: Bianca's living in L.A., and the only family she has with her is her little dog. Victor says he is very colorful. It's Travis!!!!!! YEEEEEEAAAaaa!
• The dance: Victor's got really nice lines. Very cool lifts and, uh, tanglings. Travis has done it again! Awesome, awesome routine. What was interesting is that the male/female dynamic in this was very reminiscent of the relationship in the Bench Dance that Travis performed with Heidi.
• The judging: Adam says Bianca's head and knees are good, but her shoulders and toes need work. He loved Victor. Mary loved them both. Nigel says that they were the most connected partners so far. And, of course, everyone loves Travis. (Let's do a SYTYCD: All-Stars, folks!)

Karen and Kevin (Tony and Melanie cha cha):

• The featurette: Karen is from Venezuela. Kevin is a model.
• The dance: Ha ha ha! they're dancing to the Glee version of "Push It." Karen's outfit is very skimpy. I don't think Kevin quite has this down. He looks uncomfortable. Karen did ok, but I was distracted by her dress. The dance seemed slow.
• The judging: Adam says Karen looks "aaaRUUUgaaa!" and those who know him know that's not really his thing. Mary said Kevin was rhythmical and sexy but not sharp enough. Shocker, Nigel's "gaga" over Karen. He thinks Kevin danced it quite well.

Ellenore and Ryan (Sonya Tayeh contemporary jazz):

• The featurette: Ryan likes to work out. Ellenore's parents were dancers. The dance is about two angelic creatures: a bad one (Ryan) and a good one (Ellenore).
• The dance: The style of movement in this is very prototypical Sonya. Ellenore is good. I wouldn't say that was one of the best routines in SYTYCD history, though. I think Ellenore oversold it in the featurette a bit. It wasn't as good as "The Garden."
• The judging: Adam says they just became two of the most exciting dancers on the show. Mary thought the chemistry was crazy. Nigel says Ryan totally took him by surprise.

Well, that was ominous. Cat just said the judges are going to have to send two dancers home tonight and they cut straight to Pauline and Brandon, who appear to be dressed for a waltz.

Pauline and Brandon (Jason Gilkison smooth waltz):

• The featurette: Pauline likes photography. Brandon is a hip hop dancer who just showed up. Ugh, poor Brandon: he's a hip hopper who just got called in and now he's got to do a waltz.
• The dance: I'm not a waltz expert, but Pauline looks gorgeous when she turns in that flowy dress. The part where they were actually in a hold and waltzing looked a little rough, but everything else looked lovely.
• The dance: Brandon's only been here for a day and a half!!! Adam thinks they did a great job in a difficult situation. Mary liked their chemistry, considering how little time they had to work on it. Mary begins a sentence to Brandon with "if you continue on..." so that sure doesn't bode well for him. Nigel says it wasn't strong enough in his opinion.

We are just tearing through these performances tonight!

Kathryn and Legacy (Dave Scott hip hop):

• The featurette: Goofy caveman hip hop.
• The dance: This is good. And a very strong argument for sending NappyTabs packing. Kathryn was rather good for a non-hip hopper.
• The judging: Adam loved it. Mary screams "Yabba dabba do!" and the continues to shriek for quite a while. All three judges heartily commend Dave Scott. Yes, that's what good hip hop choreography looks like, folks.

Mollee and Nathan (Doriana Sanchez disco):

• The featurette: Did they seriously pair up Nathan and Mollee?! Whyyyyyy? There's no reason to isolate the two young ones--Chelsie Hightower was young when she was on the show and she did fine dancing with Mark. But my real reluctance about this pairing stems the fact that I like Nathan but am annoyed by Mollee. And to make it worse, they're making them do disco! Nathan looks ridiculous in that white outfit. Nathan plays the piano and the trumpet.
• The dance: Something looks off to me about Mollee's arm movements. Nathan's still great. They pulled off some very cool lifts quite well. I liked her doing splits while Nathan pulled her across the floor.
• The judging: The judges commend them both for their energy and spirit.

My favorite dances of the night:

• Bianca and Victor's contemporary
• Russell and Melanie's fox trot
• Kathryn and Legacy's hip hop

Now the judges are going to pick two guys and two guys to dance solos. They will be judged on everything the judges know about them from all season.

Dancing will be: Ariana, Brandon, Pauline and Russell.

RUSSELL?!?! WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS?!? So, theoretically, he could be sent home tonight for his fox trot, while his partner (Noelle) got injured and gets to go straight through to next week without even having to dance! Perhaps if Russell had known about this loophole, he would have faked an injury! Hell, if I were a dancer on this show, I'd plan to develop some sort of "injury" as soon as I drew the quick step.

