sinkwriter

I liked Sean's idea about Julius Caesar. I thought that out of all of them, he had the most "Rome inspired" idea, and I liked his approach to it as a storyline of designs. I just hope in the end he doesn't have too much fringe. I agree with Nina that he should show more than one design element as the focal point. It can't just be fringe. I feel like that happens to a lot of designers when they're preparing for fashion week; sometimes it seems they get hung up on one particular idea and they can't let go of it enough to see their collection more objectively, and in the end it's what causes them to have a boring runway show or just not enough spark to win. Off the top of my head I can't think of anyone (it's getting late here) but I'm sure if I thought back on all the designers, I could think of a bunch who fell into that danger zone. Can anyone else think of someone who fit that? Maybe Angela and her fleurchons?

Poor Kini. I agreed with the judges that he needed to add some modern twists so that the outfits didn't look so heavy, but I still feel for the guy. Like the others said, how can they expect someone to completely rework their collection in one day? Then again, out of the four designers, he's the one I could imagine making it happen. IF he can get his head out of the depressed negative space and refocus and see his collection objectively from a new angle. He's super fast with the sewing; maybe he can make it work! I'm rooting for him.

Steve Wozniak?

I see him more as concentrating really hard on what they're saying. He always seems to be listening to them very intently, like he's trying to absorb every morsel of what they're saying. At least, in previous weeks it seemed that way. Now I'm starting to fear that they're crushing his soul and he's no longer going to be the eager beaver who wants to learn whatever he can.

I actually liked that Mark added some ballroom/non-hiphop moves to the routine. I thought it made the routine a little more unusual (rather than being straight hip hop) and also connected the routine to the more customary styles they work with on the show. I thought it made for an interesting and fun performance. (But I can see what you mean about the sneakers being detrimental to smooth ballroom moves.)

Yeah, I noticed that, thanks! But seriously, most of their off-color jokes I can eyeroll, or even laugh about. I guess (for me, anyway) this one was different. I don't enjoy jokes about pedophilia.

I'm cheering for Lea for Back to the Future and for her starring role in a TV show called Caroline in the City. I hope she makes it to the end!

I wonder if that's what has stopped all four of them from greatness (coming up with useable genius ideas) over the years: that they just keep getting distracted with watching TV and movies and playing video games and going off on tangents about what superhero can kick the other superheroes' butts. *GRIN* Though they should probably get credit for creating an app. I assume they managed to finish that project, given how close they were to being done with it and how their trial runs were successful.

I really loved his vibrant blue fringe dress (I think it was for the "make a dress for Heidi" challenge?). I thought it was a beautiful color and had great movement. It put me in good mood watching the model wearing it as she went down the runway. It just looked so fun and swing-y. I wasn't into the style of the dress for the rainway episode but I thought his idea was very clever and he took a big chance that could have backfired terribly. I was impressed with him for all of that.

Maybe they're waiting for Len to come back into town and school her.

I should add that I'm not sure I needed it to be finished as a joke. I think as a viewer I needed it to be finished as follow-through for Sheldon, Howard and Raj to realize that the idea was gross and very wrong, and not a good idea at all. I needed the showrunners/writers to show that it's actually not funny, but apparently they're a lot more amused by that kind of joke than I am. That's probably why the "joke" didn't work for me. I didn't want them to go "overkill" and try to make it funnier or explain the joke; instead, I wanted them to make things right.

I thought Val said it was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, that the "old people" were former pro dancers all living in a home for retired dancers, and Lea comes along and sparks them back to life. Hence Val the "old guy" dancing more vibrantly, but occasionally getting an pain in the back (which was part of his dance moves during the routine). It's also a play on a scene from The Producers in which Nathan Lane's character has to seduce a bunch of rich old ladies in order to fund his upcoming Broadway show. It's called "Along Came Bialy." I couldn't find a clip from the film version so that link is from the soundtrack via Youtube. At a certain point during the song you can hear the walkers being used rhythmically as part of the dance routine, like tap-dancing. There's a terrific Behind the Scenes of the musical that used to be aired on PBS or something, which showed Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane and the rest of the cast recording their songs from the Broadway musical - it was so fun to watch them sing in the recording studio and joke around between takes.

