BW Manilowe

I laughed when Bruno was talking about being in Elton John's I'm Still Standing video & how he became an international sex symbol afterwards.

Yep. tWitch & their daughter are in the audience & Erin focused the post-dance interview on her tonight & she confirmed she is pregnant with their second child.

The President & Speaker were both on Air Force One, which was incommunicado (due to computer malware planted in the plane somehow) & declared missing, at least within the White House & temporarily. The VP came down with the flu--which may have also been gall bladder or appendix issues, I forget now--at a golf tournament & barfed all over another dignitary (like President Bush Sr. at that State Dinner in Japan), so he was hospitalized. The Senate President Pro Tempore had had a series of mini-strokes recently, didn't know who the current POTUS was, may have also been developing dementia, & was skipped over because even a staffer of his admitted he wasn't competent enough to serve. That's how the SecState became Acting President--she was the next 1 in line who was available/competent enough to serve. Morgan Freeman got to play the Judge who swore her in because he's an Exec Producer of the show & he directs it occasionally, possibly even this episode.

I almost hate to bring this up, but this may not end up being the last season--for 1 thing, I think at least the original 4 leads (Alex, Scott, Daniel & Grace) may have another year on their contracts (though I know plenty of other shows have ended before the actors' contracts did--& so have plenty of individual actors' roles on shows... Like Patrick Dempsey getting, fairly unceremoniously, written out of Grey's Anatomy last season when his contract was supposed to run through this season). Also, I think Peter Lenkov may still have an active development deal with CBS, & any shows he may already have on the air should be guaranteed to stay on until that deal ends. Finally, the updated, final ratings for this ep came out today. They got raised, to a 1.1 in the demo (preliminary was 1.0) & a viewership of 9.25 million (preliminary was either 9.0 or 9.1 million). Those are still pretty good for a Friday show, & either stable compared to or better than this time last year, I think. If we can at least keep matching last season's performance in the timeslot, they may give us 1 more (presumably final, based on contracts) season. But, really, the second week of the season may be too soon to think of all that. My final comment: Jerry's last name is Ortega, not Garcia (You're a Grateful Dead fan?). At least you picked another Latin origin name, so you weren't far off.

They've never said if Kono's (or Chin, for that matter, since he's Kono's Cousin in this version of the show) any relation to King Kalakaua. Nor have they made any references when Kalakaua Avenue (which I think is the Honolulu equivalent of, like, Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive & Fifth Avenue in New York City) is mentioned. Either they haven't decided; she isn't supposed to be a relative & we're just supposed to take it for granted she isn't; or they're trying to be respectful of Hawaiian history by not making a "thing" of the connection between the names & hoping nobody will wonder about it. And... Kalakaua was also the original (male) Kono's last name, in the Jack Lord version--admittedly, I never saw every ep of that version, but I don't think the original Kono was ever said to have been related to King Kalakaua either.

People magazine says Kim won't be back until the Finale airs in November. http://www.people.com/article/kim-zolciak-not-returning-dancing-stars-until-finale?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag

Pepsi is releasing Pepsi Perfect, as seen in the second movie, as a Limited Edition in time for all the October 21st anniversary-related stuff. It won't be a new formula/flavor of Pepsi, though; it'll be the Pepsi Made With REAL Sugar formula, which was released to stores twice last year (I think). http://edit.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pepsi-perfect-back-future-ii-829403?utm_source=twitter

We've been discussing this in the Bergeron & Andrews thread since last night after Tom's announcement.

Cheryl is apparently unavailable. She recently--like last week--Tweeted she'd be going off social media for awhile & it appears to be due to a trip she's taking to somewhere fairly far away, & perhaps with unreliable (or no) internet service. Plus she's now doing another reality competition show, I Can Do That!, which was on NBC over the late Spring/early Summer & has been renewed for a second season--presumably airing in the late Spring/early Summer of 2016. So she may have been contractually unavailable, due to that job, anyway. As for Donald Driver, whom Packerbrewerbadger suggested, nice idea; but I'd think that, with the short notice involved in this whole thing, they were probably looking for someone who's actually in LA right now, or close enough there'd be no issues getting them to LA in time for whatever Tom does on show days other than actually host the live show. I'm something of a Packer fan, since my best friends--who live or lived in the GB metro area--are, & I know Donald's retired, but I don't know if he lives in LA now or close enough he could've been a viable option for Host, if his name crossed anyone's mind for the temporary job. Considering all the backlash Alfonso's already getting (he did say on his Instagram, since all this came up, he's doing this "with a heavy heart for Tom & the Bergeron family", by the way) when he hasn't even done this yet, I can imagine it might have been twice as bad--at least--if the producers had said "It's only 1 week, let's let Erin go it alone." And I also think it's rather sad that there's been more negativity expressed over Alfonso being a temporary Host than concern for Tom, his father, or the Bergeron family in this situation. I know we don't actually know any of them, but it couldn't hurt to wish them well or put good vibes out there for Tom's Dad's speedy recovery, in my opinion (& I know at least some have been thoughtful enough to do that, which is cool).