Also, Ashleigh doesn't have to dance for her life tonight? I think Pauline is getting a little screwed over.

Ariana's solo: Wearing kind of a frilly purple dress. She did a nice, powerful solo.

Russell's solo: Russell has one heck of a buck krump face. He dances with such aggression and passion. If the judges kick him off tonight, they won't be able to make it out of the building.

Pauline's solo: Opens with some nice pirouettes. It had nice energy, but there wasn't too much else going on. It kind of looked like a ballroomer's solo.

Brandon's solo: I think he's hip hopping to a John Mayer track Interesting choice. It was pretty but rather low-key. After the sheer force of nature that was Russell's solo, poor Brandon doesn't have a chance.

This group seems really big on making little heart shapes with their hands.

The girls: Ariana is cut. Nigel says she's a remarkable dancer but that they'd like to see more love in her eyes. If I were her, I wouldn't be looking at the judges with love in my eyes right now.

The guys: Holy crap! Nigel just scared the crap out of me when he told Russell they hope he will keep learning new styles of dance. What a dumbass thing to say--of course Russell will continue to learn new styles since he's staying in the competition. What else is he supposed to do? Pull "contemporary" out of the hat and flat out refuse to do it? Krump while his partner is doing a mambo?

But, anyway, Brandon is going home. Nigel says he'll talk to FOX and the powers that be and try to get a rule exception so that Brandon can try out for the show again next year. (Typically, once you make the Top 20, you can't try again in another season.) That's really only fair, because Brandon really didn't make the Top 20 and only stepped in a the last minute to help out. His experience wasn't a typical Top 20 experience; he didn't have the opportunities to prepare and practice that everyone else did, so it would really suck if this 2-day experience precluded him from having the chance to participate more fully in the future.

Seriously, why did they put Russell in the bottom two? Based on tonight's performances, in addition to Brandon, I would have ranked Peter, Kevin and probably Phillip all below Russell. Aside from the stupid comment about hoping he'll continue to learn new styles, Nigel didn't even give Russell any actual constructive criticism or advice. He certainly didn't get the "show more passion" line. I'm guessing the judges just wanted to see him krump? Or rally his supporters for the future? I don't know.

Let's hope that SYTYCD will get a handle on what they're doing after the World Series is over. These fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants rule/format alterations aren't working very well.

Greek: A Cyprus-Rhodes Thanksgiving

Greek:

"The Wish-Pretzel"

It's Thanks- giving on Greek! There is a long and storied history of great Thanksgiving-themed television episodes. My favorites include The O.C.'s epic "The Homecoming" episode, Gossip Girl's solid season 1 Thanksgiving episode, the episode of The Cosby Show where Cliff had to keep going out in the rain for groceries, the fantastic Thanksgiving episode of Now and Again, the episode of Gilmore Girls where Lorelai and Rory ate four (three?) Thanksgiving dinners, and the list goes on.

While it's a little odd to see a Thanksgiving episode a month or so early, I really enjoyed Greek's Thanksgiving effort. Beaver, Wade and Heath were hilarious. Evan was gorgeous. Dale caused some trouble...what's not to love? Oh, that's right, the ending. Sorry, folks, but I've been unequivocally on Team Evan ever since he stopped hitting other people's sweet little brothers with paddles. I fell off the Cappie/Casey bandwagon a couple of mini-seasons ago when I grew tired of their longing stares. I still like them both though, so I figured I'd be okay with their pairing, but when they kissed at the end of the episode, I realized I wasn't. It will be okay though; I'll get over it. (As long as Greek doesn't force the Evan/Rebecca pairing. I will seriously barf.)

The highlights and my other observations:

• Rebecca: "You could pay me to stay longer, but I don't have an electric bill."
• So Casey's going home and Rusty's not? Ha ha ha! Their parents went to Maui and Casey didn't know about it because she doesn't listen to her mom's or Rusty's voicemail messages.
• Hey, if Casey wants to sleep with someone, she could just sleep with Dale. Just throwing that out there... (Actually, now that Dale's back to his Christian ways, I guess he's abstaining again.)
• Geez, Evan's so cute. And that shirt is really working for him.
• Evan: "I'll drive! Get it?"
  Cappie: "Well, that'd be funny if you still had your car."
  Evan: "Yeah. You should drive."
  Cappie: "Yeah, I will."
• Evan's not doing so well with his attempts at golf puns lately.
• Rebecca: "You really do think that your life is a romantic comedy, don't you?"
• Wow, the KT house is the place to be! Wade, Beaver and Heath are all still there!
• Yes, it's okay for you to try for the grant, Rusty.
• If Rebecca has a rain machine, how can she even hear the creepy house noises?
• That's nice of Casey to volunteer by delivering Thanksgiving meals to the elderly.
• Ha ha at the KTs totally misinterpreting the clue about the pool table.
• Cappie: "'...I'm hiding under the trash can in the smelliest room of the house.'"

