Warm Glowing Warming Glow

But Can They Make It Work?

Sorry. Tim Gunn rates the Project Runway season five (five?) designers at People.com. Isn't that kind of spoilerish? I feel like it's odd that he is doing that -- and Bravo is apparently OK with it.

Something's Happening on Wednesday! I Forget What It Is!

Remember that show we used to like, about fashion? And then Christian Siriano came along and made us wonder if we were maybe either too good or not good enough for it? And then we heard it was moving to a special network that we for some reason associate with menopause? Yeah, yeah -- Project Runway. Anyhow, it turns out that it's back, already, and Bravo seems kind of conflicted about it. They've been running ads, but not very many of them. Also, is it just me or do the ads seem kind of self-defeating? Paraphrased, they say, "Oh, look. Another season of Project Runway. Probably, it will be just like the previous seasons, with the crying and wackiness. Come join us, won't you? Or . . . better yet, watch this other show that's sort of like it, only with hair and the fifth most famous former Charlie's Angel. It, too, is, um, fierce."

Whatever. I'm planning to watch it, even though it's on Wednesday at 9:00 (earlier!), opposite the second hour of So You Think You Can Dance. I will also be perusing the cast, grace a The New York Observer.

So You Think You Can Dance Shocker

Jessica King has pulled out of So You Think You Can Dance, due to an injury, according to Zap2it. Replacing her will be Comfort Fedoke. Sad for Jessica -- it would have been interesting to see how she would have done, with a different partner -- I'm thinking a Twitch-Jessica pairing would have been exciting. Smart of her to exit now, though, I think, rather than risk more serious injury. She got to the top 10, which means she gets to go on tour, and I'm guessing her days were numbered in the competition -- she had been the judges' whipping boy for weeks. She and Will had landed in the bottom three at least twice. I'm guessing that starting this week, with the switch to voting on an individual basis, she was in pretty serious jeopardy. Happy for Comfort, though -- maybe she can turn things around, with the shake-up in partners?

Bites

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.  OK, when I heard about this book -- high school vampires, star-crossed love, Mormon author -- I pretty much crapped my pants. How could that not be great?

So. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I hated this book. It's too long by about a third. It's oddly fussy in its details -- long passages about seatbelts and driftwood -- while surprisingly flat in characterization. Meyer also seems to take a pass when it comes to describing the few big action sequences (a car crash, a near-rape, a vampire attack) she gives us. Even the gushy romantic stuff that's the center of the book, the stuff you would think -- given Meyer's legion of fans -- is either oddly mechanical or completely glossed over.

Mad Women

Here's a pretty good, pretty slim article about the women of Mad Men. July 27!

So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 Couples

Mark/Chelcie. Routine 1/Latin. Another half-dress. You know Nigel is going to say something revolting -- and he does. Routine 2/Broadway. Meh. This story didn't really speak to me. Again, Nigel has to take it there with Chelcie's costume. Mark's phone number clowning makes it really hard to like him.

Thayne/Comfort. Routine 1/Hip Hop. Oh crap. It's over for Comfort, I think. I still feel that she's a good dancer, but the judges don't like her, I tell you what. They're right to pick on her lack of chemistry with Thayne, I guess, but whose fault is that? Routine 2/Contemporary. Nice George Michael song. The lack of chemistry between Thayne and Comfort was really a problem here -- dancing was just a little sloppy, but mostly they couldn't sell the story.

Will/Jessica. Routine 1/Contemporary. This really is naked week here on So You Think You Can Dance, isn't it? That looked really difficult to dance, especially all the silent parts. Routine 2/Quick Step. Does anyone like this? Apparently, no one (except Mary, assumedly) likes to dance this, and I can't imagine anyone really likes to watch it. And this one was to that fucking Barry Manilow "Bandstand" song that made me want to die. This was so corny and fake.

Gev/Courtney. Routine 1/Cha Cha. There is no doubt in my mind now that these two are doing it. This was interesting because it seemed to do for Gev what Doriana Sanchez was trying to do for Jessica a few weeks ago -- he really had a chance to shine. Routine 2/Jazz. I did not expect to like this. Those hats? The map? But Jesus! The hip moves and the handstand and all of it. Maybe the best of the night.

Twitch/Kherington. Routine 1/Krump. I sort of missed the early, good part of this and only saw the final, shitty part. Too bad. Routine 2/Smooth Tango. Good, a little anti-climactic. Did Twitch and Kherington oversell this during the introductory segment?