How did they do it? I've been watching that show but I missed last week's episode.

Color me surprised, because I didn't love the first four episodes, but I liked this one. I laughed out loud quite a few times: I liked seeing the guys trying to "work," I cracked up at the twisted Back to the Future time travel dialogue (I'm with confused Howard: "What?" LOL), I liked that they didn't go cliche and have Penny give up the studying - get drunk - and - have to cram for her work at the last minute with a hangover, I laughed hard at Bernadette chewing on that straw while imitating which direction Australian strippers swing, and I liked that the guys ended up having fun together like old times. (Though I did feel bad for Leonard because it seemed like he really wanted to work on ideas.) Overall I thought it was a fun episode, and I want this to be a sign that things will keep traveling upwards on the funny and entertaining scale. Here's hoping!

Really disappointed with the Penny - Emily plot this week. It just seems stupid to force create this "hate" drama between them. Plus, I kept waiting for Penny to call Raj "Quick Draw" and remind him that they never actually slept together so he better quit telling people that lie. It just pissed me off, watching this episode. Also, I kept waiting for someone to explain to Sheldon why using a van and candy to "lure" children to the comic book store would be a very very bad idea. I thought eventually Leonard would explain it, but he never did. It's like they prepped this "joke" but never finished it. I guess that's what you get when you try to crack jokes about pedophilia. News flash, showrunners, it's not funny!

I agree! I thought that was so disappointing. I loved the twist that he decided to use science instead of throwing the ball himself. I still cringed a little, figuring the contraption would wind up and do a super-sonic throw, clocking the catcher in the head or something. But I would have taken that over the stupid slow-mo approach they went with. Boring, and even more lame when they came back from commercial only to still be playing on the same dumb joke and then that's the end. Double boring. And sad. I can't wait for the day when Amy decides she wants more and this time she's done with Sheldon. The idea that they have a superior relationship when they have hardly any intimacy whatsoever (not even sex, I'm talking emotions of any kind) is annoying to me. Sheldon doesn't have to want a sexual relationship, that's fine -- it's his body and comfort zone, and Amy shouldn't force him into anything, that would be very very wrong. But he has to understand that not having a sexual relationship might not be what his partner wants and that might mean someday letting her go if she wants something he can't or doesn't want to give. Just because he finds a sexless relationship "ideal" doesn't mean it's ideal for his partner. We've already seen and heard from Amy that that is very much the case.

Was her first score the 6 for Antonio? It was harsh, but I thought she was grading fairly based on what she saw, that Antonio wasn't doing much and with the exception of him hanging from the ceiling at the end the fancy parts of the performance were clearly all his partner Allison. I don't know why she (or any guest judge) should have to be "in line" with the other judges' scores if she doesn't think that's what the pair should get. If she's forced to be an automaton, what's the point of having a guest judge at all? For example, I liked that Kevin Hart gave Betsey a high score because he thought she did an impressive job. He wasn't there as an expert, he's there to judge based on what he sees. Same with Jessie. She thought Antonio didn't do much, she gave him a 6. I may not always agree with the guest judges, but I don't think they should have to score exactly like the regular judges if they don't share the opinion. Sometimes the regular judges don't agree with one another either, and their scores can veer wildly from 7 to 9 and get the crowd booing.

Sadly, I don't think he'll be there. It sounds like they're going to have Pitbull as a guest judge, which means they'll already have 4 judges. If Len comes back next week, they'll have 5 (!) judges. Unless Carrie Anne, Bruno or Julianne are taking a week off, I don't think Len will be back yet. Plus I think Tom would have said something to promote it.

