'So You Think You Can Dance' chat

'Project Runway': Stitching and little that's bewitching

It must be getting hard for the producers of "Project Runway" to come up with new challenges because two of the last three have been recycled. Like in Season Two, the designers last night were given cameras and set loose upon New York to capture an image of the city and transform it into an evening look. While the designs seemed stronger than in the last few episodes, it feels like the judges are forced to overlook some hot messes simply in the interest of moving the show along. I can't believe that Jerell Scott escaped scrutiny for his over-long, olive green asymmetrical cha-cha dress, and that Blayne Walsh escaped all scrutiny for a dress that seemed like a variation on the same theme as Emily's Brandle's losing dress.

'So You Think You Can Dance': Whose game is it anyway? (Answer: anyone's)

I was certain last night would be the preamble to Courtney Galiano and Mark Kanemura's farewell, as I had them pegged as the next couple to be voted off "So You Think You Can Dance," but who knew?  They made a great pair and helped create a highly entertaining Wednesday night installment that proved that this show is still anybody's game. It also helped that the show was a streamlined one hour, as opposed to its usual two-hour length.  Let's break it down:

Mark and Courtney: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed their Viennese Waltz. There was something about them, the routine, the music (yes, yes, we get it, David Cook, "American Idol"), even the clothes made the dance seem very contemporary.  And they made a good-looking pair. I was surprised that the judges liked it as much as I did.  Later they performed a jazz dance by Sonya Tayeh. I couldn't quite understand the story she was trying to tell, but I dig any dance in which Mark gets to lurch around and do his crazy-eyes thing. It was a good night for the two of them (although I still never really get what Mark's up to in his solos).

Destination ‘So You Think You Can Dance’: The best episode of the season. Period.

Well folks, the numbers are in and it’s official: Tonight’s episode of “So You Think You Can Dance” was the most exhilarating and engrossing of the season. Here are the reasons why.

A respectable omission

Paula Abdul was in the audience, and yet they didn’t even subject us to the video for “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” Add 10 points.

Cat’s a giver. (Add five points)

Flawless humanoid Cat Deeley knows it can’t be easy to sit in the audience and gaze on her perpetual perfection week after week.

That’s why this week, Cat was kind enough to don a gown that looked like it was designed by the Lauren Conrad collection. Thanks, girl!

You can never be too rich or too thin

This week, the usual two hours of performances were mercifully trimmed down to one.

And one hour was plenty! The show was thinner, time-wise, but content-wise, it was richer than ever. Tonight’s show wins five points for brevity.

The costumers hit a home run

I knew they had it in ‘em! This week, during Courtney Galiano and Mark Kanemura’s waltz, Court was outfitted in a creamy, gorgeous, silky gown.  And there was nary a sequin in sight! Plus five points for learning restraint!

Correction

It turns out, the spare beauty of Courtney Galiano’s dress did not actually result from a moment of uncharacteristic restraint on the part of the costumer.  The seamstress was just saving all the fringe, sequins and fluorescent-green fabric for the costume Chelsie Hightower wore in her solo. Minus four for tricking us.

'America's Best Dance Crew': Spotlight on DJ Rashida

Getting the bad taste out of our mouths over last week's Supreme Soul elimination, we decided to talk to DJ Rashida, the woman who spins the tracks to get the crowd hyped on the show. During Missy Elliott or Janet Jackson night, she bumps their music.  Maybe during '80s night next week she'll bring back some Wham! and New Edition.

When some in music yell out "worldwide!," they know they've barely made it out of the state, let alone the country (and Tijuana doesn't count).  But DJ Rashida, having just returned from a gig in Oslo (Norway, kids) when we talked to her, personifies the moniker. London, Tokyo, Geneva, Paris ... she's been to, and deejayed at, many of the world's hotspots while displaying an eclectic mix of hip-hop, Brazilian, house, old school and whatever musical inclination hits her.

We'd love to go record shopping with her, but by now they probably come to her. She's spun for Prince, Kanye, Jay-Z and more, but "America's Best Dance Crew" is definitely one of her homes.  Sorry, vid's a little dark backstage.

OK, and back to last week ... Lil Mama had some words for the voters ("Dance Crew" and presidential)and the elimination of Supreme Soul.

-- Jevon Phillips

'Heroes': 'The Second Coming' is here (SPOILERS)

So, sitting at Comic-Con, watching the "Heroes" panel, the excitement came back.  Anticipating the next season, the next episode, the speculation, the (I hope) twists and the powers.

Full disclosure, I didn't mind last season overall. It's no secret that the first six episodes were really slow in unfolding, but I thought the last five or so were building pretty well. The strike hurt. Many of the viewers had left but could've been drawn back. The writers-producers didn't get the chance to straighten it all out. But with their villain-themed upcoming season, the 'it' that made "Heroes" a hit -- no, not the 'save the cheerleader' tagline -- seems to be returning in its two-hour premiere, airing Sept. 22.

A soap opera (I know, you hate to hear it called that), comic-book type of 'need to see the next one' atmosphere surrounded the screening before and after its Comic-Con presentation. "The Second Coming" was both the name of the episode and a hopeful path for the show. Conflict is the name of the game, and last season lacked a lot of it.  The direction that this took, especially Sylar's first act, puts this on a conflict collision, adding lots of characters, lots of powers and lots to look forward to.