  Heath: "The bathroom!"

  Wade: "The kitchen!"

  Beaver: "Could be anywhere."
• There are an awful lot of people in the lab on Thanksgiving! I know they're science geeks, but this is ridiculous! There are like 30 people in that room. It's Thanksgiving!
• How did Cappie not know that Heath is graduating? I've know that for months.
• Beaver: "You didn't know, Cap? I thought you knew everything. I'm so disillusioned right now."
• Heath: "And if anyone's secretly gay and wants to declare their love for me, that would be the time."
• Cappie had Evan's phone number filed under "LAME-bers" in his cell phone. Ha!
• I knew that Cappie bailing on Evan would send Evan right to Casey! YEA!
• Yeah, I really don't think that Rusty would want Evan showing up to his Thanksgiving dinner.
• Beaver, Cappie and Wade's reactions to Heath's suggestion to steal all of the Omega Chi's underwear were hilarious.
• Beaver: "You don't want to prank the Omega Chis. It's like Bizarro Cappie!"
• Beaver: "You used to live for risk! And Shoots and Ladders!"
• Ha ha ha ha!!! That guy put on Ashleigh's hideous cloud cardigan!!!!
• Casey: "Well, looks like all he took was that one shirt. What an odd choice!"
• Noooooooooooo, Casey! Don't push Evan away! Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! OH, I am so saddened by this turn of events! Wrong choice, Casey! Wrong choice...
• Rebecca: "I chased him for three blocks before I realized we're doing Ash a favor by letting him keep that shirt."
• Heath: "No Omega Chi is stepping foot in this house without getting pounded! ...by my fist! ...in the face! I don't know..."
• Aww! The KT's Thanksgiving meal is like the one in Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving! How adorable is that!
• Aww, poor Evan.
• Aren't there lights in this lab? Dale and Rusty are working in the dark! Rusty better get that bulb to light up, or they're not going to be able to find their way out of the room!
• The fractured state of Rusty/Dale hurts my heart.

Sometimes I am so in tune with the powers that be at Greek that I think they read my blog--like when they randomly bring back and ruthlessly mock Ashleigh's heinous cloud/rainbow sweater that I've made fun of on numerous occasions (such as here and here). But then they go and put Casey back with Cappie, and it's clear that they're not listening to me at all :-P

Uh oh, the preview for next week makes it look like they kill somebody or something. I hope it's not Fisher! Or Beaver! Or Dale! Or Heath! (Oh no, it totally could be Heath since he's graduating and presumably leaving the show anyway!)

I'm bummed that next episode is the finale of this mini-season. I'm going to miss my favorite college kids.

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Greek: A Four Pack of Disaster

Greek:

"Fight the Power"

I liked this episode (although, to be fair, do I ever actually not like an episode of Greek?), but I've had more than enough of this whole "the ZBZs are fourth, and it's a big disaster" story line. But of course I'm going to like an episode that featured this much Evan/Casey interaction as well as a healthy smattering of Dale.

Highlights and my observations:

• Ashleigh: "Look at the happy faces on all the children!"
• Beaver: "It's harder than it looks. You have to stop drinking at the end of the snore."
  Heath: "Or you get penalized."
  Beaver: "Ha, you just said penalized!"
• Beaver: "You're on the moon right now, aren't you! You're a hologram!"
• Evan: "Fore!"

