patches403

I must be in the minority because the call between Melissa and Kelli didn't bother me in the slightest (other than that I agree with others here that it was very staged). Of course Kelli would want other opinions on the borderline rookies and Melissa didn't exactly tell Kelli any big secrets about the vanilla dancing that Kelli didn't already know. I think it's a good lesson in life to be very careful what you say to anyone in the workplace because it is safe to assume anything and everything you say and do at work will make it back to the boss. I agree that the makeover part was way too short. I couldn't even tell what they did to Kelsey. Also, was Madeline even there for the makeovers? If yes, does anyone know what they did to her hair, if anything? The Whitney cut was definitely awkward. I don't know why Kelli does that thing where she turns to Judy looking for help since she already knows that TCC is a goner before the meeting even starts. That's happened at least once before in a prior season (I don't remember who was cut or which season) and Judy told Kelli off a bit when it happened that time as well.

I'm assuming the problem the judge was referring to was her obvious weight gain and soft appearance. I forgot to ask in my first post, does anyone know why 2011 Jenna didn't make it to training camp? Do they really not like to bring back anyone once they're off the team for something like weight gain or was it another issue they just didn't put on the show (or that I missed when they did show it)?

Agreed. Not an attractive style for her at all. Yes, a 30 year old should know that a dress with cutoffs is never appropriate for any kind of interview, even if it is a job with a really skimpy uniform. Really the only place a 30 year old can wear a dress like that with cut-outs and have it be appropriate is for a night of bar hopping. That being said I also don't think Brenda's reaction to it was very appropriate either. Also a big fan of Candace! I hope we see more of her this season but I'm not holding my breath. I agree with the two vet cuts, especially Caila. I really like Maggie and Madeline, and I'm so happy for Kelsey and auto Amy. I didn't necessarily think Jay's Wall question was a bad one. Realistically, no these girls will never be speaking politics with anyone, but that question was just a way to test how well she thinks on her feet. He didn't care what her opinion actually was on the issue and there's ways of intelligently answering that question without really bringing your personal politics into it. All he was looking for was an intelligent answer incorporating some thought and some knowledge of the issue, and unfortunately she didn't have a answer to give him. I'm assuming the Wall is a issue discussed more in Dallas than it would be in other parts of the country so that's why he picked it?

What else could Melissa do for a career besides reality TV? Doesn't seem like she has much experience at anything else other than dance and reality TV. I totally get why she's milking it for all it's worth - she likely can't get any real jobs that pay better, have fewer working hours, or have more flexibility than reality TV.

I agree with you on the husband point - there's easier ways these days to snag a rich husband. But my guess is most of these girls go through this process not only because they love to dance/cheer or love the Cowboys but also because of the opportunities they think it can provide and the doors it could open. I would assume most pro dancers get paid little, but it's probably still more than NFL cheerleaders get paid. At least if you're being paid next to nothing as one of 50 dancers on an off Broadway show it's still much better for your resume and future career prospects than being an NFL cheerleader.

Also, I wanted to add to the conversation I don't remember how many pages back on the number of girls trying out dropping significantly in the last few years. My two cents on the numbering system is that 600+ girls might be on the signup list and be assigned a number, but by the day of the audition half of them for whatever reason don't show up. As to why the numbers are down so significantly - I'm sure it's due to MTT. Potential candidates get to see how time consuming the process is, how they will have no free time for anything but DCC for the next 7 - 8 months, how every aspect of their appearance and dancing skills will be picked apart on national TV, how they can spend 20-30 hours a week at training camp and other functions for 8 weeks and still not make the team, etc. Before the show, I assume many candidates had very little idea how it all worked and how tough and time consuming it really was. Much as I like the show - I don't really get why anyone would put themselves through this process. If they were getting paid the equivalent of a even a decent part-time salary I would get it, but a DCC probably doesn't even make minimum wage if you add up all their pay versus all their hours. If I wanted to dance/cheer while I was in college and not get paid even minimum wage, I would dance/cheer for my college's team rather than DCC as it would probably be less time consuming and quite frankly look better on a resume. If I wanted to dance after college, I would move to NYC, LA, London, Las Vegas, etc where the majority of the professional dance jobs are. I sure wouldn't waste some of the most valuable years of my potential dance career as a barely paid professional cheerleader. I guess these girls do it because they still want to perform on a big stage but lack other opportunities, because of the social status it gets them in Dallas and because they will get introduced to wealthy potential husbands?