I think that's a really interesting point, about how they seemed determined not to give out 10's or even 9's this week. Last night when the judges kept dishing out 5's and 6's and even giving lower scores to talented dancers like Alfonso and Lea, I got to wondering if the producers had a talk with the judges beforehand and told them to take the scores down a notch this week because they were throwing out the 10's too soon and too often, making the impact of getting a 10 less powerful. Otherwise I have no idea why they were being so harsh to Alfonso. 8's, seriously?? I could see not giving him 10's because he needed to keep his shoulders down and chest up, but that routine was well synchronized all throughout and they did a terrific job. They should have at least gotten 9's across the board. You cannot give an 8 to Alfonso and Antonio. There's just no way. There is a VAST difference in performance level between the two men, and Carrie Anne is clearly on crack for scoring them the same. Put your hormones away, Carrie Anne. This competition should not be about how you want to see Antonio without his shirt every week. I think this is a great point as well. You're right - every week it seems he's got the same bouncy kind of dances, as if the producers are trying to recapture how wonderfully he did in that first week. But we haven't seen him get to try anything more controlled, slower, quieter, more graceful, something where his teacher should focus on his form rather than on jumping, kicking, throwing or flipping. If he goes next week, before Michael or Antonio, without ever doing any dance that's less manic, I'm going to be very disappointed. He shouldn't be going home yet, not over those who have no rhythm or sense of dance at all, but it seems like they're doing everything in their power to get him gone. It's ridiculous, and given how much this means to Jonathan to be here in memory of watching this show with his dad, it's breaks my heart a little to think he'll be sent packing before some of the others.

Agreed. I just don't understand the producers or whoever decides who will dance together. Jonathan was already getting crucified by the judges each week, even when he showed more substance than Michael or Antonio. So why would they put him with Peta, who is talented but goes way over the top? He needed to be put with Witney or Emma or someone calmer and more structured in their teaching. Then I think we really would have seen that he can do more. But to go from Allison, who doesn't seem to be a strong teacher, to Peta, who went way overboard with her choreography, it just doesn't give Jonathan any middle ground whatsoever. I wish we'd gotten to see him with someone else. Even Cheryl might have been amazing, given how strict she is with her teaching and getting the form down. Look what she did in developing Jack Osbourne's skills -- they were terrific! Agreed! And like Kim said in the recap: if Peta had taken out just a little bit of the extra content, he would have nailed it. I wish she had taken it down a notch or two. That would have benefitted Jonathan greatly.

Sure, she enjoyed herself. She put herself front and center and showed off what she can do rather than giving Antonio anything substantial to do. Of course, Antonio doesn't seem to be capable of doing more than what she gave him, so there's that to consider, but I still think the dance was more about her abilities. Antonio needs to be done on this show. He doesn't have any rhythm!

Stuff I liked: Bethany's dance with Mark and Alfonso's dance with Cheryl. Lea's was decent, but I felt like Val could have done more with her. Maybe he didn't need to go the "over the top raunchy sexy" route that Artem did with Janel, but the comedy routine seemed a little lacking for me. Especially when he said he was going to kiss her. I thought it would be a better kiss than a quick peck amidst fast choreography. No fun, Val! If you're going to kiss Lea, give her a good one! *GRIN* I liked Sadie's dance but I was a little thrown by the high scores. Maybe I'm just wrong about it, but I felt like oftentimes when she kicked out or kicked up, her feet were completely flexed. Are they supposed to be like that for the Charleston?

If Michael deserved a 6, then Jonathan deserved 7's. I was with Jonathan when he started laughing and Erin was all, Why are you laughing, and he said, "I guess I'm really good at getting 6's!" Seriously, it's ridiculous. If he's scored the same or worse than Antonio and Michael who have NO rhythm whatsoever, what more can he do? He's trying really hard, he just has a shitty teacher (Allison) and one who went way too far with the choreography (Peta).

I feel bad for him too. I feel like Allison makes their dances all about her instead of focusing on teaching him and giving him something to do. In contrast, Peta went almost the complete opposite tonight and gave him TOO much to do, with too many flips and throws. If she had just kept it a little simpler, focused on the dance instead of on the tricks, I think Jonathan would have been solid and energetic and fun like he was the first week. I think Peta went overboard and that hurt Jonathan's chances. I also think the judges are really harsh on him. Even if he screws up sometimes, at least he can feel the beat and has some rhythm, which is much more than I can say about Michael or Antonio. Their dances were messy and lacking in coordination, rhythm and substance. By this point, the two of them should be GONE. I still can't believe Betsey had to leave before those 2 clunky dancers. It's really annoying. If Jonathan goes before Michael, I'm going to be pissed off (and sad for Jonathan).

Then she and Fitz really will be quite the pair, both brain damaged from their traumatic experiences.