Monthly Archives: November 2013
We’re Celebrating Thankgiving with Johnny Carson
Since it’s Thanksgiving, we figure you could use a break from trying not to burn your house down because Uncle Bob decided to fry the turkey this year. If you have 7 minutes to spare, enjoy this delightful clip of Johnny Carson and Doc Severinsen reading kids’ letters on how to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Who Won The Mirror Ball Trophy?
After 11 weeks of competition, Dancing with the Stars has crowned this season’s champion. The two-night finale was action packed with memorable performances from previous contestants of season 17, musical guests, fusion dances and even creative freestyles.
In Monday night’s episode, contestants had to deal with three dance rounds: the judges pick, an intense freestyle, and a samba relay to gain extra points on their scores. For round one, the judges chose the dances they felt the contestants can best improve on, which also gave the judges a chance to sit in on the contestants studio practice and help out.
Bill Engvall had to dance the Viennese Waltz again. This time to Billy Joel’s “She Always A Woman To Me, which gave the performance a real romantic elegant feel. Even though his dance wasn’t that much of an improvement, he was still very entertaining to watch. Carrie Ann, Bruno, and Len didn’t expect him to make it as far as he did because he isn’t the same caliber as the other competitors. His first set of scores totaled 24/30 and his samba routine was mediocre compared to the others. Sadly, Bill came in last place, which only gave him an extra two points on his score.
‘Doctor Who’ 50th: Wibbly-Wobbly, Feelsy-Weelsy
I am writing this post from beyond the grave, because Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary special killed me dead.
Yeah, I’ll admit it: I was pessimistic during the build-up to this most auspicious occasion. I grumbled for months about the trailer for “The Day of the Doctor” being released late (still grumbling in fact), and despite the staggering celebration line-up announced in October, I felt the classic Doctors were being quietly nudged aside. I quelled my fangirl jitters on the grounds that the special just wouldn’t live up to my expectations.
I’m so happy to have been proven wrong.
“The Day of the Doctor” is one humdinger of an adventure, equal parts playful historical jaunt, sobering backstory, and squee-worthy fanservice. On the outside, it resembles any other madcap episode — the Doctor (Matt Smith) and companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) are enlisted to stop Earth from falling into the slimy, suction-y hands of the Zygons, a villainous race making its first appearance since the classic series. But weaved throughout that predictable A-plot is easily the darkest B-plot the show has tackled since its return: the Doctor’s involvement in the Time War, where he was forced to wipe out his home planet of Gallifrey to end the violence. Loaded with snappy dialogue and peppered with more than a few surprises for the devoted Whovian, this was an anniversary to end all anniversaries.
“The Dead” are back on ‘American Horror Story: Coven’
Resurrection is running wild on American Horror Story: Coven, even without the inimitable Misty Day. In the fittingly-titled “The Dead,” Kyle and Madison get it on walking dead-style, the Axeman is back, and Zoe brings back Spalding’s tongue from beyond the grave – all while Queenie leads the recently exhumed Madame LaLaurie straight into Laveau’s eager arms. Let’s see how we got there.
The episode opens with Kyle discovering exactly who (or, rather, what) he is by taking us back to a tattoo parlor at an unspecified time. We see one brother get some ink on his leg, while another gets a tattoo on his arm. Both of these limbs, we learn, are now attached to Kyle, who notices the irregularities and cries out. He examines his body and holds up to his face his hands that appear to be just a smidge too large for his body – a nice touch, whether it was done intentionally or not.
‘Ground Floor’: “The New Office” Recap
Ground Floor may not be the most original concept, but the actors seem made for their characters. When watching the show I don’t think “Oh, there’s John C. McGinley playing Mansfield” and “Skylar Astin pretending to be Brody Moyer,” I wonder where the character ends and the actor behind it begins. John C. McGinley makes you forget he’s Dr. Cox because he owns Mansfield. As for Skylar Astin, it appears he pretty much plays himself with a new name, which he gets away with because he has only been in a few things.
If McGinley, Astin, and the rest of the cast weren’t so good at their roles, Ground Floor would be boring. In “The New Office,” an older employee is fired and the young ones stab each other in the back to impress Mansfield. Thankfully, Brody and Threepeat are quirky enough that the backstabbing is friendly and silly. For example, Threepeat discovers a cool new way to sit down that he calls “the Riker,” after Commander Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it backfires when it tries it in Mansfield’s office because the chair back was too large. All the kissing up to the boss doesn’t pay off, when no one gets the empty office. Mansfield decides to give it to his plant because it was the only thing in the room that didn’t annoy him.
