S01.E06: I Should Have Gone to Motown

[CountryGirl]

Quote

With the premiere of the show only a day away, Brittany and Simon get a visit from their overbearing mother. Gabby and Brittany find common ground while Justin and Simon grow closer. Meanwhile, the network tasks Nick with pulling together a live after-show and the men of The Big Leap help Reggie navigate his romantic life.

Original air date: 10/25/2021

 

[Rebky]

I prefer Missi Pyle in comedies; however, she is chewing the scenery in the very very bad mom role.  No wonder Britt is such a hot mess.

[HerkyJerky]

37 minutes ago, Rebky said:

No wonder Britt is such a hot mess.

And just when her & Gabbi were bonding over High School Musical, too!

[cardigirl]

This show makes me laugh so much, with very subtle (and not so subtle) little moments.  I'd like it to survive, but it probably won't. 

"Get up you stupid little bitch, you'll do whatever is asked of you, and you won't get any food or water until the job is done!"  Words to live by! 😝  Then when Monica sprayed Nick in the face with water because he had a concussion!  I was dying.  "I'm keeping you alive."  

Great cast!  And most of the time the writing is good, just need to steady the boat. Tom Lennon is awesome!  Not sure I want Missi Pyle to come and stir stuff up, I generally hate that (you're supposed to) but maybe she won't last long. 

[DearEvette]

I really liked the unlikely pairings.  I especially liked Julia and Paula and very especially Reggie and Mike.  Mike's friends are a national treasure.  The scene where Mike and Reggie were dancing with his buddies as on lookers and a Greek Chorus were the best.

No way Justin and Simon are at all an unlikely pairing since they are very much paired already in their dance group.  But even so, that dance between them was all kinds of gorgeous and these two have chemistry to burn.

Not so much Brittany and Gabby. This is where I felt a needle scratch with the show.  I totally believe these two were paired via producer manipulation, but I don't buy Brittany all of a sudden feeling warmer and validated by Gabby.  If she were we would have seen glimpses of her warming up to any approval and we just haven't seen that.  That is why I never bought any of her interaction with Gabby as authentic even when the show was trying to signal that it was.  It felt too abrupt and unearned.  Contrast it with how Simon has been portrayed.  He has been human along.  Brittany hasn't, not even a glimmer.

Also... another needle scratch... Momager Lovewell.  Missy Pyle was perfectly cast.  And I could totally see what a monster she is and it is nice to get the twins' backstory.  But I call foul on the production staff taking orders from some unnamed rando showing up.  It seems like these people have been working together for a long time and no way could she just swan in.  Why Nick didn;t have her escorted off by security is total plot hijinks.

Can't deny the live show was funny and chaotic as hell.  I love that everyone immediately came to Gabby's defense and go, Raven with the water bottle.  LOL.

Some other funny bits:

"Simon Michael Jackson Lovewell!'

Monica's "mantra"

Alan's mimicry of Monica -- spot on!

And again the production staff with their notes were comedy gold.

Ally's face when Zach was pitching the live show.  She had that wide-eyed horrified look you get when you can't tell your boss what a horrible idea they've just had.

Also, Dante's frantic 'NO!  Atlantis Again."  I really need to know what really happened on Atlantis.

[Shelbie]

Loved this episode. I started watching this show not  expecting much but have really enjoyed it. I will be sad when it gets cancelled.

[Drummermom]

I could only half of this episode. Turned it off and that was enough. I am out. Sorry Big leap, you are not my kind of show.

[GaT]

5 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Mike's friends are a national treasure. 

I agree, I hope they plump up their roles a bit, I love them.

[amarante]

How does this show get a second season? 

Would they completely recast the "swans"?

[Maverick]

 It likely won't last the first season, but they could do a second by doing a second season season of the reality show.  Keep Nick and the other production side cast and get all new contestants.   Maybe Gabby comes back as a judge or otherwise involved in the show, but wrap up everyone else's story and bring in some fresh meat.  

[judyri]

I love this show, a lot better than Glee (stopped watching after the first season).   All the characters are interesting to me.  They could do a second season in a different city, or more on the auditions.  Crazy that we've seen very little actual rehearsals for the big show, maybe we will be surprised?

[amarante]

3 hours ago, Maverick said:

 It likely won't last the first season, but they could do a second by doing a second season season of the reality show.  Keep Nick and the other production side cast and get all new contestants.   Maybe Gabby comes back as a judge or otherwise involved in the show, but wrap up everyone else's story and bring in some fresh meat.  

That is what they did with UnReal - kept production staff and had new contestants.

[Crs97]

I didn’t like the contrivance of the staff suddenly listening to Mommy Dearest like she had any authority over production, though I assume by Nick’s comment that perhaps he told them to let her have her way for purposes of drama.  I was so glad Simon just handed over the note to Gabby.  I am amazed at how much I care about people I couldn’t stand from the pilot.  Don’t leave me, show!

[yourdreamer]

I am thinking Nick’s Atlantis musical ended a bit like Martin Short’s Splash musical from Only Murders in the Building - a live water set that people drowned in or something nearly that. 
 