  Ashleigh: "We get it, we're number four. You don't have to rub it in."
• Evan: "You know, some people appreciate my sense of humor."
  Ashleigh: "Some people appreciate Crocs."
• Evan: "Oh, and watch out for those sand traps! ...That wasn't funny at all."
• Lana messing with Rusty is pretty entertaining.
• Cappie: "Again, can you just assure me that we're not having sex with Spitter tonight?"
• Good for Cappie for leaving money on the table instead of dining and dashing. (That would probably be a bad thing to do at an establishment that they frequent.)
• Except for Evan and Calvin, these Omega Chis are a bunch of jerks.
• Hahahaha! Ashleigh's dress has a lobster on it! I kinda love it.
• I can't believe everyone in the sorority sits down and eats dinner at the same time! Does that actually happen anywhere in real life (in sororities)?
• Ashleigh: "And then I introduced her to tweezers, and she stole my boyfriend."
• Rusty: "I never watched so many episodes of one TV show since that Joan of Arcadia marathon with my parents."
• Rusty is kind of acting like he recently sustained a head wound.
• Rusty: "Oooh! That whale just ate that whole seal!"
• Ok, Calvin, let's just kick that Grant to the curb. I'm totally over him. Calvin needs to hook back up with Heath before he graduates.
• DALE!!!!
• Can Rusty please date Lana? Because that would be all kinds of awesome.
• Frown-y cupcakes! I think being fourth is worth it if the ZBZs get free baked goods!
• Lana: "I don't date guys with issues."
  Dale: "Someone without a college degree shouldn't be so choosy."
• It is kind of curious that the Omega Chis put up with Evan when he was super rich and very mean, but now that he's nice and poor, they're planning a mutiny.
• No wonder the Gamma Psis are the new number one sorority--they've got a bowl full of chocolate bunnies in their living room!
• Ha ha, Dale at a strip club.
• Dale: "Hi, I have a friend of mine I'd like to introduce you too! His name is Jesus, and He pays much greater dividends than those dollar bills in your underpants."
• This is quite a fancy party.
• Rebecca: "What was that? Do you have something against mid-fielders?"
• Oh HELL nooooooooooooooooooo!!! DO. NOT. START. ANYTHING. WITH. EVAN. AND. REBECCA! I will LITERALLY barf!
• Rusty: "Are you growing up?"

  Cappie: "You shut your damn mouth!"
• I think Rusty has lost his darn mind. He seriously seems like he's been concussed recently.
• Katherine: "My policy on parties is basically a 5-minute walk-through, but I rather enjoyed the caricatures this evening and he captured my likeness, so I stayed a little longer."
• This Natalie girl (the Gamma Psi president) kind of cracks me up too. The Gamma Psis seem like an entertaining bunch. I'd rather watch them than Rebecca and the annoying ZBZ pledges.
• Dale: "Why was that dollar bill wet?"
• Now Rusty has a head wound! He finally has an excuse for how strangely he's acting.
• Dale: "Jesus knows how to party! The dude makes His own wine."
• It's nice to see Dale back to his old prostelytizing.
• Ha ha at Cappie, Rusty and Dale doing shots of sparkling cider.
• So Rusty really can't date Lana now that Cappie doesn't want her anymore?
• Dale: "Oh no, I think I see where this is headed."
• Ashleigh: "And they sleep where they poop. You can't trust a bunny."

And--what has it been now?--nine or so episodes after Casey dumped her boyfriend for him, it looks like Cappie is finally going to get around to try to get with her in next week's episode. Ugh, I want to like the prospect of Casey finally getting with Cappie, but I'm just so tired of him. I feel like we've had at least four different versions of Evan so far during the run of Greek, but Cappie has remained basically the same this whole time. Not that it's a bad thing that Cappie hasn't veered from jerk to sweetie to paddle-hitter to depressed guy and then back to sweetie--it means that Cappie is actually the more stable of the two. But it also means that we've had an awful lot of exposure to Cappie's shtick. And, while I still find him funny, I've grown tired of his overall act. (And Evan is just so cute!)

So are we headed for the re-pairing of Cappie and Casey, to be followed by her drifting towards Evan due to a combination of Cappie's Cappie-ness and Evan's sweetness (in other words, a complete repeat of what happened during their freshman year)?

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Gossip Girl: Toast Disasters

Gossip Girl:
"Enough About Eve"

So Chuck kissed a dude, and this episode was still kind of a snooze. It's like it's a new rule that at least two of Gossip Girl's plot lines per episode have to be almost painfully dull (Serena/Nate/poker and Vanessa/Dan/Olivia). I was even frustrated with Blair's shenanigans, because I had a hard time believing that everyone cared so much about who gave the speech at a freshman parents' dinner. I'm surprised that NYU could even get people to go to that dinner, let alone that it would spark epic battles over who got to speak at it. I don't know, I just think that if Blair's going to let her ambitions screw up her relationship with Chuck, she might as well be aiming a bit higher than giving the toast at a dinner for NYU parents. (Neither of Blair's parents even attended, which is a disappointment because I love Margaret Colin and John Shea, and Dorota wasn't even there.) Seriously, is anyone going to remember the stupid toast a week from now?