So... Every year Heidi has a big star-studded Halloween party, for which she prepares her costume in advance (last year she was an old lady with a gray wig, house dress, sweater, & walking cane, as well as being made up with "liver spots" on her skin; she's also been dressed in some pretty amazing costumes before last year). Here's a pic of the early preps for this year's costume; she's apparently being aided in its preparation by an entertainment industry prosthetics & special effects company. And it's really hard telling what she's gonna be dressed as this year. The pic is from Entertainment Tonight's Twitter feed. https://mobile.twitter.com/etnow/status/650536101665484800/photo/1

The early ratings, posted on Saturday, were surprisingly good. It got a 1.4 rating/6 share & had 6.7 million viewers. It led the timeslot in both the 18-49 & 25-54 demos, *&* in total viewers, & built on its lead-in from Last Man Standing. http://variety.com/2015/tv/ratings/new-show-ratings-dr-ken-premiere-blindspot-1201609441/

McDonald's Japan may have a similar burger, but Burger King US got theirs from their Japanese restaurants. As you said, the black in the bun was due to squid ink as an ingredient in their buns (BK US is either saying it's food coloring or the A1 Sauce apparently baked into the buns here, I forget which) & the black bun burger is extremely popular over there (& I think available year-round). I mentioned the same thing earlier in 1 of the other commercial-related threads (I initially read about the black bun burger, & saw a pic, in a People magazine website photo gallery, from awhile back, of menu items sold at foreign outposts of US restaurant chains that aren't sold at the chains' US restaurants).

I think if Tom asked, no Alfonso shouldn't have declined considering the situation involved an illness (& we don't know if it's minor or major) in Tom's family which necessitates him being out of LA, hopefully only for this week's show. Having said that, the Producer/Showrunner may have actually been the 1 who asked Alfonso. I also think if ABC asked, again Alfonso shouldn't have declined. They're his employer now, even superceding the production company directly involved with AFV, & it's probably not a great idea to "bite the hand that feeds you", as it were. Especially in the entertainment industry. Besides, this is all due to what appears to be a last-minute emergency; we don't know who else with the necessary experience may have been available, if anyone; & hopefully Tom will be back for the next show--if his Dad's illness isn't major or, God forbid, terminal. I don't look at this as much different than when Drew Lachey Co-Hosted for a few shows when either Samantha Harris or Brooke Burke-Charvet (I forget which now) took maternity leave while Co-Hosting the show--except the maternity leave was planned for &, obviously, Tom's Dad's illness wasn't. Plus, Alfonso replacing Tom for what should be *1* show (as of now), no matter how tired some people are of seeing him in connection with DWTS, is probably way more preferable to something like having Erin host the show by herself this week. That may have been the other alternative & that's all I'm saying. I also wanted to add, before I came back over here, I saw a new Tweet from Tom. He said he was on the plane (to go to his Dad) & he wanted to thank everyone for all the nice Tweets (which he'll share with his Dad) since his original Tweet. https://mobile.twitter.com/Tom_Bergeron/status/650849658386972673?p=v

The black burgers/burger buns are copying a sandwich Burger King sells in their Japanese restaurants which is apparently very popular there. Only there the black coloring for the buns comes from squid ink (I read about it, awhile back, in 1 of those photo galleries People magazine posts on their website--it was about "unusual"/different menu items at the overseas stores of American restaurant chains).

Archie Bunker's Place Actress Barbara Meek Dies at Age 81. She played Mrs. Canby, the African-American housekeeper who also helped Archie raise Edith's (& his) young niece, Stephanie (Danielle Brisebois), after Edith died in the show/Jean Stapleton was written out (I think she didn't wanna do the spinoff when All in the Family ended, as I remember). http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/barbara-meek-dead-archie-bunkers-829332

