Category — Television

After a wild performance show that including the first-ever competition-style mambo,  it’s time to find out which two couples will be heading home. Is it finally time for Michael to go? Does America still think Aaron is intolerable? Can audiences forgive Louie’s jilted jitterbug? Will I ever stop asking questions in threes like Tom Bergeron? Only time will tell.

Things got mixed up early on when the show opened with the musical guest Taylor Swift performing her new single. I’m not sure who the couple was that danced during her performance, but apparently they didn’t get the memo that Len hates when female ballroom dancers don’t wear ballroom shoes.

After a quick recap of last night, the show got right down to business and Joanna and Derek were sent right to safety, followed by Mark and Lacey. Meanwhile, everyone is spazzing out about the double elimination and the possibility of being forced to perform in the dance-off.

Donny and Kym are also safe, as are – SHOCKER! – Aaron and Karina. Eesh. I sense we may have a surprise elimination on our hands tonight.

Tiempo Libre was also on deck to bring in some serious Latin flavor, accompanied by some sassy-spicy dancing that effectively washed away the memory of last night’s mambo mess. And it wouldn’t be a DWTS results show without …

… a montage! This week’s was about the stars getting to design the costumes for their partners for next week’s show. Memorable moment: Louie Vito asking,”What’s chiffon?” Oh Louie, you have so much left to learn.

And then, just like that, we’re back to eliminations. Mya and Dmitry are sent to safety, along with Kelly and Louis. Before we continue, it’s another Taylor Swift break, this time with “Love Story.” The costume designers took this one literally, dressing our professionals like kids in a high school drama club version of Romeo & Juliet. Out, damned spot, out I say! (wrong play, I know).

Because the concept of “10″ is confusing to some, Olympic gymnast and person with nothing better to do Nadia Comaneci visits to explain to the masses what it means to score a perfect 10. In short, it means you did a perfect job and scored 10 points. Are we clear now? No? Well, let’s bring in Greg Louganis and Bill Walton to explain some more.

Finally! Elimination time! And, AAA BOO HISS Melissa and Mark are going home. I blame the waltz. I thought they had a few more weeks in them, but the waltz takes no prisoners. In other news, Michael and Anna and Louie and Chelsie will be dancing later in the dance-off. The judges seem to like Michael for some strange reason (mostly because he’s this season’s token “you’re trying so hard but….” contestant), so I’m a little worried for Louie. Annnnd….

Cue dance off! Michael and Anna went first, dancing a samba. On the plus side, he didn’t attempt to do the worm. At times it was venturing into Woz territory, but the judges praised his energy and personality. Guess what? Its Dancing with the Stars, not Personality with the Stars. Louie and Chelsie chose the jive, which suits his personality and at least if they’re going to go out, they’ll do so with a bang. I think having to learn so many dances took its toll on Louie, who forgot half the routine. Chelsie was actually leading him around.The judges are pretty easy on them, all things considered.

Finally, the time had come. Michael and Anna were saved, thanks to Len and Carrie Ann’s votes, and Louie and Chelsie were sent back to the slopes. Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night til it be next week, when two more couples will be eliminated.

When she’s not misquoting Shakespeare, The Disney Chick is blogging over at www.thedisneychick.com.

After last week’s surprise elimination, Dancing with the Stars continues its reign of high-stakes terror:  it’s a double elimination week! With the first-ever dance marathon! And with this week’s dance styles being on completely different ends of the ballroom spectrum, it’s going to be a another wild ride.

Mya and Dmitry Chaplin – Jitterbug: The couples who have the jitterbug have an almost unfair advantage, because you can do lifts in the jitterbug, and basically – it’s the anti-waltz. As usual, Mya knocked this out of the park – their dancing was super fun, had great character, and captured the spirit of the jitterbug (and heyyyy Dmitry, wanna come sweep my floors? Please?). Predictably, Len hates all the theatrics but doesn’t use his typical phrase, “none of that messing about.” Bruno loves it and raves about Mya’s timing, but Carrie Ann claims it wasn’t  wild enough. Personally, I think the judges are continually underrating them so as to add some drama into this season, because right now – there ain’t no competition. These guys are the best.  Scores: 8-7-9.

Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas – Waltz: In a Dancing with the Stars tradition, Mark’s adorable British mom comes to visit and whip his partner into shape. And in another Dancing with the Stars tradition, Mark and Melissa are made to dance to a late 80s/early 90s power ballad. Melissa was not great here;  she had some unsteady moments and dropped her shoulders occasionally, and overall the waltz was missing the smoothness that defines the style. Bruno said she wasn’t dancing up to par for week 6, Carrie Ann agreed, and Len tried to soften the blow by praising her elegance. Scores: 7-7-6.

Mark Dacascos and Lacey Schwimmer – Jitterbug: Things I learned during this show: there is such a thing as a “jitterbug club,” a magical place where couples jitterbug with reckless abandon in extremely close, sweaty quarters. I would be terrified someone would kick me in the face. But for Mark, dancing in da club gave him the jitters in all the right places. This was an explosive, outrageous, insanely difficult jitterbug that solidifies Mark as a real contender in this competition. Carrie Ann did some awkward in-seat break dancing from sheer excitement, Len loved it, and Bruno called it “truly spectacular.” There was apparently a timing oopsie at the end, but I didn’t catch it and I don’t think it matters. Scores: 9-9-8.

Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff - Waltz: Aaron has been in the bottom two weeks in a row, mostly because he is annoying, so he needed a miracle here. Unfortunately, he got the waltz, which, no matter how well he performs, is not the kind of dance that traditionally excites viewers into a phone-dialing frenzy. And oh look, another treacly ballad. This routine had some lovely moments, but was missing a lot of the romance that makes the waltz truly gorgeous. Len called it his best dance so far, Bruno said Aaron lost his footing in places, and Carrie Ann thought it was beautiful. At the end of the day, I don’t think it was particularly memorable and unfortunately for him, I think there’s a good chance he’s once, twice, three times going home tomorrow night. Scores: 8-9-8.

Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova – Waltz: Oh Michael, you’re dancing on borrowed time. Do the producers know that it’s acceptable to perform the waltz to songs other that classic adult contemporary? Seriously, I’m waiting for someone to bust out The Bodyguard soundtrack. Back to Michael – this dance was fine, nothing spectacular. He got creative with his arms at times, but overall he needs to step it up. Bruno agrees and says it wasn’t good enough for week 6, Carrie Ann calls a lift violation, but Len liked it. Scores: 6-8-6.

Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel – Jitterbug: Kelly’s recovered from last week’s injuries and Louis decides to help her heal by making her swing on a trapeze. Their jitterbug was okay, no major mistakes, but the routine paled in comparison to tonight’s other jitterbugs. And Kelly still needs to work on not letting her nerves show in her face. Smile, Kelly! Everyone likes you! Carrie Ann says she sets herself up for the worst, Len called her dancing “a blueberry muffin with no blueberries,” and Bruno says she need to work on her performance and get rid of her fear. Scores: 7-6-7.

Interview montage break! This week and next week, the couples are faced with the possibility of performing in a dance-off. Zomg, scary!

Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower – Jitterbug: These two had lots of rehearsal fails until Chelsie decided to infuse their jitterbug with some snowboarderness. And while I wish I could say they shredded this, it was more of a wipeout. Louie’s standing backflip off the judges table was tremendous, but that was about it. He threw poor Chelsie right onto her butt, the shirt ripping was awkward, and the whole jitterbug was so crazy frantic that it was truly cringe-worthy. Len and Bruno both called it clumsy, and Carrie Ann said she liked it but can’t overlook the mistakes. Scores: 7-7-7.

Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough - Waltz: Derek’s time away from the show has made him cranky. Lots of stomping and bad moods in rehearsal, but they managed not to kill each other on the dance floor. It was a nice waltz, they hit some great lines, but Joanna’s footwork still seems wonky. Bruno called them “butterflies dancing in an alpine meadow,” Carrie Ann said Joanna seemed hestitant, and Len called it the best waltz of the night. Scores: 8-9-9.

Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson – Jitterbug: Donny, put that jittahbug away before you hurt someone. Choo Choo! Here comes the awesome train! Donny’s been great all season, and this dance was no exception. Pure fun. And once again, huge props to Kym for her great choreography that makes the most out of Donny’s strengths. Carrie Ann called out a couple stumbles, Len claimed there was too much choo choo, and Bruno called Donny a steam train, whatever that means. Scores: 8-8-8.

