taragel

I enjoyed it so much. K. Bell can do no wrong in my eyes, but I'm just glad she's on a show that I can actually enjoy watching again (unlike House of Lies). The points and store names and tiny sight gags are going to be fabulous. Danson's always watchable as well, and I quite liked the secondary characters. I'm most intrigued by the silent Buddhist monk soulmate and what his deal is--can't wait till he inevitably talks. If Eleanor had been just a medium person--the flashbacks wouldn't have been very interesting and there would have been too much doubt as to whether she was in the right place. It's more fun and gives you more dramatic fodder if she's pretty terrible (but of course she thinks she isn't) and is REALLY in the wrong place. The surreal aspects (the flying bit, the chaos) are fun too. It's not as sharp as it could be yet, but I think it will get there. Glad they're showing 3 episodes this week to really immerse people in it.

Just saw that Abby's sentencing date was extended to December 2... Abby Lee Miller Sentencing Delayed

This seems like a good sign that CMT actually might not pull back on Will's coming out story: 'Nashville' Casts Transgender Actress Jen Richards in Recurring Role

I was a little less than thrilled by the abrupt and anticlimactic ending, but really enjoyed the show overall in all its quirky gloriousness. I don't mind it being one-and-done but wouldn't mind some sort of anthology-like series, where the Kings brought this kind of wacky magic to some other setting.

The losses were disappointing (especially for title song--given Jessica Jones doesn't even have any freaking words!), but the win is still amazing. It's only the CW's second ever Emmy--that should afford the show some definite leeway. They could still win the choreography Emmy tonight too possibly.

All the terrible mom shenanigans (why did Jess go to the dark side so badly?) and producer-staged crap aside (Does anyone on earth believe that was any kind of a "real" competition?), I noticed a real lack of finish and technique in this routine--way more so than any of the previous ones. I don't know if it was because they were dancing with the boys, but there was a lot of sloppiness, and halfway effort. Almost as though they were marking moves rather than actually dancing full out. Kalani looked good though. Abby being so complimentary of Nia now that her star's on the rise...lol. GET OUTTA HERE. Good for Holly for calling her on that.

Seems a bit raunchier than usual--lots of buns. I prefer this amazing trailer: Captain Lee: Stud of the Sea

It's impressive how almost all (sorry, Kendall, it's not your...year) the girls have managed to leverage their DM fame into all kind of ancillary fame. It took a while for it to happen but kudos to them all. (Maddie won, the others did not at Teen Choice Awards.)

Looks like Santino will be on next week's episode of BrianDead (CBS, Sunday, August 14th, 10 pm). With Aaron Tveit. (Heh).

There's definitely nothing supernatural a la Lost or Shyamalan. They're aiming very squarely at a Parenthood vibe here. The fact that the scenes with Milo and Mandy are actually taking place in the 80s, while other scenes are 36 years later is probably fairly twisty in the execution --especially if they don't make it obvious with wardrobe/props/scenery that their part is 1980s-set. Maybe that time twist is what they consider to be Lost-like because technically the M/M parts are flashbacks?

Saw a list of the Teen Choice Award nominees today and Maddie, Chloe, and Kalani were all nominated for Choice Dancer, while Mackenzie was nominated for Choice Muser (not sure what that is exactly: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/teen-choice-awards-2016-nominees-915639 Also Nia's off-broadway show Trip of Love is closing August 7, but it's set the record for longest running production at Stage 42: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/185546/trip-of-love-starring-dance-moms-nia-sioux-sets-closing-date-off-broadway/

Yes, I read the script. Mariah's correct, but also they're the adoptive parents of Sterling K. Brown's character as well. They're supposed to be having triplets, but one dies, and Sterling is brought in to hospital by a fireman as an abandoned baby at the same time and they end up adopting him. It's revealed in the last five minutes or so of the pilot. I think it's definitely aiming for a Parenthood waterworks vibe, so be prepared!

Not necessarily. I had it done about 18 months ago. Some people (like me) have a relatively easy time of it and never experience "dumping" (caused by too much sugar intake). After the first couple months and everything was healed, I found I could still eat "slider foods" (chips, cookies, chocolate) in large amounts with no real difficulties. Protein (which is the good thing you're supposed to eat the most of) was the hardest to process--which made it easier to turn to carbs. I did puke (fairly often) if I ate too fast, didn't chew enough, or ate something too dry/hard for the first six to nine months. Now I still have trouble occasionally with things like rice or al dente pasta or dry/overcooked proteins, but I can basically eat "normally." Basically, gastric bypass isn't a magic solution or always as restrictive as people think it is. I actually lost more before surgery while doing all the prep work and dieting in the six month lead up to surgery than I did after the surgery (so far--I'm working on it). It's a good tool, but you still have to watch and count and stay committed to clean eating. For most of us who've been obese since childhood, that's the hard part. Breaking old bad habits and staying motivated.

