Nite Ryder

Wow... this season really should have been an all new cast. No wonder ratings are soft this year as well, after watching Jozea spill his entire plan to Da'Vonne, I was done. The returnees are so lucky they're playing with a bunch of people who clearly know nothing about how this game works. I hope or Joeza wins POV just to keep things interesting. If not, just skip to the final 4 with the returnees and call it another flop season.

I like Rita Repulsa's look for this, and clear strong Green Ranger vibes there, so I'm going with secretly brilliant. One of the first "official leaks" about this movie were the character bios late last year. I'm interested in how these relatively new actors will do with these updated, more fleshed out versions.

I think so too, but Ru wants more Britney from Derrick. Which I thought was very interesting because Michelle's critique was expected, Ru's surprised me. I don't know much about Derrick's drag, but I just read she does Gaga as well. So that will likely be her alternative look since she prides herself on "pop star drag."

I had to watch her talk about drinking that water straight out of the well a few times. That cracked me up along with the sound effect as she manically talked about it. He isn't fooling me either. Caleb has gone on record just a few months ago (I believe) that he doesn't care for the "homosexual lifestyle" at all. CBS is doing a great job of portraying him as this open-minded, lovable, straight man when in actuality he's a conservative, ultra-religious moron. I pass and I'm going to need Tai to love himself.

Have you heard of Max Martin?

That's going to look real nice next to The Wiz Live!. I really wish a "making of" special were included because those 1 minute snippets ain't going to cut it.

I thought she looked great and was 100% committed, so my issue wasn't necessarily her (tho I hated the glasses, tbh). I just wasn't a fan of making Patty Simcox so awkward and stilted. These are the last words I'd use to describe the movie version, and that was royally played up in the Rydell cheerleading tryout scene with Sandy which fall flat for me.

This ended up being a lot better than I ever expected because everything leading up to last night screamed disaster. I'm in the minority but I thought all the leads, paricularly Julianne Hough, were great and gave their all. (Vanessa Hudgens proved the show must go on so major props to her.) I still enjoyed The Wiz Live! more but Grease: Live! was so visually arresting and the 360 experience enhanced that. I wasn't a fan of Patty Simcox in this version, like someone mentioned, and too prefer her in the movie. "Freddy My Love" was a treat that was impressively pulled off.

Regulating Britney's success to being a "train wreck " versus Christina Aguilera being a "real artist" is a bit of a stretch, don't you think? Britney was clearly going through a mental crisis that effected her personal life with serious consequences she is still paying for. (Her situation isn't comparable to say Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, whose escapades came across more girl gone wild than serious.) No shade because Christina Aguilera is a talented vocalist, no denying that, but she has always been the Jayne Mansfield to Britney's Marilyn Monroe. Then and now. Britney's name still garners a lot of attention and weight for doing rather mundane things with her Instagram account being a hit with the media, for example. Christina hasn't toured or had a solo hit since '02-'04, has released two albums while on The Voice that have been commercial & critical flops, but is still a Grammy favorite. Like Britney she has an audience that wants to see her do well and with the right material she should be fine, but it has been a long time for Christina. ETA: Britney kissing Madonna as a slight? It was part of the performance and Xtina wanted to actually kiss Britney.

"You know Allison for every solid catch, there's a pathetic fumble." -- Amanda. And that perfectly sums up Ms. Parker.

I have a crush on Shanice Williams, I'm watching the rerun tonight, and I really like Dorothy's outfit. I've read some really strong reactions to her costume but I think she looks great, I'm glad they switched the color of her jacket for the live broadcast. The Wizard of Oz movie is great but doesn't translate well live on stage, imo. The Wiz Live! is a very compelling adaptation from start to finish that pays homages to The Wiz movie, original broadway show, and the Judy Garland-starring "Oz." It would almost seem cruel to do another version because it would pale by comparison.

Here's a nice read about the soundtrack and the making of, and the vocals were taken directly from either rehearsals or the Dec. 3 live show.

This is me. "He's the Wiz" was probably my personal standout performance, Amber sang the hell out of that song, and the whole number was a lot of fun to watch. Mercedes Jones of glee could never... or given the chance, I should say. Speaking of which, Shanice Williams sounded dead on like Lea Michelle that I almost thought a diva-off was happening.

Forgive my ignorance, but is this common practice? To release the music a week later and not immediately after (like it was advertised on TV)? I was ready to purchase the entire soundtrack asap, but for these NBC live musicals the audio is directly extracted from the live show and than sold? Is this from Martin? I read that line in his voice and it cracked me up.

"Oh, as if #5." That cracked me up, I wished the entire episode took place in the mall, tbh.