Then: the first-ever competition mambo! Basically, all the couples dance together until they get knocked out. Only one couple will be left standing, and points will be awarded based on how long each couple stays in. It’s an endurance test, and each couple must “own” their space, termed “floor craft.” You know how in figure skating competitions, all the skaters warm up together and sometimes they triple axel into each other? It’s kind of like that. Competition-style dancing is a tough order for TV, because there’s so much going on it’s tough to keep track of the action. Here’s how it went down: Michael and Anna were the first to go, followed by Louie and Chelsie, then Melissa and Mark. Tom Bergeron continued to impersonate a golf announcer, and then Kelly and Louis were tapped out, to be joined shortly by Mark and Lacey. Next out were Donny and Kym, followed by Aaron and Karina. Mya and Dmitry were given second place, awarding Derek and Joanna the top spot despite the fact that they looked like tipsy guests at a wedding, flopping around all over the place. I guess you don’t actually have to dance well in the competition mambo, you just have to keep dancing.

Michael and Anna are almost a lock to go home tomorrow, which other couple do you think will join them?

The Disney Chick can be found choo choo ch-blogging over at www.thedisneychick.com.

Don’t forget there is another episode of FlashForward airing on ABC tonight. But it’s time to start looking foward to the next big series to air on ABC, ‘V’.

Thanks to Shelley Divnich Haggert for sending in these morsels. Shelley will be the recap/reviewer for the series here on The Disney Blog:

Is it a bird? A plane? Nope, just an alien race, planning to take over the planet.

It looks like the remake of “V” is getting off the ground after all. The
series, which halted production (amidst a rumored overhaul) for a while
back in September, will debut November 3, and ABC is promoting it in a big way. Starting Friday, skywriters will create giant V’s across the sky at 26 U.S. landmarks. The skywriting will be done multiple times a day at each site until the series launch. (Via Reuters)

The show, starring LOST alumni Elizabeth Mitchell, will air for four
episodes and then go on hiatus until after the Winter Olympics. This
“split season” is a risky move for ABC – viewers might be reluctant to get emotionally invested in a show they know will be off-air for most of the winter. Will four episodes be enough to hook the audience and will they return in the spring?

Meanwhile, let us know if you spot a giant “V” in the sky this Friday!

I turned on the TV at 10pm, just in time to see the eliminated contestants do their final dance. Because the results show ran until 10:01pm. Thanks, ABC — I hope that extra minute was totally worth it. Oh well, now I won’t be on the edge of my seat as I watch the results show. That said, onward with … Dancing with the Stars!

Last night: people danced well! Tonight: a Michael Jackson tribute! Also: 9-time Grammy winner Norah Jones looks cute as a bug! But first, an endless recap of last night’s dancing. Turns out that Kelly hurt her ankle during her dance, and Ozzy wheeled her out to an ambulance to go get it checked out. Bergeron lets us know that she has a sprained foot and a contusion, but will be able to dance the Jitterbug next week (if she makes it through).

Len lets us know that the encore will go to Donny & Kym for their Argentine Tango. It’s just as delightful as it was last night, and Donny’s serious face is just as serious. You go, Donny Freakin’ Osmond. I like your face more every week.

(Norah Jones and the Michael Jackson Tribute below the jump)

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It’s just past 8:30 on the east coast, which means enough buffer to watch DwtS without commercials. I killed that half-hour by watching some of the longest baseball game ever ever ever. Come on, guys — 11 innings? That’s almost more torture than the first week of DwtS with 16 dancers and 5 hours of programming. And it means I’m going to lose the last 5 minutes of House, because it will overlap with Wil Wheaton appearing on The Big Bang Theory. Too much TV!

Anyhoo. Last week Aaron & Karina were in the bottom two, but Chuck & Anna got the boot. This week, we’ll see the ten remaining pairs dance either the Argentine Tango or the Paso Doble, as well as a group Hustle. And some of our competitors are riddled with the flu (we don’t yet know if it’s swine or otherwise). Samantha’s hair has been given the light-socket treatment tonight, and she manages to flub her very first line of the night. I certainly hope that’s a sign of things to come. Enter the stars, and GO TRUMPET GUY! Also tonight, Maks is stepping in for a flu-ridden Derek to dance with Joanna.

