S32.E05: Most Memorable Year

[SnarkAttack]

Does anyone have a guess as to why Tom and Cheryl weren't there?  I miss Tom, he was the best.

[MerBearHou]

Just now, SnarkAttack said:

Does anyone have a guess as to why Tom and Cheryl weren't there?  I miss Tom, he was the best.

Tom absolutely blasted the show after he was fired.  

Cheryl — I don’t know why on that one.

[DEL901]

4 minutes ago, SnarkAttack said:

Does anyone have a guess as to why Tom and Cheryl weren't there?  I miss Tom, he was the best.

Not invited.   Cheryl has posted about wishing she had been asked to be there.  

With Barry going last…used to be the best spot but now is the worst with the voting results being locked in minutes after the last performance…, they could give Barry his highest marks and send him home on a high note.  
 

eta.  So happy to be wrong!

Edited October 25, 2023 by DEL901

[dizzyd]

Surely this is non elimination. Damn, couldn’t they let them have this week? 

Edited October 25, 2023 by dizzyd

[Annber03]

Yeah, I'm genuinely surprised someone went home tonight. This would've been a good night to give everyone a pass. 

Aw. Shame about Mira. And on the night she did what may be her best dance, too!

[Quickbeam]

Ahh, bye Mira. Plus Gleb (selfish, I still find him eye candy). 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Quickbeam

[nickp1991]

All I’ve done today is drink champagne and vote for Barry 

[absnow54]

I was full out bawling by the end of the Len tribute, then saw Edyta was in her usual micro scrap of fabric for a costume and it somehow made me feel better. 

[MerBearHou]

Mira’s dance was certainly fine but I don’t think the voters connect with her emotionally for whatever reason. She just didn’t do much for me.  Not surprised she is gone tonight.

Edited October 25, 2023 by MerBearHou

[nickp1991]

That shot of Bruno and Carrie Anne comforting each other as Len Goodman’s chair was illuminated was heartbreaking

[A.Ham]

The Len tribute already had me misty eyed. Then the pros all finished and looked at the chair he sat in all those years and tears were streaming down my face. 
RIP Len Goodman. 
 

 

 

[chicagofan]

FYI - you'll be able to see Mira tomorrow night on Celebrity Jeopardy.

[iMonrey]

What a beautiful group number as a tribute to Len. I could see Bruno was crying early into the number, and then when the dance was over and everyone looked to the empty chair they saw him crying and they all started crying too. I might have gotten a lump in my throat as well. 

I'm not sure when a better week to do that tribute might have been, but it sort of made a lot of the other "most memorable year" stories seem trivial in comparison. Full disclosure, I hate contemporary. It starts with the celeb trying to tell some sob story then flailing their bodies around. And it often feels more like a gymnastics routine than a dance. (Especially when there are monkey bars.) I feel like the response is purely emotional based on the story. 

And yeah, I'm just an old fart, but after that powerful tribute to Len, it's hard to be moved by some of these kids whose most memorable year was this year, or the year before, or the year before that, because they went on TV and people said mean things about them. Or their boyfriend cheated on them. What are you, 22? Fuck off. 

Sorry to see Mira go, but it was maybe a mistake to have her daughter dancing with her in that number because she was so much better and made her mother look way worse. 

[Jal]

Charity has a bit of trouble with emotions but I do think she's improving on that front. Her body was doing all the work this week, and it was wonderful. I really felt her emotions come out in her strength and movement.

I also enjoyed Xochitl and Ariana.

[iMonrey]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

Not invited.   Cheryl has posted about wishing she had been asked to be there.  

The show runners might consider Cheryl complicit in Tom Bergeron calling them out because he did it on her podcast.

[babyhouseman]

The tribute was good. 

I wish Harry had left. 

[Linderhill]

sorry, I did not feel bad for Mauricio because he had to live in a two bedroom apartment and his wife had to clip coupons.  I can't wait for him to be gone.  That "contemporary" of his was awful.  And Harry, send that poor stompy kid home.  He's painful to watch.

The Len tribute was wonderful, I wish it could have gone on longer.  I've been thinking and it maybe that Cheryl wasn't invited because there wasn't a partner for her?  It is too bad that she was missing, there should have been some attempt to have her there.  That waltz was so beautiful.  My father had been a ballroom dancer in his younger days, (its how he and mom met), and he would talk about the "traffic flow" on the dance floor.  If the dancers knew what they were doing, no one would bump into anyone and the dance would just flow to the music.