Glee’s Billy Joel Tribute
After last week’s twerking craze, Billy Joel is probably the best thing for getting back on track. The Billy Joel songs chosen throughout the episode complimented the story line and didn’t seem like a forced attempt to seem cool. Last night, the show was about the characters’ joys and fears of the future.
The episode starts with Sam and Blaine heading to New York to visit Rachel, Kurt and Santana in hopes for career advice. They believe that “New York is the city where dreams come true.” Blaine hopes to get into NYADA and Sam at Hunter University. Sam hopes that his impressions and his Channing Tatum Male Stripper Scholarship award will come in handy in the long run. Ever since, Sam was a young kid, his dream job was to become a male model because he was not a good student. Since Hunter University was a no go, Sam decides to pursue his modeling dream by meeting up with a tough talent agency named “Bichette.” Bichette, played by none other than Tyra Banks, gives Sam a harsh reality of what it takes to make it into the industry.
‘The Biggest Loser’: Remember Who You Are
The 15th season of The Biggest Loser is in it’s sixth week and we continue to see that the contestants’ hard work pays off. While Reuben Studdard did return to the ranch this week, the episode started with Alison Sweeney leaving the contestants DVDs and a card that said “Remember Who You Are.” This was an opportunity for the contestants to view their old selves and reflect on the actions that sent them to The Biggest Loser Ranch, which was a wake up call for many of the contestants. Quite frankly, the contestants don’t want to be that person anymore and most of them have changed significantly.
After a shocking revelation last week involving Jillian Michaels giving caffeine supplements to her players the week before without doctor’s permission, the weigh in was invalidated and Reuben Studdard was allowed to return to the ranch. He was grateful for the second chance to change his life. It was also clear the contestants missed him. Tanya and the rest of the red team agreed that “Reuben has a way of lifting everyone up.” Reuben’s return boosted the moral of the red team. They felt that the family was back together.
‘Sleepy Hollow’: “Necromancer” Recap
It seems that another ship set sail in Monday’s episode of Sleepy Hollow. Abbie’s sister, Jenny, was released from the mental institution and began working with Captain Irving. Fans voted for the ship name to be “Mr. and Mrs. BAMF,” but I think it should be something along the lines of Jirving. This is not going to distract fans from the favorite “Ichabbie” ship as the writers continue to tease us with all of the “will they, won’t they” tension. Thousands of fans cried out in delight as Abbie implied that candle light was romantic, to which Ichabod practically blushed and seemed to agree with that statement. Seriously, writers, you’re killing us.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: The Semifinals
It’s hard to believe that Dancing with the Stars is nearing the end of this season. This week, the challenge was to perform two different dances to the same song: one to the instrumental and the other one to the original. Not only are the dances getting more intricate, but the judges decided to bring back Dancing with the Stars’ bad boy, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who is known for his opinionated ways and not always agreeing with the judges. It was interesting to see Maksim’s take on the remaining competition.
Leah Remini’s dances for this week were the paso doble and the tango to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Her first dance was all about taking charge, but she’s still having trouble getting into character mode. Her dance partner expresses most of the emotion. Maks said it best “he’s looking crazy and you’re not.” Overall, it was neat and precise, but this is semifinals, you have to take more risks than Leah did. Her argentine tango was very romantic. However, it was very slow. The acoustic version of the song truly helped set the mood for these two people. The judges still feel that Leah needs to step up her game if she hopes to make it to next week’s finals. Leah’s dance total 65/80.
Food Network’s Latest Show is “On The Rocks”
Food Network apparently thinks American restaurant owners like being yelled at by British men. First, it was Robert Irvine in Restaurant Impossible. Now, it’s John Green in On the Rocks. This isn’t a bad thing because it makes for some good TV. It’s just very peculiar.
While I liked On the Rocks, it’s like any other restaurant makeover show, only this time it’s in a bar. For those like me who don’t frequently watch Spike, you’ll be more surprised that guy-centric Spike is airing a bar makeover show called Bar Rescue than the fact that the concept has already been done. Nothing is saving On the Rocks from being redundant, but John Green saves it from being boring.
Wait! What's A Dial? 