Natalie & Alec – Paso Doble – Alec tells Natalie right off the bat that the dance is all about power and aggression, and she starts the rehearsal footage appearing softer and quieter than usual. Will she get it? Can she tap into her competitive side? They start their dance at the judges’ table, to the tune of “American Woman”, with Natalie wearing a red, white, and blue outfit. Flashy. Her opening moves aren’t as crisp as they should be, and her whole dance seems a little too heavy, a little too grounded, and overall pretty tame. Len commends her clean and precise dancing, but feels the dance lacked aggression. Bruno says he missed the conviction and artistry. Carrie Ann thinks she moves really well, but wants more extended movement. She also calls out a lift, which I had to rewind for. It’s a borderline call; I can see arguments pro- and against-lift. Scores: 7-8-7 for 22.

Aaron & Karina – Argentine Tango – Last week, Carrie Ann told him to chill out; his desperation makes him hard to watch. This week, he has to tackle another sexy dance, but there’s still nothing sexy about him. Karina brought in some friends to show Aaron the manly moves, and it made Aaron all giggly. In the dance itself, I’m … surprised! He’s totally drawing on his Draco Malfoy-grade snobbiness and snootiness, and it’s kind of working. Although I have to wonder if the spots where Karina wraps her legs around him like a lemur count as lifts. He’s still a bit stiff and awkward, but he also seems much more relaxed than in previous weeks. It’s an improvement. Bruno praises the character and passion, and compares him to Robert Pattinson in Twilight. Except Aaron’s only half as sparkly. Carrie Ann beckons Aaron forward, then gives him a pair of cheek kisses. Excellent. Len compares previous weeks to a little boy lost in the wilderness, then opens his arms wide and shouts, “You’ve come back to me!” As they head backstage, Bergeron points out LaToya Jackson in the audience (sitting next to the red-hot Stana Katic from Castle) and lets us know that LaToya will be back tomorrow for the Michael Jackson tribute. Plus, Norah Jones. Backstage, Aaron seems on the brink of happy tears. Scores: 8-8-8 for 24.

Michael & Anna – Paso Doble – I have to say, I love knowing what they’re going to dance just by looking at their outfits. Last week, Michael tied at the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard, but America kept him out of the bottom two. He thinks he’ll do well at the Paso — passion and aggression are what make him great at football. In rehearsal, Anna wants him to stand like he’s holding a coin between his butt cheeks. He proceeds to get a coin out of his bag, and … well, ten points to Michael. If you see him anywhere out there, tell him to keep the change. On the dance floor he has his stern face on, but his moves are still wooden and awkward. And a few of his steps are still small and hesitant, as Carrie Ann observed a couple of weeks ago. It’s a better dance than last week, but he’s still at the bottom of the skills pile. Carrie Ann calls it her favorite dance so far. Len likes the posture, the knee walks, and Michael’s flair. Bruno advises him to keep the nickel in his butt. Michael then pulls out a nickel and gives it to Bruno, and Bergeron makes a weird flu joke. Scores: 7-7-7 for 21, and the audience boos.

Mya & Dmitry – Argentine Tango – In rehearsal, Dmitry tells Mya that they’re allowed to do lifts. Ah, that explains Karina the lemur. Their rehearsal process apparently includes a lot of accidental kicks to delicate man-areas. This week it’s their turn to go out volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, in conjunction with the ABC/Disney give-a-day kick. After a break, the dance begins up on the band stage … and stays up there for half the dance. I called my husband in to help me identify the song (”They” by Jem, by the way, and not the Jem of “and the Holograms” fame), and he said, “She’s such a ringer.” He’s not even watching the show, and he’s of the same mind as I about Mya having too much dance experience. Overall, the choreography isn’t as great as I hoped it would be. There are some nice moves, but it’s just not all that exciting. Len says he usually doesn’t like too much messing about on the stage, but he enjoyed this dance. Bruno calls it intricate like lace, precise, with an air of sophistication, but he warns of losing the emotional connection. Carrie Ann agrees about the good dancing, and the lack of emotion. Backstage, Mya promises to take the judges’ comments to heart and give 100 percent. Ten points to her for not saying 110 percent, one of my big hyperbolic peeves. Scores: 9-9-9 for 27, and her highest score from Len.