Also, have any of these students who "go to NYU" (or Nate who "goes to Columbia") ever actually gone to a class?

If the whole "Chuck kisses a boy" thing was a stunt to get ratings, it doesn't look like it worked.

One good thing about this episode was that Gina Torres a.k.a. Anna Espinosa of Alias turned up as Vanessa's mother. Unfortunately, the uncoolness of being in a Vanessa storyline tempered the awesomeness that is Anna Espinosa a bit. Here's a reminder of how great she can be. (The video's in German, but who cares: Anna tries to hit Sydney with the arm of a mannequin! Ha!)

Highlights and my observations:

• Chuck: "Bad dream? Don't tell me it was Charade again. I know how terrifying you find Walter Matthau."
• Aww, Chuck is so sweet holding Blair when she told him her dream was "All About Eve."
• Why wait to have Tripp run for Congress? Because he's only like 25 years old?
• Don't worry, Nate has an idea. Oh, I feel so much better now.
• There was a cover story on Vanessa on the cover of the NYU paper? Are you kidding me? Gag.
• Jenny (to Dan): "People like you more when they meet our family." THEY DO?!?! I'm sorry, but meeting Rufus would not make me like anyone better.
• Serena's dress does not really same day-appropriate. It looks like a party dress.
• I cannot believe people actually care who gives the toast at the freshmen dinner. I cannot believe people want to go to that.
• They were playing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home" very quietly in the background during Vanessa's phone call. That song was easily the highlight of this whole episode. I'm a big fan of that song. They should have just canned all of this toast nonsense and these poker shenanigans and just played that whole song.
• Uh oh, Vanessa's lying. I thought she didn't lie.
• I didn't know poker could make for such boring television.
• Oh, nice work Serena and Nate. I told you that you should never feel too confident in one of Nate's plans.
• By far the coolest thing about Vanessa ever: her mother is Anna Espinosa (Gina Torres) from Alias. If Anna Espinosa is really supposed to be Vanessa's mother, Vanessa should be a whole a lot cooler.
• Oh, that Nate! Such a little sneak! There's no way Nate came up with this plan on his own. This was definitely Grandpa Vanderbilt's idea.
• Why is Olivia asking Vanessa why Dan doesn't want her to meet his parents, when Dan's standing 20 feet away from her right now!
• Ha ha! Dan just set the kitchen on fire.
• Ha ha, a kiss from Chuck Bass is #27 on the Tribeca Scavenger Hunt.
• Geez, Chuck's haircut is amazing. He looks super hot. I cannot get over it.
• Wow, this distinguished alumni isn't very upstanding. He had the "important job" of picking the speaker and he traded it away for a kiss from Chuck Bass? (Although, I can't say I really blame him...)
• This is quite a fancy freshmen dinner event.
• Why did Olivia change out of that pretty purple dress and into that way too tight orange thing? Ick.
• Chuck: "Keep up, Bambi."
• Wow, Serena can't even follow Nate's grandpa's scheme. It's not that complex, S. If she can keep up with all of Blair's schemes, she should be able to follow this one.
• Geez, Vanessa, piss off the few people left who can still tolerate you. Nice going.
• If Carter thinks Serena's going to give a flying crap about him in three years after he goes away to work on the oil rig, he's got another thing coming.
• Oof, that's rough. Vanessa just got a lecture on being a good person from Anna Espinosa! Ha!
• Rufus: "Dan, was that Blair on the P.A.? She really should have run that speech by someone."
• Damn, Chuck looks hot. It's distracting!
• Yeah, I don't believe that Blair's never going to manipulate Chuck again. Chuck should kick her ass to the curb.
• At least now we get to here some more of "Home"! It's helping to make all of Vanessa's screen time easier to stomach.

(photo: cwtv.com)

Greek: Truth & Comic-Consequences

Greek:
"The Dork Knight"

Strong episode: there were some interesting Cappie/Casey/Evan developments, and I always love a Rusty/Dale/Calvin road trip.