I think Julianne's dress was leftover from Motown night, it had that vibe.

[Andiethewestie]

48 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

The show runners might consider Cheryl complicit in Tom Bergeron calling them out because he did it on her podcast.

It's amazing how petty ABC can be 

[Annber03]

7 minutes ago, Linderhill said:

That waltz was so beautiful.  My father had been a ballroom dancer in his younger days, (its how he and mom met), and he would talk about the "traffic flow" on the dance floor.  If the dancers knew what they were doing, no one would bump into anyone and the dance would just flow to the music.

That's a great way to put it, and a perfect description of why that tribute dance worked so well. It was all so smooth and flowed so nicely. I loved the moment when the women came together in the center of the floor, that was so well done and looked great from the bird's eye view angle. 

[dancingdreamer]

Len would have loved that  tribute  dance, no faffing about, just beautiful  music and beautiful  dancing. I think Julianne had her dress on, under her white outfit. Len is dancing* in*  the stars now, and will always  be part of the show. 

I think  everyone  did pretty well. I was sorry Ariana  mentioned  her boyfriend  and ex best friend,  it seemed  to cast some negative  energy imho.

I don't  think Mira should have gone home, and I love Alysons  energy.  I thought  LeLe was beautiful  tonight. Jason is an absolute  joy to watch. 

[Electruck]

The Len tribute was lovely. It was so nice to see past pros again.

There were times tonight, especially in the practice part, where Barry looked like he hadn’t aged since The Brady Bunch! And other times he looked so much like Robert Reed. :D I’m glad he did well tonight.

Charity reminds me of Reese Witherspoon.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, Electruck said:

There were times tonight, especially in the practice part, where Barry looked like he hadn’t aged since The Brady Bunch! And other times he looked so much like Robert Reed. :D

I've noticed that when watching episodes sometimes - seriously, props to the casting department for that show, 'cause there were definitely times throughout the series when he and Robert legit looked like they could've been related for real. 

[RoseAllDay]

I’ve not been a regular watcher of DWTS for years, but when I did watch, I always appreciated Len and his critiques — he was always spot on, like it or not, and it was clear he deeply loved the art and just wanted to make the dancers better.

That waltz was absolutely stunning and heartbreaking and a wonderful tribute to him. The arrangement of “Moon River” was beautiful. I just wish ABC could have seen fit include Cheryl. She (and Tom, although this was mainly a tribute by the pros) was also a huge part of Len’s journey on DWTS, and at a time like this, you put aside whatever beefs you have, come together, and just honor the man and his memory. I guess that was just too much to ask.

Thanks, Len. RIP. 👏😓

 

[boyznkatz]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And yeah, I'm just an old fart, but after that powerful tribute to Len, it's hard to be moved by some of these kids whose most memorable year was this year, or the year before, or the year before that, because they went on TV and people said mean things about them. Or their boyfriend cheated on them. What are you, 22? Fuck off. 

I agree. Ariana really needs to come up with some new material besides her boyfriend cheating, or she's not getting to the finals. I'm not sure why Charity chose to talk about some former boyfriend as well. She mentioned she got a master's degree. That would have been a lot more interesting to hear about. I do appreciate Harry and Lele bringing attention to mental health, though.

Edited October 25, 2023 by boyznkatz

[TVMovieBuff]

13 hours ago, chicagofan said:

Julianne needs to stay out of Tyra's closet.

I would rather Julianne dress as she is, than dress like a hooker, like Brooke did. When I watch the old dances on YouTube I cringe at some of the stuff she wore. 

And going even further back, Samantha Harris. Some of those dresses did her no favors. 

[TVMovieBuff]

8 hours ago, dancingdreamer said:

Len would have loved that  tribute  dance, no faffing about, just beautiful  music and beautiful  dancing. I think Julianne had her dress on, under her white outfit. Len is dancing* in*  the stars now, and will always  be part of the show. 

I think  everyone  did pretty well. I was sorry Ariana  mentioned  her boyfriend  and ex best friend,  it seemed  to cast some negative  energy imho.