Mark & Lacey – Paso Doble – Last week he loosened up in the Two-Step. Lacey thinks the Paso will suit his aggressive side, but throughout rehearsal she has a hard time digging out his inner tough guy. Oh, and she’s giving him a solo this week. His solo consists of a few stomps and steps up on the band stage, before Lacey bursts out of a cloud of fog and runs toward him. His posture is great in the dance, but his intense face might be a little TOO intense. More like stalkerish. They throw in a couple of martial arts moves, and I’d say through most of it, Mark actually appears to be leading. Which is good, for him. Bruno gives props to the sharp, angular performance. Carrie Ann says there’s a difference between force and power, and tonight he was “in his power”. Len says you need posture, power, and performance … and he had all three. Lovely! Scores: 9-9-8 for 26, their highest score so far. Go, Sensei Ping!

Donny & Kym – Argentine Tango – This week, Donny not only had to learn two dances, but he also did a show in Las Vegas with Marie. He’s fretful that he won’t do well, but … come on, he’s going to do great. He’s Donny Freakin’ Osmond. They dance, and he totally has his serious face on. The dance is crisp and sharp and Kym looks absolutely fantastic. It’s slow, then fast, then slow, then fast — a great mix of speed and passion and kicking. They get a standing ovation from about half the audience. Carrie Ann says the Argentine Tango LOVES Donny Osmond, and she saw a whole new side of him. Len loves the intensity, the quiet moments of passion, the fast and sharp. Truly their best dance. Bruno says, “Finally Donny Osmond is turning into Donnie Darko.” Donny puts his serious face back on, and tells Bruno, “You took me there!” Bruno and Donny, sitting in a tree. As they head backstage, Bergeron gives props to Harold Wheeler and the singers and band. The cameraman barely touches on Jewelry Head, and heads leftward to give the guys some limelight again. Scores: 10-9-10 for 29, and Donny is a delight to watch as his first 10s ever are revealed.

Louie & Chelsie – Argentine Tango – Last week, he walked a lot. And stomped a little. And tied for the bottom. The Snidget is going to make sure not to disappoint the fans this week, and I believe he calls his Tango character “Vito Loco”. The dance begins around a chair, and after they stand up and start actually dancing, Louie looks shorter than ever. Something about this outfit, I don’t know. His sexy face is good, and he has a lot more footwork than last week. It’s just unfortunate that he had to follow Donny Freakin’ Osmond, because it’s a decent tango; just nowhere near as faboo as DFO’s. Again, half the crowd stands to applaud. Len says he wasn’t expecting a lot, and was pleasantly surprised. Bruno calls it great storytelling, but wants Louie to stop stepping and start dancing. Carrie Ann says that Louie’s strength is the way he partners with Chelsie. Scores: 7-8-7 for 22. Well done, Snidget.

Melissa & Mark -Argentine Tango – Before their package, Bergeron points out Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion in the audience, That guy is a hunky dreamboat. (A check of Nathan’s Twitter shows the most recent post: “I am ringside at DWTS!!” I love this technological age.) Last week, they tied for first place and got their first 10. This week, Mark has the flu and wears a construction dust mask for rehearsal. Then eliminated Anna comes in to take over at least one day of rehearsal, and gives Melissa the woman’s POV. Out on the dance floor, Mark’s bright red spats are really distracting. They have some great synchronized kicks, but then near the middle there are some awkward steps. She’s finally getting her moves almost as big and broad as his, which is nice. At the very end, she gets her fishnets stuck on his suit buttons, adding some delightful unintentional comedy. Bruno says she looked more grumpy than sexy, and missed many steps. Carrie Ann disagrees, and says Melissa nailed the character. Len says the dance missed some of the seduction, but she coped well with difficult choreography. Scores: 8-8-7 for 23, and the audience gives Bruno a hearty boo.

Kelly & Louis – Paso Doble – Finally another Paso after a wad of Tangos. Kelly giggles a lot in rehearsal, and finds the concept of being “the cape” very strange. They’re dancing to Ozzy’s “Crazy Train”, HA! Kelly’s hair is huge, and Louis has seriously smoky eyes. There’s an awesome skull on the dance floor. The dance itself is just okay — she’s heavy-footed like Natalie was, and the dance just feels too grounded. She’s also concentrating way too hard. Ozzy stands to applaud. Carrie Ann says she saw little bits of nervousness come out. Len wants her to work better on getting the character of the dance. Bruno tells her that when she gets on it, she should stay on it. It’s all the same stuff about her confidence and nerves. On the plus side, it looks like Kelly has lost fifteen pounds since starting the show. Scores: 8-8-8 for 24, which is Kelly’s age for one more week.

