The camera work is dependent on many people, but really it's in the hands of the director Nikki Parsons as she, not the camera people, determines the shot choices. And then I'm sure the producers weigh in that they want those close or at least medium shots so that faces can be seen clearly.

I take your point Seffina, but think about those winners. Just two examples. Russell was called a krumper, but he clearly had trained in a variety of disciplines. And Lauren was damn fine at ballroom and hip-hop. What they're called and what they can do are not necessarily the same thing. The producers and judges put…

That strings version of "Yellow" is by Vitamin String Quartet and played behind LXD (that huge hip-hop dance group Lil C is part of) the first time they were featured on SYTYCD.

And this is why dancers without some general training or at least a real talent for immediately picking up choreography should never get put straight through to Vegas. Just that would have cut down significantly on the Vegas glut.

I was quite disappointed to see Naomi go home. Despite her *relative* abrasiveness, she seemed to get into the spirit of Top Chef far more than the other contestants. Yay for youthful fire and ambition. I would absolutely eat in her restaurant. Of the others, I can only for sure say I'd eat at Mary Sue's, and that's…

Hip-Hop choreo
With the seemingly strong hip-hop contenders going into this season, I sincerely hope they inspire the choreographers. Last season was a huge improvement over previous ones (NapTab certainly turned it around).

And that dude looks way younger than 30. I discounted him with all that woooing, but he was pretty great. Apparently there's been judge quotes on how great the hip-hop dancers are this season. I wonder if that carries to the 20 or if they were great in hip-hop and not so much in, say ballroom.

Mark Kanemura
I suppose he's not coming back for the All-Stars due to his Lady Gaga commitment. Fast-forwarded through the Gaga HBO special mostly to see the dancing. Talented dancers all and Mark still stands out in their company, but man Laurianne Gibson's choreography is silly/insipid. Rather glad she hasn't been…

I'll miss Genevieve (we'll expect you in the comments), but welcome Oliver. Now we just have to get through the glurge and awfulness parade that is the auditions.

Let us give praise to Emily Spivey, writer of this episode. The P&R and Community writers' rooms put the lie to that old "women aren't funny" canard.

People can be impressed by whatever they like. Holofcener has directed for TV (and HBO, because it's not TV) before and surely will again, and still I concur that it's nice to see P&R draw quality directors.

On the limit to one person doing Roadblocks, for the first several seasons there was no rule. This was changed to an even distribution rule (I forget the team that inspired this but there was an instance of one person doing all Roadblocks but one or two). Apparently the rule is still in place though they don't seem to…

Oh AV Clubbers, I do so love your gentle, hilarious rebukes to haters.

Wasn't it a little strange that John's boyfriend got dropped somewhere along the way without that feeding the addiction storyline? Surely his bf leaving him over the pills would have been a stronger scene than collapsing in the desert and scrounging for pills on the ground, again.

I was wary of how the "thank you" was going to play out as the show has gone schmaltzy with the way they've overplayed elements set up in the first act. Turns out they went with a much subtler resolution, and one where Ben can't collect on the pool.

It was a great scene until that damn Wilhelm Scream when the suspect fell. I used to do post-production audio and found it clever when editors snuck in the Wilhelm, especially when it punctuated a comedic scene. Now, it's overused, intrusive, and completely takes me out of the scene. Grrr.

IIRC, disability laws say that employers must make reasonable accommodations, but that doesn't really apply if he denies his alleged condition (and speaking as healthcare pro who worked in a psych hospital, it seems somethings going on beyond admitted heavy drug use).

Sorry, that "his" should be reflexive. I didn't even consider my wording could imply that (wikipedia check) Christopher Hewett sat on Rob Stone's balls. Also, Mr. Belvedere ran for *five years* and featured Special Episodes about Scoutmaster molestation and an HIV-infected kid. Then he (Mr. B, not the kid) married and…

My immediate thought was that this was an obscure reference to a story Doug Benson told on his Doug Loves Movies podcast. Long ago, Doug was roommates with the guy who played the eldest son on Mr. Belvedere. One time this guy comes home early from taping because Mr. B sat on his balls, an injury which ended the day's…

Wonderful. We need a place to hash it all out. Scott, endeavor to live up to the high standards of the best TV Club writers and write past basic ep summaries. Not telling you how to do your job, but I dearly miss the hilarious and thoughtful recaps that Miss Alli did for TWOP (before the awful takeover) back in the…