Highlights and my observations:

• Rusty: "So that's when I said, 'Oliver? I barely know her!'"
• Dale: "It's practically expected for me to be loose with my morals and my genitals."
• Haha at Casey stalking Evan and Cappie and making Ash hide behind park benches with her.
• Ashleigh: "Do you even take classes here anymore?"
• Evan: "You know what they say, cleanliness is next to godliness, and you don't want to piss off God!"
• Wow, Evan looks hot in his cleaning outfit.
• Rusty: "She already has friends in New York. What, do they sit around Central Perk? Talk about what to name Rachel's baby?"
• Dale: "As an atheist now, I say, 'Do 'em if you got 'em.'"
• Yea! It's Fisher! It is nice not to have to rely on that Taco Bell commercial to get my Fisher fix (although he is rather good in that commercial).
• Fisher: "So, what do you want to do, girlfriend? That sounded weird, didn't it?"
• Clueless! Fisher has never seen Clueless?! WHAT?!
• "Chambers maid"
• Well, I thought Evan's cleanliness "joke" was cute :-)
• Ha ha, Cappie says he and Evan are vigilante crime fighters.
• Evan is really good at acting like he still hates Cappie.
• Oh no! This Evan/Cappie "fight" started out cute, but now there are frat brothers involved and there is punching and biting! Not good.
• Ashleigh: "I think Clueless is one of the greatest movies in the history of movies!" (You and me both, Ash.)
• Aww, Fisher didn't like Clueless. What a loser ;-)
• Dale: "Vampira69 just told a Twilight joke that would make your ears bleed!"
• Dale: "Dude, comic book conventions are just crawling with hotties! Everyone know that."
  Rusty: "Yeah! No, they don't."
• Casey: "I'm like the worst detective ever."
  Ashleigh: "Oh, stop. Remember Inspector Gadget? He needed a dog and a 10-year-old girl to solve anything."
  
• Is there really an Ohio River Comic-Con?
  
• Poor Calvin. The more he hangs out with Rusty and Dale, the sorrier I feel for him. Nevertheless, I'd totally love to hang out with Rusty and Dale.
  
• Couldn't Cappie and Evan tell Casey they're friends again, but not tell her about the secret society? They could make up some other reason that they became friends again.
  
• Ashleigh says this "seems like the longest semester ever."
  
• Cappie: "Do we just play around it?"
  Beaver: "Like putt-putt? ...Yeah."
  
  
• Cappie: "Ohh, you sucking suck sucker!"
  
  
• Cappie: "Hey, why are kittens called 'kittens'? They're little cats; shouldn't they be called 'cattens'?"
  
  
• I loved how Beaver and Cappie's statistic-laden contraception conversation made Casey think they knew about the walkie talkie.
  
  
• Lol, Calvin's favorite show used to be Leopard Boy. "His mom is human, but his dad is leopard. He solves his mysteries at this posh Caribbean resort."
  
  
• Oh NO! Vampira69 is Sheila! Noooooo!
  
  
• Oh, Rusty... His interaction with the green girl was not smooth at all.
  
  
• Even the contraception PSA with Cappie and Beaver was entertaining.
  
  
• Wow, go Casey! She's in Amphora now!
  
  
• Uh oh, now Casey has to do the Amphora emotional purge. That could get sticky.
  
  
• Look at Calvin's Leopard Boy hat!
  
  
• Calvin's face when he saw Sheila in the outfit was hilarious.
  
  
• Aww, Casey still feels guilty about her role in breaking up Cappie and Evan.
  
  
• Sheila: "Sounds like somebody could use a little self-esteem."
  
• Cappie: "Goonies really does hold up."
  
• Rusty: "Jordan told me to get a life in front of 300 people who live in their parents' basements."
  
• Ok, this Cappie/Casey/Evan friendship is great and all, but surely they all realize that it's going to come crashing down on them the second Casey gets back together with either Cappie or Evan.
  
• Dale: "I was clinging to this notion of me as a sexy, atheist super villain, but that's not me. I mean, I'm sexy, but I'm not an atheist, and I'm not a super villain."
  
• Ha at Calvin singing the Leopard Boy theme song.
  
• Fisher: "Leg warmers are not gloves!"
  
• Poor Ashleigh's arm warmers are taking a beating this season! Rebecca already made fun of them.
  
• Aww, good for Dale. Even though Greek plays his faith for laughs 90% of the time, it's nice that Greek at least acknowledges that some college kids are religious.
  

(photo: abcfamily.com)

Gossip Girl: Marry Me, Lil

Gossip Girl:
"Rufus Getting Married"

I'd say this was by far the best episode of Gossip Girl so far this season. Unfortunately, that's more a commentary on how sub-par the other episodes have been rather than the excellence of this one. Still though, I think it's impressive how watchable this episode was, given the large amount of Rufus/Lily drama it contained. (I've been over the two of them since the season one finale when they decided they loved each other and she married Bart anyway.)