I don't  think Mira should have gone home, and I love Alysons  energy.  I thought  LeLe was beautiful  tonight. Jason is an absolute  joy to watch. 

I much enjoyed Mira's dance too and was surprised she got the boot. 

Ariana should ease up and try to leave the boyfriend mess behind, though I know that is hard. 

I am glad that the days are gone when most of the dances were about dead relatives. Production must have told them, no dead people. 

[boyznkatz]

The most interesting things to me are like when Gabby talked about being a nurse during the pandemic. I agree that some of the dead  people packages are boring, although some of them are touching. I totally don't need to hear about anyone getting dumped, though. It happens to most people. Next.

I would personally like to hear about someone's former occupation or getting a degree or their hobbies or charity work. I haven't heard of most of these people and it would be nice to get to know them.

[Jal]

45 minutes ago, boyznkatz said:

The most interesting things to me are like when Gabby talked about being a nurse during the pandemic. I agree that some of the dead  people packages are boring, although some of them are touching. I totally don't need to hear about anyone getting dumped, though. It happens to most people. Next.

I would personally like to hear about someone's former occupation or getting a degree or their hobbies or charity work. I haven't heard of most of these people and it would be nice to get to know them.

Gabby had the most interesting "memorable moment" I've probably ever heard on the show. Wishing the best for her.

As for getting dumped or cheated on, it's pretty horrible, especially when it happens in public and you're completely humiliated on TV. I think it's fine to mention things from the recent past that really affected you and how you see the world. Perhaps they can put it behind them and focus on other things going forward.

[Andiethewestie]

I did not know that Jason was a janitor prior to following his dream of singer/songwriter. Although sob stories are emotional its nice to have inspirational dances too - people in humble jobs can relate to dreaming big. 

 

[Andiethewestie]

I like Mira and I thought this was her best dance. I thought the score was low but the judges know she wasn't pulling the vote so they score tougher than say Barry with his gap outs having to be constantly coached by Peta, but gets an 8 because he used to be a male Brady, and ABC loves to milk their dusty old shows as lucrative streaming.
As for Mira, It was a cool idea to include her daughter briefly. Unfortunately she didn't work her fanbase. That's the key to moving forward in this competition. Have a good publicist who can work the social and make sure your name gets to be the headline the next day.  People on current tv shows or superhero franchises have a built in head start in that department, because their show has a vested interest in the competition. If you don't have that organization behind you to motivate the fan vote it's a really tough climb just on dance talent alone.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Andiethewestie

[Andiethewestie]

13 minutes ago, Jal said:

As for getting dumped or cheated on, it's pretty horrible, especially when it happens in public and you're completely humiliated on TV

Indeed but if you're known and create ratings out of sheer humiliation you milk it for votes, because that's what makes you interesting to the public. When you provide that fodder you can't be surprised if the fans only relate to you as someone who shares their personal humiliation.

[iMonrey]

27 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

Barry with his old man gap outs and has to be constantly coached by Peta, but gets an 8 because he used to be a male Brady, and ABC loves to milk their dusty old shows as lucrative streaming.

LOL. I don't know what it is but 8s were definitely too high. 7s would have been generous. His Paso wasn't terrible but it wasn't 8-worthy.

I wonder what goes into the choice of dances on a week like this, it's so weird. It went Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, QuickStep, Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, Paso Doble. WTF. Why not just make them all Contemporary and Viennese Waltzes? Why throw in one random QuickStep and one Paso?

I thought this was Alyson's best dance, her frame looked really good in hold. I couldn't see her feet though because of the camera work so I didn't see whatever stumble Carrie Ann mentioned.

Whatever song Harry was dancing to didn't really work for Contemporary, IMO. 

[kristen111]

I can’t believe they let Mira go.  I thought the other two were worse.  She is heartbroken.

[Phebemarie]

As long as half the country can't conveniently vote live, voting will never be about who danced the best or improved the most.  There's little chance someone can have a brilliant dance and improve their scores or even save themselves from elimination.

[funnygirl]

Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino going home this early is such bullshit. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by funnygirl

[Andiethewestie]

6 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

LOL. I don't know what it is but 8s were definitely too high. 7s would have been generous. His Paso wasn't terrible but it wasn't 8-worthy.