Jen Tweeted a "Throwback Thursday" pic this week that was a family pic (her, Bill, Will, Zoey, Nai-Nai & Grand Baba Arnold, & Kate... I think) taken at Zoey's Old McDonald Had a Farm-themed third birthday party last year (which was on the show). https://mobile.twitter.com/JenArnoldMD/status/649662532194426880/photo/1 And Bill Tweeted a pic of him & Zoey (love the expression on her face) that he said was taken in their driveway earlier today (he sort of sounds like he's either letting Zoey pretend drive or actually drive just a little--like up & down the driveway, as long as she doesn't go in the street... Like a lot of our parents let us do when we were kids). https://mobile.twitter.com/ReallyBillKlein/status/650773117481058304/photo/1

And here's the article link from People confirming it. http://www.people.com/people/mobile/article/0,,20957281,00.html?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag Personally, I'm fine with it. I've never had anything against Alfonso. He's at least competent at hosting shows & he's quite personally familiar with the DWTS format. Also, this apparently came up quite suddenly &, honestly, beggars can't be choosers in a situation like this. You've just gotta take whoever you can get... & if they're familiar with the show, so much the better. Hopefully Tom will be back next week, & this isn't actually a "deathbed serious" situation with his dad. I'm honestly thinking more about that than a temporary hosting gig by someone other fans of the show consider "overexposed" in relation to the show. Besides, it'll give ABC another chance to remind people America's Funniest Videos (on which Alfonso's taking over Tom's hosting gig permanently) has its season premiere a week from tonight. We all know they love the cross-promotion.

Tom Tweeted, about an hour ago as I write this, that he won't be able to host the show tomorrow night. His Dad is apparently ill & Tom is going to his bedside to support him, because of all the support (Tom) received from his Dad throughout his life (as he said, which I may have paraphrased instead of quoted verbatim, in his original Tweet). No word, yet, on who will be hosting in Tom's stead; but I'd doubt they'd ask Erin to do it solo. Anyway, here's the link to Tom's Tweet, which (I think) includes a pic of his Dad. https://twitter.com/tom_bergeron/status/650823936364580864

I'm pretty sure they meant Whitney, with an H, whom Chris picked on The Bachelor & broke up with by the middle-ish of his DWTS season, I think. Chris kept joking, while he was on DWTS, about the irony of his fiancée & dancing partner having the same first name with different spellings.

Putting this here because I got it from a media report (on E! Entertainment Television's Twitter/website), & because I'm otherwise not sure if it fits best in Bindi's thread or Derek's, since it involves both of them. Anyway... Australia Zoo, the zoo/wildlife park owned by Bindi's family in the Sunshine Coast of Queensland State, Australia (near Brisbane), announced they've named 1 of their new koala bear joeys (babies) after Derek--presumably just his first name & not his first & last. http://m.eonline.com/news/702898/derek-hough-the-koala-australia-zoo-names-baby-bear-after-bindi-irwin-s-dancing-with-the-stars-partner-photo?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=twitterfeed&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_celebrities_topstories And here's a picture of the actual koala named for Derek: https://twitter.com/australiazoo/status/650475770041597952

The entire team was with Kono at the hospital in the last scene/last part of the scene where she called Chin to tell him what happened to Adam in Ep 601, last week (the scene where Chin was surprised to see it was Kono on his Caller ID & he said something like "I thought you were supposed to be on your honeymoon" [like "You're supposed to be having 'alone time' with your new husband right now, not talking to your cousin."] when he answered). They went to the hospital to stay/sit with her during Adam's surgery, after Kono called Chin. As for why they weren't there this week, once Adam got home... A) They were busy working the case. Their work probably should take precedence; especially when the case involves a bomber. B) Even if you are ohana, it's usually kinda rude to just drop by on someone as soon as they've gotten home from the hospital (like the same day). Especially if they're recovering from something major, like surgery (as Adam is/was). Seeing as Jerry apparently drove Kono & Adam home, I think we can assume he probably went by the Palace, or called, later to let the rest of the team know how Adam was doing, if Kono wasn't staying in touch with them or at least with her cousin Chin.

Here's details on Witney's 2-carat engagement ring. And it is interesting her last name is Carson & so is her fiancé's first name. http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2015/10/04/witney-carson-engagement-ring-picture/

SOURCE: http://cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/shows/hawaii-five-0/releases/view?id=43505

For anyone interested who finds this in time (& sorry for the late notice): It appears Fox will repeat the Pilot tonight at 8:30PM Eastern/7:30PM Central. Presumably at the same times in Mountain & Pacific, but check your local listings to be sure.

British Classical Singer Katherine Jenkins, who was on the Anniversary Show & a previous season, gave birth to her first child, daughter Aaliyah Reign, apparently on Wednesday (September 30th). http://m.eonline.com/news/701572/katherine-jenkins-gives-birth-to-a-baby-girl-named-aaliyah-reign-levitas-get-the-details