I've been a long-time fan of the show and lurker on this forum as well as the TWOP forum, but have never really posted before. I'm not going to offer up any opinions on the girls or their appearances except to say that nobody even halfway unattractive makes this team and I wish I could have a body as "thick" as the thickest member of the team as that would be a huge improvement over what I've got now;) And thanks to the poster that posted the link to all the cheerleader uniforms from other teams. I've never paid too much attention before, but the DCC uniforms are downright classy compared to what many other teams have their cheerleaders perform in. I also thought it was interesting that the picture at the top of the article was Mackenzie Lee. Even though she's been retired for a while now she's still one of my favorites and IMO one of the most attractive cheerleaders they've ever had. I do have a question about tryouts but it's not specifically related to 2016 so I wasn't sure where to post it. I recently found and watched the DCC TV movie from the 70s on youtube and would love to know how made-up it was, if anyone on here knows. On the movie, the tryout process seemed to be concerned with looks as the first and by far most important factor on who made the team. On the movie, the dancing and interview part of the audition seemed to be mostly an afterthought. I LMBO at one scene where a girl goes up for her interview, basically says something like here I am again and the interviewer tells her well I don't really need to talk to you then because we've talked enough in the past so she (the interviewer) should spend her time instead talking to one of the rookie candidates. Basically it seemed like they would take anyone for the team who had a minimal amount of rhythm and could string a couple of sentences together so long as they were pretty enough. On the movie, the dance sequence they were teaching for auditions looked so easy I think I could have gotten it good enough and I've had virtually zero dance experience. I'm curious if this is how it really was back then. It was interesting on the performance at the end of the movie - they inter-cut footage from a real field performance into the movie performance and you could see at times in the real field performance how bad their lines were. No wonder Judy is so obsessed about hitting the lines. It was also interesting how bad some of the actresses in the movie were in the final performance. The housewife character especially was always at least one (usually more) count behind. You'd think they would have tried a little harder, but I guess not for a fluff of a TV movie like this one was. If this movie is even a remotely true representation of the quality of DCC from back in the seventies, Kelli and Judy deserve a ton of credit for the leaps and bounds of improvements they've made over the years.

No kidding. Nicki having PTSD could have made a for a good storyline, but the Reagans seem to all be too perfect to have problems, at least not for more than an episode or two. Yep, this is getting old. I love Tom Selleck but I wish Frank could not always be so perfect once in awhile. Yep, that sums it up. Every issue on this show can be summed up by Frank's side and the wrong side. People like a flawed hero. A perfect know-it-all that never makes mistakes and whose you-know-what doesn't stink is getting really old, really quickly. To the point where I'm seriously considering quitting the show, in spite of my like for Tom Selleck. Yep, keeps getting worse. Or maybe it's just that Frank, Erin, and Danny just keep getting more and more self-righteous and morally superior with every episode. It gets really old every episode watching all the other characters get knocked down and put in their place by the Reagan superiority. Yes, often times those characters did wrong, but do these characters (and the audience) really have to be reminded at every turn that the Reagans are too perfect to make mistakes? The only positives to this season are that Jamie seems to be slipping slowly off the Reagan high horse, and that Nikki had some of her "I'm perfect and better than everyone else" attitude knocked down.

You summed up the episode perfectly. I did get a bit of a kick out of the party plot-line, mostly because I just really like Gormley and Garrett, but otherwise a crappy episode. Another thing that drove me nuts is that there was no blowback on Danny from the previous episode where he shot an unarmed suspect with no witnesses. Yes the guy was a serial killer who had a kidnap victim in his trunk, but still why not have at least an investigation so Danny occasionally has to face some consequences for behavior that would get any other cop fired in a heartbeat. It's so far against the rules for a cop to publicly taunt suspects in the media and investigate crimes involving their immediate family. It's also a real issue when that cop then shoots said suspect who is unarmed with no witnesses present. Apparently no one cares about any of that in the world of Blue Bloods.