The episode was decent - I appreciate that the plot moves forwards at a decent clip. I just wish Paula admitted to Mike her test results and we could move past that melodrama. Also, I am easily manipulated so I enjoy Reggie and Ganny getting together. 

[Maverick]

 Atlantis wasn't a musical.  It basically sounded like Big Brother on the ocean floor.  

[Crs97]

Atlantis was the reality show from the pilot.  Yes, it was Big Brother underwater that Nick refused to stop filming during the oil spill (and fire IIRC), but the important thing Nick wants us to remember is that no one died during the filming.

[proserpina65]

Paula's cancer has totally come back.

Monica's mantra was comedy gold.  And the Jerry Springer like live show was fantastic.

[KittenPokerCheater]

I want this show to get a second season so badly.  Also, it doesn't mean that since it's the Real World's second season that it can't just be a continuation of the fictional show's first season.  (Hope that made sense)

 

[Brian Cronin]

3 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

I want this show to get a second season so badly.  Also, it doesn't mean that since it's the Real World's second season that it can't just be a continuation of the fictional show's first season.  (Hope that made sense)

 

Totally agreed. They could easily do a second season just based on the first season of the Big Leap. 

[watch2much]

this is my favorite network show.  I think Scott Foley is brilliant as are the other two principals in the show's production.  I really care less about the dancers, just love the interactions among those three.  I hope it stays on but my liking something is usually the kiss of death.

[Brian Cronin]

What's funny is that under normal circumstances, this would be obviously canceled, but we're sort of in a slightly post-ratings era, so I think that there is a sliiiiiiiiiiiight chance for it to be renewed (very slight). 

[Jillybean]

Scott Foley on Episode 6 (contains spoilerish stuff)

[Pj3422]

Alan’s race with the glasses reminded me so much of Joan Cusack in “Broadcast News.”

 

[CountryGirl]

While I am still 'shipping Nick and Gabby, I am fine with Reggie and Gabby being together. For now.

I will go against the grain and say that I think ice princess Brittany had a glimmer of humanity with little Sam. But she let Mommy Dearest get in her head and squash that shit. Thank goodness her twin, Simon Michael Jackson Lovewell (LOL), has seemed to shake off her clutches. Speaking of Simon, he and Justin have chemistry in spades. 

This made me laugh:

Zack: "Nobody serves up a hot ass mess like you, Nick."
Nick: "Great. Put that on my tombstone."

I also like that they show different cast members interacting vs being siloed - Brittany/Gabby, Reggie/Mike, Paula and Julia. Even Raven with going after Brittany for outing Gabby's secret. That's a sign of a strong ensemble. 

That moment between Gabby and her mother: "Hey, look at me. This is one thing that happened in your life, and it gave us Sammie, but it does not define you. That teacher is a creep and a predator. You are a talented, beautiful, fantastic woman, and I'm so proud to be your mother. I only wish you had told me when it was happening. And I would've spent the last seven years telling you that, and I am so sorry that you were alone." That made me tear up.

[bybrandy]

I get why people are shipping NIck with Gabby I suspect neither he nor Reggie is a great long term plan but I'd go with Reggie for the moment because NIck would be all sorts of complicated.  I don't mind it.  But I think I prefer Reggie for the moment.

I just binged the first 6 episodes over the last couple of days and love it.  So sad it is so ratings challenged.  Beause it is a fun show.  Hopefully more people, like me, will find it but... Sigh.

Paula's cancer is totally back. Or at least she's has reason to believe her cancer might be back.

Oh Brittney, you could have made a friend who liked coloring and high school musical and eating foods that contain calories, but no..  I get the point of toxic mom being toxic and stirring up trouble and I'm all for trouble getting stirred up but she's so cartoon villain I hope she's not around from here on out.

 

 

[Brian Cronin]

On 10/29/2021 at 2:45 PM, bybrandy said:

Paula's cancer is totally back. Or at least she's has reason to believe her cancer might be back.

My hope/guess is that she needs a biopsy and is sure that it IS cancer, so she's preemptively shutting Mike down, but it will turn out to not be cancer. 

[tennisgurl]

I really hope that this show gets a second season, no matter what that season would look like. Its a really strong ensemble, they can certainly find a way to keep the show going. I really like how many pairings got mixed this week, obviously with Brittany and Gabby but also Mike and Reggie and Paula and Julia, its always a sign of a good show and cast when you can put any people together and it works. 

Oh Brittany. And after they bonded over High School Musical and everything. Missy Pyle is perfectly cast as a crazy stage mom (who can apparently just show up to set and start making changes to broadcasts) compete with over the top southern accent that I kept waiting to find out was an affectation. 

[HerkyJerky]

Wrong thread

Edited November 2, 2021 by HerkyJerky
Wrong thread

[KittyQ]

On 10/26/2021 at 5:50 AM, cardigirl said:

"Get up you stupid little bitch, you'll do whatever is asked of you, and you won't get any food or water until the job is done!"  Words to live by! 

This is such a Monica "mantra"! I loved that Nick actually tried it.

[PokerNerd]

Late to the show but loving the Simon / Justin showmance. You can see them both growing better individually because of their time together.