Joshua/Katee. Routine 1/waltz. Huh -- a Goo Goo Dolls revival? This number seemed to be at half-speed and Joshua's footwork kind of sucked. That last lift -- "the snake?" -- was great, though. Routine 2/Bollywood. I was way too excited for this routine: I loved the idea of it and this was probably the best couple to assign it to (um, maybe Will and Jessica would have been as good, or Mark and Chelcie), but somehow . . . It was technically about right, I think, but seemed somehow westernized. Sadly, I lost power right after they finished, and never saw the judges' reaction.

July 27, People

Here's a pretty good Matthew Weiner interview, apparently the first of a series:

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/07/mad-men-calvaca.html

This made me appreciate Mad Men's first season a lot more. No need to worry -- no spoilers.

Today in 90210 Vampires

No, no updates on Shannen Doherty . . . Two other actors have joined the cast of 90210, though: Meghan Markle, apparently best known as #24 on NBC's Suitcase Or No Suitcase (er, Deal of No Deal), and Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett in Catherine Hardwicke's upcoming adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (which I am reading right now).

Here's the story.

A Lap Around the Steno Pool

Dear Jenny,

Did you know that Mad Men is On Demand? I have watched 11 episodes over the last day and a half. I should be ready when the second season premieres later this month. Will you?!

What do you think? I'm still deciding. Yes, I think it's that good. It's not always the most interesting or exciting thing I've seen, but it always looks and sounds great. Some of the early episodes maybe lingered a little too much, almost pornographically, over the period details. I get it, I love that stuff, too, but let's get going already.

I don't know how I feel about the gender stuff. Obviously, the misogyny we're seeing is kind of the point, but are we seeing much further into the emotions and aspirations of the men than we are into those of the women?

I feel like each of the major female characters is a cypher, to a certain extent. I've loved Elisabeth Moss for a long time -- remember her on Invasion? -- but here I'm not getting enough. We're starting to experience more of Peggy's internal life now, though, and maybe her blankness if kind of a point. Every once in a while, we get a flash of something new and exciting from Betty -- such as the pigeon-shooting incident -- but I feel like so far she's either a cliche or somehow stolen from The Wapshot Chronicle. For me, the stand-out is Joan. I think the writers like her, too -- she gets all the best lines.

There are no words for the amazingness of Jon Hamm.

Love,

-- Pete

So You Think You Can Dance Top 7 Couples

This week was so much better than last week, in terms of entertainment -- each couple performed two routines, which meant almost no filler. In terms of dancing, this was maybe a little less strong. It seemed like most of the couples weren't quite up to learning two entire routines (in addition to whatever group number they'll do to open tomorrow night's episode, plus the solo "Dance for Your Life" routine six of them will need to perform).

I am still finding this format tough, though. It's hard to watch 14 of these in a single night and then try to remember and talk about them afterwards. Fortunately, I watched with our friend A., who had some vivid remarks.

Will/Jessica. Wow -- I can't remember both of their numbers. There was the shirtless one, grace a Mandy Moore. That one was good, but showed up Jessica's limitations (per usual).

Thayne/Comfort. Thayne is so much more bearable paired with Comfort. I know -- a lot of that has to be my pro-Comfort bias, but also, he seems to be toning down the overblown, fakey smiling. I thought the judges were unnecessarily harsh on the first routine; the second one they liked for some reason, although I found it boring.

Matt/Kourtni. I think these kids are done. They keep landing in the bottom three, plus the judges seem to have had it with Matt, particularly his "flappy" (per A.) hands.

Mark/Chelsie. Hated the first routine (which the judges loved), but liked the second one, even with the awful, ill-fitting dress. A.: "That girl is what? 12 years old?"

Twitch/Kherington. Twitch was pretty shirtless throughout. Both of these struck us as pretty gimicky. The second one (no surprise -- it was Mia Michaels's), at least, was emotionally compelling.

Joshua/Katee. The first one was unbelievable. I thought the second one completely sucked -- it got better, but still . . . The costumes were gross, too.

Gev/Courtney. Both of these were pretty fun, but Gev seemed a little overmatched -- is that the correct term? He was having to work too hard to keep up with Courtney on the first one, then on the second one, he seemed always a step ahead.