I wonder what goes into the choice of dances on a week like this, it's so weird. It went Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, QuickStep, Contemporary, Viennese Waltz, Contemporary, Paso Doble. WTF. Why not just make them all Contemporary and Viennese Waltzes? Why throw in one random QuickStep and one Paso?

I thought this was Alyson's best dance, her frame looked really good in hold. I couldn't see her feet though because of the camera work so I didn't see whatever stumble Carrie Ann mentioned.

Whatever song Harry was dancing to didn't really work for Contemporary, IMO. 

I don't think the dances are random. I think they are specifically chosen to steer the narrative. Jason needed to do better or run the risk of losing the fans and he had to stand out a bit more so they put him on just after the emotions at the top of the 9 pm hour with something upbeat but unsexy.

Barry got a Paso that he can basically walk around to Peta's voice and look like a hero with no lifts.  Lifts are a disaster for him as his timing is suspect.

 

The strong females could work their Waltzes and Charity gets to show emotion,on a contemporary - she had been criticized for plastic smiles and this dance corrected that.  The other males can be forklifts in their contemporaries, and the judges made sure that at least Harry had to be scored lower than Barry. Both Alyson and Mira had improved but judges scored Mira low going first and Alyson against the two stronger females was not going to get higher scores. So The most improved landed in the bottom. 

[iMonrey]

4 minutes ago, Andiethewestie said:

I don't think the dances are random. I think they are specifically chosen to steer the narrative.

Well yeah, not random per se, just seemingly. When every dance except two are either Contemporary or Viennese Waltz, it just seems odd. "This is Contemporary and Waltz night. Except for these 2 people."

15 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino going home this early is such bullshit. 

She was never going to make the top four or five, it was only a matter of time. Same with Alyson, Harry and Mauricio. And probably Barry unless he Bristol Palins his way to the finals. I don't know that it matters much which order they go out, we're going to wind up with the same four in the finals anyway.

[funnygirl]

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

She was never going to make the top four or five, it was only a matter of time. Same with Alyson, Harry and Mauricio. And probably Barry unless he Bristol Palins his way to the finals. I don't know that it matters much which order they go out, we're going to wind up with the same four in the finals anyway.

And that is why I said this early. 

The top four is pretty much already locked in, save for any Bobby Bones-type situation. Charity, Xochitl, Ariana, and Jason. 

But Mira deserved to stay longer than the so-called "social media stars". At least try to keep the actual stars on Dancing With the Stars for some time, especially when they are doing well and improving every week. I know it doesn't work this way, but Mira, Barry, and Alyson should be the last three to go before what appears to be the locked in final 4. 

But, alas, the West Coast doesn't get to watch the show and vote. West Coast has to go in voting blind, if they even vote at all, because between 5-7pm PST people are getting off work and tending to dinners, etc. 

Oh well, par for the course with this show. YMMV

Edited October 25, 2023 by funnygirl

[Evenshorter]

I wish they had introduced each couple just before the Len tribute.  I had such a hard time figuring out who all the partners where.  I find the camera work so different this year, but it could just be my old eyes.

[thesupremediva1]

41 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino going home this early is such bullshit. 

She leaned into joy this week rather than a soporific, superficial sob story pushed by producers. Of course she went home. All reality shows are today are the sympathy Olympics. I cannot abide.

And then, because producers are tone-deaf or actually trolling the show, they did the Len tribute, to basically make a joke out of the last 90 minutes of contestant complaints. 

The dance was  beautiful. We all miss Len. Carrie Ann and Bruno broke me. I was thrilled to see Tony and Maks. But mostly Maks. My Lord, three seconds of him on screen made it abundantly clear what the show is missing. That man is just It Factor personified. Much as I love Val and think he's the better choreographer, Maks is unmatchable on the floor.

Will we ever get rid of Harry? 

I love watching Barry. I wish Peta would stop screaming through the dance. I can't hear her but you can see her doing it and it's hugely distracting. 

Charity and Artem are fabulous. I expect the final to be them, Xochitl, Jason, and Ariana. 

[boyznkatz]

1 hour ago, Andiethewestie said:

I did not know that Jason was a janitor prior to following his dream of singer/songwriter. Although sob stories are emotional its nice to have inspirational dances too - people in humble jobs can relate to dreaming big. 