Joanna & Maks – Argentine Tango – Last week, Derek caught the flu from being shirtless. So this week, Maks will stand in for the performance show. On Wednesday night, Derek felt the ague coming on (Cue weird shot of Derek pulling his shirt off his head, run in reverse so it looks like he’s magically tossing his shirt up over his head. What?) and Thursday night Maks came in. On Friday, they staged a phone call and found out that Derek would be out the whole week, so they started over with fresh, new, consistent choreography. They start their dance with a tiny bit of acting around a lamp-post, Joanna helps Maks put on his coat, and then the dance becomes awesome. She’s light on her feet, the kicks are sharp and slick, it’s all sexy, and then it looks like MAKS stumbles over his own feet. They pick it back up, but the second half isn’t as great as the first half, and has a couple of hesitant moments. Bruno says he was living his fantasies until the stumble. Len thinks they did a great job under the new-partner circumstances. Carrie Ann loves the chemistry they found in one short week, but wants more flexibility from Joanna. Backstage, Derek is there with a couple of comments. Joanna says she misstepped, and that caused Maks to lurch. Scores: 8-8-8 for 24, which is decent, but you know she’ll be kicking herself wondering what her scores would be if there hadn’t been that mistake.

Group Hustle – After the commercials, we come back to find a huge, sparkling “DO THE HUSTLE” sign hanging over the band. Bergeron lets us know that Kelly hurt her foot during the Paso Doble, so she’ll be doing the Hustle barefoot. The judges won’t be giving scores on the group dance, so this is all for us. We get a package of their group rehearsal, where Creepy Corky Ballas teaches everyone. As the group works together, Kelly realizes she’s not that bad. And Louie stumbles around adorably. Everyone practices crazy lifts! Aaron and Louie challenge each other to a flip-off (that sounds dirtier than it is)! Joanna lands awkwardly on her diamond-encrusted watch! And something flies out of Louis’ nose and into Kelly’s mouth. Ew indeed, Kelly.

The dance opens with a shot of Harold Wheeler conducting the band, wearing Paul Shaffer’s jacket and Elton John’s sunglasses. The couples tromp down an aisle through the audience, resplendent in 70s fashion. They line up, and it’s time for the pairs to show off. Louie & Chelsie are up first, with Louie wearing ginormous fake sideburns. Some good steps, a little stiff, and a nice lift. Then it’s Melissa & Mark, who stumble through their lift and have a terrible dismount. But Melissa’s cracking up afterward. Kelly & Louis move stiffly and have no lift, but that may be due to Kelly having just injured her foot. Mark & Lacey have some showy flips, a tiny stumble, and then he beats her buns like bongo drums. His wig is hideously fun. Aaron & Karina do some sharp movements, and Aaron’s footwork is really large. Their lift is nice, but then he hams it up by winking and pointing at the camera. Dude, there’s that desperation again.

Donny & Kim do a weird flip-thing that mostly can’t be seen because the camera is behind a cloud of theatrical fog. Maks & Joanna do the same lift that Derek tried in rehearsal, when he dropped her on her fancy watch. You can tell at the bottom of the lift that Joanna’s terrified of being dropped. Natalie & Alec don’t set the world on fire, but she does some nice splits. Alec’s wig is the worst of the lot. Mya & Dmitry … I take it back about Alec’s wig. Because Dmitry has a glossy black mullet on. They do a beautiful lift. Michael & Anna bring up the rear, and I’m genuinely afraid he’s going to pitch her over his back and she’ll crash into the floor.

Bruno calls the whole affair “sublime and ridiculous at the same time.” Carrie Ann complains that Michael was standing in front of her so she couldn’t see half the dancing. She does call out a couple of the more horrifying wigs. Len gives specific props to Mark, Aaron and Donny.