Highlights and my observations:

• I'm sorry, Dan, but your "say hi to Godzilla for me" IM joke was not nearly that funny!
• How does Blair know she hates Nate's new girlfriend? Has she even seen Nate in months?
• Since when does Vanessa not like Georgie? I thought Vanessa was Georgie's great champion.
• Blair: "Do you happen to know what the Swahili is for 'mind your own beeswax'? No reason, of course, it just might be useful on a safari sometime."
• Blair: "Trust me, Nate, I know women, and none of us are that nice."
• Hey, look, it's Jenny and Eric, just wandering around the apartment in a pack as usual. They are like the chorus in Greek drama--they don't really factor into the plot much and just pop up occasionally to say something that advances the story.
• Dan: "You've been running? With jeans on? That didn't chafe?"
• No, Serena, don't waste your time trying to get Rufus and Lily together. I, for one, could not care less anymore. Just let it go.
• Vanessa: "...and C, even though I tried to defend you, you're a full-on crazy person."
• Georgina: "That was just pathetic! Haven't you ever tried to get somebody to dump a celebrity before?"
• Rufus: "I knew I let you kids watch The Parent Trap too many times."
• Holy crap, Chuck is one hot masseuse!
• Blair's voice when she said, "Hey, where are you going? I have tension!" sounded extremely reminiscent of Cher Horowitz in Clueless when she said, "Even Fabion, my masseuse, said I had a lot of tension in my back." Like so reminiscent that it was either a direct send-up or borderline plagiarism.
• Vanessa's wearing a lot of jewelry for a long afternoon of Photoshopping.
• When Rufus and Lily see each other, they piss each other of in a matter of seconds, but then they both look at a photo, and suddenly they're in love again and everything's perfect. Uh, that's because the photo doesn't talk back, people! This detente is going to last for like 5 minutes.
• I still don't understand how Jenny can rule Constance with that hair!
• Oh, Jenny's used to making dresses in one night. Not sure Lily's going to want to wear whatever she comes up with though.
• I liked Serena calling the Constance girls "new mean girls."
• Georgina got Poppy deported? Was Poppy not an American? Whatever, thanks for that belated explanation...
• Dan: "Turns out, she was dating Orlando Bloom behind my back."
  Georgina: "It is amazing how far down that guy's Star-O-Meter has gone."
  
• Chuck: "I'm getting sick of being your travel agent. This ticket's the last, and it's one-way."
  
• I like Serena's dress, but it looks like she needs to give it a hard tug upwards.
  
• Jenny's dress is not my favorite.
  
• If Rufus is never happier than when he's with Lily, he must have been one tremendously depressed dude during pre-Lily. He sure doesn't look happy to me when he's with her.
  
• I'm not sure if that dress is Jenny's best work. It's definitely not her worst work though.
  
• Nice, Lily. Snap at the one child of yours who doesn't already know what a loser you are.
  
• Oh, yeah, Bree did mention that her BFF cousin was jilted at the alter. I remember that now, but I still don't care.
  
• Scott sure travels light. He came all the way from Boston without a bag or a jacket or anything?
  
• This is great; you just find out your son is alive and you just ignore him while you continue your previous conversation.
  
• One way or another, this Rufus-and-Lily-getting-married thing is going to make Serena and Dan's eventual wedding really awkward.
  
• Vanessa's an "all's well that ends well kind of girl"? Really?
  
• Yeah, Bree, please leave. And if you happen to pass Vanessa on your way out, take her with you.
  

Once again, Georgie proves ridiculously easy to get rid of. This time Dorota and the doorman took care of it! And, is flying Georgina off somewhere with the doorman really vengeance on Georgina? It seems like more of a punishment for the doorman to me...

But, seriously, Georgie liked Dan enough to go up to New England to hunt down his secret half-brother and bring him back, but then she's just going to drop the big news and skedaddle? I was expecting her to completely lose it and lock Dan up in the closet of her dorm room and make him wear funny outfits (a la Jan Spears on Days of Our Lives) or something. Frankly, I'm disappointed.

I had expected that Mercy would have gone belly-up by the time that Georgie's last episode aired, freeing Michelle Tractenberg up to make a swift return to GG, but so far Mercy hasn't been canceled (probably because there's no one from The O.C. on it) so I guess NYU will be Georgina-free for awhile.