 

His story was pretty good, but I would have liked him to talk about coming out as queer. DWTS has LGBTQ people on the show, but they always half ass everything. Why not talk about it?

[Lindsay Loo Hoo]

Artem I love you but man comon…. Half the dances is messing about on monkey bars… let the lady dance. 
 

another round of Harry standing while rylee dances. It’s way past time to go.

I love Len. I love the pros. I loved everything about it. 

[TVMovieBuff]

I was gobsmacked by Barry getting three 8s for the paso. 

While watching I kept feeling that the music & the dance weren't connected. Odd feeling but that is the best I have. 

Mira was much better and she didn't get one 8. 

[realdancemom]

The Len tribute was lovely. It was like they were skating across ice and the top view reminded me of synchronized swimming. Bruno had me crying at the end and it got worse when everybody else joined. I love all the comments that the pros shared before the dance too. A 10 from Len really does mean something and you had to earn that score.

Harry should have left. He showed some improvement last week. This week, he was just stomping and was basically a fork lift. 

This was Mira's best dance. Not sure if it was a good idea to have her daughter in the dance. In one way, it was nice to pay a tribute to Romy and Michele. It was also touching to have her daughter in it but also have the comedic parts of the dance that was in the movie. Unfortunately, while Mira has nice lines in comparison to some other celebrities, her daughter is a lot better and it showed in this dance. I think the judges could have scored her at least one point higher but she was first and they always low ball the first dance.

Barry was overscored. It is distracting to see Peta yelling and guiding Barry. However, she has to do that because otherwise, I think Barry would be lost. If either Barry or Alyson left tonight, at least, they would have left on a high note for them vs. if either one left last week. Alyson's dance this week was by far her best one yet.

Glad Jason is back!! He and Xochitl are my favorites. Their dances are technical but they bring joy on the dance floor too.

Too much messing about with the jungle gym in Charity's dance. I do think she brought more emotion though which sad contemporaries tend to do. She didn't dance like a pageant queen. I thought she would have better feet since I thought she had some dance training. I could be wrong about that.

[Quickbeam]

7 hours ago, boyznkatz said:

The most interesting things to me are like when Gabby talked about being a nurse during the pandemic. 

Ooh, I didn’t know who that was since I couldn’t watch last year. That’s a terrific story. Nursing was brutal that last few years. 

[chicagofan]

22 hours ago, chicagofan said:

FYI - you'll be able to see Mira tomorrow night on Celebrity Jeopardy.

Mira won the game tonight and moves on to the semifinals.

[marykat71702]

Sasha-"Not that face!" 🤣

I finally realized who Mauricio reminds he of-Sylvester Stallone

The tribute to Len was so sweet. I wish they would do an entire special episode just dedicated to that alone.

Are we done with contemporaries now?

I'm super happy that Barry had his breakthrough dance, I thought it was great!

I don't know why, but Xochitl's dance fell flat for me this week. 

Alyson is improving so much, I now hope she sticks around for a while-she is becoming the embodiment of what this show was originally about.

I loved Jason's Quickstep

Harry and Mira were my bottom two, but I still think Harry should have been gone this week. Hopefully he will be next week and not start knocking out other people that are much better than he is.

Charity, Ariana, and Lele are all good dancers, but I just don't really feel anything about them one way or the other.

 

 

[marykat71702]

On 10/24/2023 at 8:55 PM, MerBearHou said:

Cheryl — I don’t know why on that one.

From what I understand and have been seeing articles about(before the Len tribute discussions), she has been bashing the show pretty bad on her podcast. So has Sharna, apparently.

[Trekky]

On 10/25/2023 at 12:12 PM, LexieLily said:

I knew it, of course, but I didn't really comprehend until now that the majority of the pros - Derek, Mark, Julianne, Maks, Tony, etc. - had known Len from the competition circuit since they were kids!

Len's tribute felt very much like being part of a family. I was crying too. And when I saw the Pros cry, I only cried harder. Then I re-watched that part and cried some more. 

[boyznkatz]

Harry seems nice enough, but he hasn't improved at all. They really should have given him Daniella as a partner. She would have taught him some basic steps, at least. She made Nelly, Iman and Joseph Baena look decent, and they were probably as bad as Harry when they started.