It would be very interesting to read an interview with one of the producers of this show. I think in season one they really bought into Whitney's cover story of being marvelously happy and not ashamed of her body. There were sad realities of her size but they were juxtaposed against far happier exepriences. And now in season 3 (?) we're down to getting tearful confessionals where she admits she feels like she doesn't deserve to eat three times a day (which further screws up her eating patterns). That's some heavy, heavy stuff. Every single episode this season she's experienced something scary and humiliating and insulting and it looks like that's going to continue in future episodes from the previews. I feel very sad for Whitney. It's achingly apparent that this girl needs some real therapy and has a lot of shame and guilt and probably deep depression that she's trying to mask with a persona who simply embraces a lack of boundaries in all kinds of ways. I admit I can be kind of prudish about some things, but I don't think watching someone having trouble shaving their own legs on national TV or needing someone to rub cramps out of their butt is fun stuff you can feel good about (for the viewers or for Whitney herself, no matter how much she insists she doesn't care/isn't ashamed). I came into this with a lot of sympathy for her, and I still have a lot of sympathy for her--(I've weighed as much as she does now in the past)--though it erodes every time she's crude or mean to her parents or drowning herself in excuses. Mostly I just see a very scared girl who is trying desperately to pretend she's normal --there's a lot of magical thinking going on here. I absolutely believe there are overweight and maybe obese people out there who can be free of health issues and fantastically confident and feel good about themselves and do everything they want to do. I don't know that that's possible/true at her size and given what we see her struggle with. Her quality of life is not good even if she technically has no serious/chronic medical problems (currently). It's too bad, because I was actually hoping that this would actually be a show where fatness was simply another feature like blue eyes or dark hair. But the reality is, it really can't be when it hampers her daily life to such extremes. I watch as a cautionary tale, as a "there but for the grace of God I go". I hope she gets real help (not dramatic tv-staged interventions) so she can TRULY be happy and not just pretend to be happy.

Hmm, but I'm not sure why producers or crew members would automatically have any knowledge of what Abby did with her money, unless they were copied on those emails or asked to carry a bag for her (and knew it had money in it). And then wouldn't that make them accessories? Like if the prosecutor got any knowledge from them on what Abby was doing--how would they not also be culpable for not turning her in? Then again, why would the "employees" who smuggled also not be held liable for their parts in smuggling? Unless it's a case of letting the small fish go to fry the big fish.

That would be interesting--some high stakes drama indeed. I imagine they would disavow all knowledge of any money laundering though. I assumed "employees" were HER employees--Giana, whoever else travels with her--not Collins Ave.

I was happy for Chloe that she got that one-on-one scene with Peter Gallagher. That must have been pretty cool. I don't quite follow. If they were helping her/accessories, then I assume they were/are indeed on the same page. Unless you think they were doing that to set her up in some way? I know things had turned pretty sour between Abby and the producers by the way she's talked about them in interviews over the past year or so....but I have a tough time believing they would jeopardize their own show/the money Dance Moms brings in. With Abby in jail (hopefully), would anyone tune in to watch personality-free Gia teach the kids?

It probably depends on how much Collins Ave/Lifetime is willing to shell out in lawyer fees to protect their show/cash cow. I hope the judge doesn't go with less than 6 months though.

So she's getting somewhere between 6 months and 30 months in jail? She's being sentenced on my birthday. I'm going to count it as a gift. ;) Also...she had "Employees" smuggle the money in? Gianna? The girls? The moms? Oy. http://deadline.com/2016/06/dance-moms-abby-lee-miller-guilty-plea-fraud-smuggling-charges-bankruptcy-lifetime-1201779760/

Even when the Tell Alls tell nothing, I find it fascinating to watch the prevarication dance that the Browns do to NOT answer questions and spin things towards the positive. That was even more evident than ever with Erica Hill manning the ship and asking kindly but repeatedly for clarification on things. (What an upgrade from Tamron Hall!) Man, what level of magical thinking these people operate on! Kody's "if we refuse to believe it, then it never happened" is the baseline of their every interaction. Meri and Kody admit repeatedly that their marriage has been terrible/nonexistent for years--yet refuse to admit that Meri had an emotional affair and was ready to jump ship. Meri "refuses" to listen to the voicemails/texts (sure, Jan). Kody refuses to believe he should (and he really should, even the kadouche that he is) feel angry and betrayed that she cheated emotionally. And they're still in a terrible place/have no real relationship, yet are determined to plunder forward believing things will magically get better as they refuse to change and keep going with things EXACTLY AS IS. No talk of working on their relationship with the beloved Nancy. I too hope Meri finds a real guy and gets the hell out, but now she never will. She got busted and almost lost the cash cow. No way she'd make any overtures toward any other guys online (and how else would she meet men since she has no job/is always with the family.) Kody could not have been more blunt or obvious about how little he cares about the relationships between his sister wives or even how little he desires to put any work into his own relationships with each wife to strengthen them. I couldn't believe how transparent he was about that actually. Heh, and Robyn is so over all of this. She sounded super tired and like she couldn't believe she had to participate in any of this crap. No more nicey-nice sucking up or interjecting and trying to smooth anything over. Meri and Robyn are both so done and Janelle is fine with the shitty status quo, so Christine's the only one seeming slightly happier these days. But how long will that last?

I'm betting she's not serving any time with the plea agreement. Shame.

So Ava from Dance Moms (#5, Ava Plain and Tall at the PTV recap) is going to be judged by Maddie on SYTYCD? I wonder if the show will even mention that they know each other from DM? http://previously.tv/so-you-think-you-can-dance/on-so-you-think-you-can-dance-kids-are-the-final-frontier/

Another Speedman fan here! He doesn't get much to do in the pilot unfortunately (in fact...I'm pretty sure they cut a scene that was in the script of him and his wife discussing his family but hopefully they'll restore that in a future ep.), but Shawn Hatosy and Ellen Barkin were both very strong. I liked it and will be setting my DVR. I could see this appealing to Sons fans as well.

It looks like Chloe's new role doesn't involve dance and is strictly an acting job (she's playing a goth teen, I believe--can't see her strapping on the toe shoes for that). That's pretty impressive to me that she was able to branch out from the dancer role as a lower level name (Yes, I know Maddie's big movie role is non-dancing as well). Hollywood likes their boxes, generally speaking.

Oops, deleted because this was already posted in Meri's thread about the Catfishing special with Nev.