Am I the only one who thought the conclusion of the serial killer plot line was a total let down? I don't understand why the guy would go to all the trouble to kidnap Nicky, take her to some apartment, then not kill her. Plus, then he leaves the apartment to take her to the middle of nowhere (at least by NYC standards), still doesn't kill her, and just stands there waiting for Danny to find him so he can taunt him into killing him as an unarmed man. Makes absolutely no sense and IMO totally blew what to that point was a pretty good storyline. Also, as someone else pointed out, what was Danny thinking taunting this guy? When Danny got that call from the serial killer threatening his family and Danny said "he's going after my family", Danny said it like he'd completely expected the guy to do that, but then races to his house like he didn't expect it because of course his family has no protection. Another thing that made absolutely no sense to me.

There are many cops who are very good at PR and politics, but I've never heard any reference made by anyone in the show to Garrett's ever having been a cop. I would assume if he had spent significant time in the past working as a cop that we would have heard about it; Baker hardly gets any screen time and we know she's a cop so I'm sure it would have come up with Garrett after 6 seasons. Many civilians have concealed carry permits - heck Erin has one; Garrett probably has one due to the public nature of his job and that he basically works for the police department.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! Of the family, I really like Frank and mostly like Henry. The rest of them I really want to like, but mostly could care less if they all would disappear. My biggest issue with most of the family is how self-righteous they often are - like their you know what doesn't stink. Erin is the biggest guilty party here, with maybe Jamie in second place and Nicky in third. At least Nicky can be somewhat forgiven for this because of her age. At her age I thought I knew everything too although I hope I was never as "I'm better than everyone else" as Nicky is. Frank is mostly as self-righteous as the rest of the family, but it's easier for me to forgive it from him because he's Tom Selleck, the only reason I ever started watching the show and the biggest reason I continue to watch the show. My favorite characters besides Frank are all his co-workers - Garrett, Gormley, Baker, etc. I most enjoy watching him interact with any other character other than his family members. I also like the Mayor, Danny's boss Dee - heck I even like that trouble making minister more than most of the family. I don't care much one way or the other about Danny's partner and I wish Janko would disappear to be replaced by someone (male or female) who would have a better chemistry with Jamie and can maybe counteract some of his boy hero behavior. There's a lot to like about this show and that's why I keep watching. It's nice to see a well portrayed family with good values and character on TV, but I just wish the writers could make some of them a little less "perfect". I get so sick sometimes of watching them lord over others with their "higher moral character" and I get so sick of them meddling in situations they have no business meddling in just because they think they know best.

Overall, I love this show, but one of my biggest dislikes has to do with Tami's jobs and how they somehow always ended up being more important than Eric's jobs. I'm only part way through season 3 and I can't begin to figure out how she ever even got hired as a school guidance counselor or as a school principal. She said at one point early in season 3 something to the effect that she couldn't do it all with a career and family. I got the impression during this conversation she had with Eric that she didn't work outside the home for a lot of Julie's life so I can't figure out how she would have had a chance to get the Masters degree, licensing, and work experience that would be required in order to be hired as a high school guidance counselor. There's definitely no way she had the educational background and work experience to be hired as a principal at any public school anywhere in the country. To become a high school principal, you need a Masters degree in administration, state certification, and many years of teaching/administration experience - none of which Tami seemed to have. I could maybe buy the guidance counselor job, but to get promoted straight to principal within two years? In my mind the show lost a lot of credibility at that point. Why couldn't they give her a more realistic career path? I have a advanced degree and a career and as a woman, I think all women should have some type of working career at some point in their lives, but I didn't see why Tami's career in this family's situation should be more important than Eric's. Even though I have a professional career and would hate having to give up a job I really liked, if I were in Tami's shoes, Eric's career would always come first because he had so much more earning potential over his career than she did. If he had kept the TMU job and did well enough to keep moving up to better coaching positions, within 15 years he likely would have had an opportunity at a head Division 1 coaching job or at the very least top assistant coaching positions. Division 1 football coaches can easily make $2 million plus a year and the assistant coaches can make $200,000 to over $1 million. If I had a spouse who had a real chance to advance far enough in his career to potentially make millions per year, you better believe I would be happy to follow him to where ever he needed to move to in order to advance his career. The fact that Tami's far lower paying career seemed to come first throughout the show just seemed endlessly silly to me.