Phone numbers and recaps happen. At the top of the leaderboard is Donny Freakin’ Osmond & Kym with 29, while Michael & Anna are at the bottom with 21. I think most of us can agree that Michael should go home, but it appears that America likes him. Second-to-last on the leaderboard are Natalie & Alec and Louie & Chelsie, tied at 22. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Natalie will be going home, but I fully expect the show to surprise me.

When not wearing her glossy black mullet wig, Missy blogs over at themissy.com.

It’s been several weeks since I have written about Modern Family. But the show still makes me laugh. In the most recent episode, Claire and Mitchell’s mother DeDe (Shelley Long) returns after “The Incident” as they call it. At Jay and Gloria’s wedding, DeDe got very drunk and caused a large scene, ruining the wedding. DeDe came back into town to ask for forgiveness so that she could move on with her life.

What I like best about Modern Family is not necessarily the main plot. While I enjoyed Shelley Long’s character and her storyline, it’s the small things that really had me laughing. Young Manny’s debonair attitude is just hilarious. This week he went to his first slumber party, and, while he got teased by his friends, it only made him try harder (even though he did get in his revenge).

The character development of this show is what keeps getting better. As we get to know everyone, we learn what makes them tick, and their little idiosyncrasies are funnier every week. I continue to enjoy this new comedy as well as The Middle, another surprising hit for ABC. I hope they stay around!

Editors Note: Modern Family, The Middle, and CougarTown all got picked up for a full season by ABC.

Our secondary characters get a little more illumination this week as we find out why the babysitter vanished, a little more of what Dr. Bryce saw, and an ominous twist to our young dad’s background.  Plus FBI partner angst, medical drama, and more terrorist connections than you can shake an ebony waterfowl at.

1) Nicole the babysitter’s place in the story is still a little undefined, even with her disappearance somewhat explained.  She’s revealed at the beginning of the episode talking to AAron, our favorite loosely connected buddy of Mark’s – is Nicole his other daughter? He speaks of his missing daughter as having babysit Nicole when they were younger, but the whole connection seems disjointed as if some exposition was cut somewhere along the way.   Regardless of the connection, she is beholden to the Benford family and ashamed of having walked out on them.

Mark’s relationship with her is fatherly, which is nice to see in an age when almost any television father/babysitter relationship is automatically telegraphed to be creepy.  She explains that she saw herself being deliberately drowned in her Flash-Forward, and she felt the emotion that she deserved it.  She’s not able to remember the face of the man who’s drowning her but she did see him.

Mark promises to use his resources to help her, and I would be they will involved a sketch artist.  I thought the man drowning her could be Simon, aka LOST’s Charlie (who we will get to again momentarily) but his vague face through the water doesn’t appear so.  My theory at the moment is that she is being drowned by D. Gibbons.  I’m thinking at some point in the future D. Gibbons comes to kill or kidnap little Charlie for some reason and Nicole thinks he’s harmed the little girl.  Overcome by guilt and grief, she feels she deserves to be drowned.  This would tie into Charlie’s vision that “D. Gibbons is a bad man”.  I can also see, based on later revelations, that on April 29, 2010 Nicole will be in charge of watching/protecting Charlie and young Dylan Simcoe (which would explain how Charlie knows him when she sees him in the hospital).  Dylan also knows Olivia because at some point he and his dad will become close to her and her family.

2) Bryce, Olivia’s intern, takes an unusual interest in a man named Ned who survived a bus crash during the blackout and later develops a medical condition related to the accident.  Because of whatever revelation he saw in his own flash forward, he has begun incorporating those of his patients into their diagnosis and treatments.  Olivia is skeptical and reluctant to believe in them due to her fear of her own vision of being with Simcoe coming true but comes around after Bryce’s insight during surgery allows her to save Ned’s life.

First of all, Bryce’s insistence on calling her “Dr. B.” all the time is very annoying.  Dude, either call her Dr. Benford or Olivia – reducing “Benford” to “B” isn’t really saving you all that many syllables.  Anyway, we catch a glimpse of Bryce’s flash in a rough sketch he’s made of a young woman.  He still is unwilling to share all the details (we have to have something to stretch out the suspense over a season) but the vision of this woman was apparently enough to completely eliminate his suicidal mindset.  We still don’t know why he was suicidal in the first place, although he puts off seeing a hospital-ordered psychiatrist.  I would imagine his tendencies are still there and will manifest themselves again given the right stimulus.  I’m betting the young woman may be Janis Hawk from the FBI, and she is pregnant with his child.  Maybe Bryce is standing across the room, watching her ultrasound and confident in the knowledge she’s his wife (or whatever) and they’re having a baby together.  I’d have to watch the episode again to compare the sketch to Janis to be more certain, but I’m fairly sure the  two characters haven’t met.  Yet.