(photo: cwtv.com)

Greek: Helper-ish Friends

Greek:

"Lost and Founders"

I've got a major blogging backlog, so just the highlights:

• Evan to the rescue! He's wearing a striped shirt and no tie! He looks so casual.
• "Evan Keller"
• Still no Dale?!?! What the hell, people? Come on.
• Make up a story, Rusty. Say Jordan's not there because she had a family emergency or something. Think on your feet a little.
• Ashleigh literally looks like she's dressed as a sailor for a Halloween party. Is that going to impress the alumnae? I wouldn't give money to somebody in that get-up.
• Rusty told the professor that Jordan had a hair dryer accident! Lol. Nice work, Rusty.
• Ash: "Look at the plus side, at least we'll both know what you're doing."
• Lana: "Are you warming up to using that line on a 16-year-old?"
• Cappie: "Friends are fun. I think Plato said that...or Elmo."
• Serving shirtless can't be part of Evan's job description.
• Rusty's glare at Grant (when he was telling Jordan you don't need to go to college to be a photographer) was pretty funny.
• Ashleigh looks far less ridiculous in her wood nymph costume than she did in that sailor outfit that was supposed to be real clothes.
• Casey: "She mentioned she has an 8 a.m. class she hates, but who can blame her? Brains don't work that early."
• Maybe Jordan needs a faculty advisor--it shouldn't be Rusty's job to get her into a different major.
• Casey: "So how do you two know each other?"
  Lana: "Fight club. Damn, I broke the first rule."
  Cappie: "And the second rule."
• That Lana is kind of hilarious. In fact, she and Cappie together might be too funny.
• Ahahaha! Nate is Doris' "helper-ish friend." That sounds creepy.
• Lana: "What does a helper-ish friend do?"

  Cappie: "Besides making a great meal out of hamburger?"
• Cappie's getting some decent mileage out of his Plato/Elmo joke.
• Ha ha at Evan trying to warn Casey about Nate after a conversation consisting of just "Where are you from?"/"Baltimore."
• Ok, "Steven Hawking and the naughty science girl" is about the creepiest thing ever. Poor Calvin.
• Eesh, Nate is skeazy. Casey really knows how to pick 'em, huh?
• This whole episode makes Evan look like a tremendous judge of character.
• Just let Jordan drop out already! I can't take anymore of her!
• Please no more of this Rusty/Jordan stuff. It's excruciating.
• Yea for Cappie and Evan coercing Nate into confessing.
• Cappie: "I still say he's doing the old lady."
• Not only was there no Dale, but there was also no Beaver or any of the KTs other than Cappie and Rusty. Also no Fisher.

(photo: abcfamily.com)

The Big Bang Theory: Some Like It Goth

The Big Bang Theory:

"The Gothowitz Deviation"

Since I enjoyed reading The Big Bang Theory's fancy article on NYTimes.com today, I decided to blog about tonight's episode, which was hilarious as usual.

Highlights and my observations:

• Sheldon: "While I subscribe to the many worlds theory that posits the existence of an infinite number of Sheldons in an infinite number of universes, I assure you that in none of them am I dancing."
• Sheldon: "Dear Lord, are you still going to be here on french toast day?"
• Sheldon: "I can't be impossible; I exist! I believe what you meant to say was 'I give up! You're improbable!'"
• Sheldon: "Ohh, Penny, it's as if the Cheesecake Factory is run by witches!"
• Ha ha ha at Howard in the goth outfit! He's kind of cute as a goth :-)
• Leonard: "They're going to get beaten up at that club."
  Penny: "They're going to get beaten up at Walgreens."
• Holy crap! That's totally Mickey (Molly Morgan), Stephanie's friend from middle school on Full House! And, yes, I recognized her instantly.
• It's been quite the fall for guest appearances by Stephanie's friends--first Duckface was on Glee, now Mickey is on TBBT. Now we just need Marla Sokoloff, Andrew Keegan and the guy who played Harry Takayama (Nathan Nishiguchi) to show up somewhere, and we're set!
• Leonard: "You can't train my girlfriend like a lab rat."

  Sheldon: "Actually, it turns out I can."
• Lol at Sheldon using the spray bottle on Leonard.
• Mickey pressuring Howard to get a tattoo is reminding me of when Gia and Mickey tried to get Stephanie to smoke in the bathroom. Mickey never seems to be a good influence on anyone, does she? (To be fair, she did end eventually side with Stephanie over Gia on Full House. However, then Steph and Gia became BFFs and Mickey disappeared, so I don't know what the lesson is there.)

Oh, and speaking of TBBT, look at this! How adorable! That Sheldon doll looks exactly like Jim Parsons (to the extent that a crocheted doll can look like an actual person). Unfortunately, I don't think my crocheting skills are quite up to that level yet :-(

(Photo: CBS)