Agree with Donna that LXD started off a little slow, but geez those guys doing flips, landing on one foot and taking off again from the same foot was incredible.

Mandy Moore Loves the 80s!
Every time her face pops up in the package, my brain starts throwing up (heh) possibilities for which cheezerific song it's going to be this time. I thought she'd reached the apotheosis with Roxette a season or two ago and then, SHAZAM, Total Eclipse of the Motherfucking Heart. Oh Mandy, you…

I watched their dance twice in a row and kept the impression that it was under-rehearsed with a lack of trust between them. It just seemed hesitant to me, not at all showing the kind of abandon I was expecting. And it was them, not the choreo. I look fwd to the inevitable re-dance as a season favorite on the finale.

Emperor Jim, think of how little kids often want to watch the same movie/show or have the same book read to them over and over. There's actually a body of research that shows the effectiveness of repetition with kids. It works, and they love it.

DB, we need details. I just figured he was busy this season, but a permanent break is a huge loss. He's my favorite choreographer and I'm going to have sad dreams now.

Well that seems about right
Barring some sort of revelatory improvement, the bottom four tonight should all going home before the finale. The order in which they do matters little to me.

Doc would you please teach a seminar when the inevitable AV Club convention occurs in Chicago in 20somethingteen? My feet are itching to learn latin ballroom. Surely I can find a beginner class for adults when I move to NYC no?

Sections of Tadd & Comfort stuck out as off to me, so I rewatched it a couple times. Comfort clearly forgot the choreography in one part and was off-beat multiple times. Tadd very much out-danced her though I couldn't tell if the choreography gave out or he did with that floor work he ended on.

Henderson indeed. I'm not a superfan of the podcast, but it's fun and the Sklars are charming. I've yet to try out the Henderson call in public. Maybe right before I get thrown out of the US Senate chambers?

Very glad to see Brandon, he won't have any trouble flinging the other dancers (ladies and gentleman) around and hopefully will school the boys in machismo. I showed his paso doble with Jeanine to a friend unfamiliar with the show and she was pleasantly surprised at the contrast of his manner during the dance with his…

Unger himself told this story on the Sklarbro Country podcast. He felt he had to leave after the way it shook out (not so much Stewart getting it as the "Hey you're our guy…Meet the new host!")

Here, here. Anna Deavere Smith showing up on TWW in such a pivotal (for her position, not the character so much) role was a welcome surprise. If you're not familiar with Smith's amazing body of work, do yourself a favor and watch Twilight: Los Angeles or Fires in the Mirror. She was a pioneer of…

The helicopter line has got to be a reference to his own terror when they were filming a helicopter scene for what an ep that will air later this season.

Very good points Doc Brown, I feel the same way if I've had a rough day at work running my ass off whether the patient made it or not. You just can't take that home with you or you'll burn out pretty quick. Some people can compartmentalize or quickly resolve their grief, some can't. The one's who can't sometimes think…

Travis has a show
About he and his roommates/friends/fellow dancers (including Nick, SYTYCD Season 1 winner). It's being shopped around.

Speaking of Travis
Here's a revealing interview with him in which he speaks about what led him to choreography, pitching a reality show, and the challenge of being a gay man (with a boyfriend at the time) competing on SYTYCD.

Nice comment FuriousGeorge. When I was younger and closeted with ignorant ideas of what it meant to be gay, knowing that Bob Mould was gay too was much more of a comfort to me than knowing the same about say Elton John or Neil Tennant or Freddie Mercury. Because he was Bob fucking Mould. Thankfully we've all grown up.

How about a choreographer thread?
Jean-Marc (where was France?) frequently says silly things, but this was his most difficult cha-cha? Frankly I can't remember if he's ever specifically done a cha-cha before, but leaving aside the execution (Wadi, oof) it was not all that exciting. As for the Viennese waltz, I'm…

Lots of partner problems tonight, largely from the guys. Wadi is just awkward, Tookey seemed to have it in for Jess with the sheer number of lifts he wasn't able to manage, Alex paled behind Sasha, Iveta appeared lost, etc.

Debbie was cute, clearly she wasn't going to offer any serious critique and can always be counted on for being an entertaining ham. Glad they put her in context for the young audience.