3) Our mild-mannered Lloyd Simcoe is not who he seems.  He’s consistently been shown to be overly caring, gracious and filled with guilt about not being there for his son over the years.  Despite Olivia’s constant efforts to move his son Dylan to PT and out of her sphere of influence, he and his bad penny dad keep showing back up.  (Ha! Penny! Olivia! I made a funny).   Then Lloyd receives an interesting phone call from “Simon” (finally, our favorite Drive Shaft guitarist shows up) informing him they need to meet, and informing us that Lloyd is at least knowledgeable of, if not partially responsible for, the global blackout.  I’m interested to see how many more of the cast have ties to the conspiracy, even if they don’t realize it.

4) Finally, the “main” plot.  Demetri continues to be haunted by his own impending demise.  He interrogates our resident blond terrorist Alda from the premiere, who teases them with just enough information to seem suspicious and send he and Mark on a wild-terrorist chase through a trailer park.  The man they catch was concealing pot in an old radioactive material storage case, so it’s unclear what Alda’s angle was except to muddy the waters.  Mark (who by the way looks worse and worse each episode as if his nerves are gradually fraying – which will lead to his drinking again) gets to slap some sense into Demetri’s funk about his supposed future murder and soon secures his partner’s cooperation.   Alda takes on the Benjamin Linus role as the smug, frustrating prisoner with all the enigmatic answers, spouting off about “Black Swan” events and how they’re involved in things they don’t understand and can’t control.

5) Meanwhile, Mark still wants to travel to Somalia to investigate the dead crows incident mentioned by the Nazi Rudolph Geyer last week.  His boss and Demetri both think it’s a waste of time, but Mark begins to show some obsessive tendencies by enlisting a hacker to break into CIA satellite photos of the area from 1991 that they are reluctant to share.  This obsessive behavior would not surprise me to eventually cause a strain or even a break from the FBI in the future – which would make his flash forward of being in his office, chased by bad guys, not quite as it seems.

For the second week in a row, the subplots have outweighed the main plot in both time and substance.  I find this a little odd, as the Mosaic investigation seems to ought to be the main focus of the show. I wonder if the producers found it difficult early going to create main plots that didn’t give away too much too early, so we get to spend the first half of the season establishing our sub-characters and their stories.  It’s not unusual in an intricately plotted story like this, but I would expect the main characters of Mark and Demetri to have a little more to do.  No big deal.

The “Black Swan” event is a carry-over concept from LOST that most fans of that show will recognize, if not in name at least in concept.  The “Incident” on the island was termed one such event, something of such momentous importance its ripples were long and widespread.  I think it’s obvious  the Global Blackout is one such event, so I’m not certain why it was important to give it a tag and highlight it as such.

Next week – more angst!  More puzzles!  More strained looks by Mark!  Explosions!  See you then :)

Barry

ETA – I forgot to mention an important dichotomy that is really spreading – those who look to the flashes for hope and reasons to go on, and those that look to them as events to avoid at all costs.  When those two desires start colliding, when one person’s actions to prevent their future interfere with another’s possible future that they feel must happen, sparks are going to fly.  If Olivia feels that preventing her future with Lloyd can be accomplished by somehow preventing or obstructing Bryce’s future with the mystery woman, or if Demetri’s attempts to prevent his own murder jeopardize AAron’s chances to get his daughter back alive, sparks are going to fly.

Also, the sequence at the beginning with the bus crash juxtaposed with against the song was very effective.  I wonder if we’ll be seeing more and more clips of how people dealt with their blackouts.

Variety reports that not only has FlashForward been a big enough hit for ABC to order the second half of the season into production, it’s adding three more episodes to the premiere season. Let’s just hope that those aren’t three stretch episodes as people have accused LOST of doing in the past.

Producers have said in the past that they have the beginning and ending of the show all mapped out like two slices of bread, the question is how much meat do they get to slap in the middle.

So are you on board with FlashForward?