Robert Lloyd Review-O-Rama: 'Campaign,' 'Two Fat Ladies'

“Campaign” (KCET, 10 tonight). After “Election Day,” this look at a city council race in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, is the second electorally themed “P.O.V.” presentation to air in a month. The propinquity of our current presidential death match may have something to do with this, but the subject holds an honored place in the history of documentary filmmaking: The 1960 “Primary,” in which John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey compete for the Democratic nomination in Wisconsin, was practically ground zero for “direct cinema” (American “cinema verité” in loose terms); Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles and D.A. Pennebaker all worked on it. Fundamentally a comedy, though a bit of black one, “Campaign” follows the fortunes of party-picked candidate Kazuhiko Yamauchi, a 40-year-old coin and stamp dealer with no perceptible political ideas but a vague ambition to be prime minister, the way one might want to be a movie star or a famous novelist without ever learning to act or wanting to write. Shot over a frenzied 12 days, which seem to encompass the entirety of the highly ritualized campaign, it has the makings of a Preston Sturges, Frank Tashlin or Billy Wilder movie -- though as a leading man Yamauchi is not quite as lovable or redeemable a schnook as Eddie Bracken or Jerry Lewis or Jack Lemmon would have been. Criticized both from above and below for his bowing, his handshake, his eye contact, his very substance, it's only with his skeptical wife -- a modern woman who is advised to refer to herself not as a “wife” but a “housewife” -- or his old university friends that Yamauchi becomes remotely a person. (Director Kazuhiro Soda was also a school friend.) It is, of course, only a partial look at the process, and some of it looks funny just for being, you know, foreign -- but it takes no stretch of the imagination to see how mad our own elections might look from abroad or from here.

"Two Fat Ladies" (on DVD) after the jump:

'Mad Men': Ratings for Season 2 premiere through the roof

"Mad Men" scored record ratings in its second-season premiere.

The AMC drama drew nearly 2 million viewers, more than double last season's average (915,000) and, in an even bigger coup, tripled its average of adults 18-49. The episode also posted impressive gains from its lead-in (an airing of "Jerry Maguire," which netted 1.1 million).

The show, a drama about 1960s-era Madison Avenue, made Emmy history earlier this month, picking up one of basic cable's first-ever outstanding drama series nominations (the other went to FX's "Damages") and 16 nods overall, the most for any drama series this year.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: "Mad Men" creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner, second from right, poses with cast members, from left, January Jones, Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Weiner and John Slattery at the Season Two premiere of the AMC television series in Los Angeles this month. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

'Mad Men': For those who think young

When "Mad Men" left us after what seemed a very fast 13-episode first season, change was in the air. Kennedy defeated Nixon. Don Draper discovered his brother had committed suicide instead of embracing Don's generous "here's $5,000; never contact me again" offer, and then, in the throes of nostalgia, Don nailed the Kodak pitch. Peggy Olson, recently promoted to junior copywriter, discovered that the movement in her gradually expanding belly wasn't just a bad sandwich after all. Betty Draper sought solace from 9-year-old Glenn in the bank parking lot and admitted to her shrink that reams of data all but guaranteed that Don was unfaithful. Pete Campbell, fresh off his failed attempt at blackmailing Don, was issued an edict by his jovially invasive in-laws to "tend your own garden," by which they meant "knock Trudy up already." Roger Sterling had a heart attack and turned a whiter shade of pale.

And us? We just had to sit there and endure the hiatus. We'd met a show that we liked, and there weren't four additional seasons we could order up on Netflix and watch in one lost weekend. The media, in a similar bind, could only profile Matthew Weiner, the show's creator, repeatedly and admiringly, and speculate about season two. And we can only assume that HBO kicked itself daily.

At last, season two is upon us. Could the Weiner and his team sustain the tension of the show after the novelty of the stylish set and costume designs wore off? It's too soon to say for sure -- episode one served mainly to get the cogs back into motion -- but early signs and key narrative choices suggest that they will.

Destination ‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Will Wingfield, the morning after

During a conference call with the media today, recently eliminated “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant Will Wingfield opened up about his path as a dancer.  When asked why he got serious about dance, Will replied, “I think just wanting to be better at it, ya know. Wanting to be the guy that all the girls were talking about and the one that was winning all the medals at the competitions. I wanted to be awesome at it. I didn’t want to just do it for play anymore.”

Will answered questions thoughtfully over the course of the call, but it was clear that talking to us was the last thing he wanted to be doing.  And who could blame him?  “Of course, when you learn something like that on national television it’s a lot to take in,” reflected Will, “but I’m so happy for Twitch that he gets to stay another week and show America what he’s got.”

Will said that when things got tough on the show, he turned to his mentor Steve Brown for words of wisdom. “[Steve Brown] always had the right words,” explained Will, “no matter what was going on.”  Will was also careful to thank his fans for their “love and support,” pointing out that “it does not go unappreciated.”

As for Will’s much buzzed about James Brown solo dance, Will said it was a last minute decision. The song that Will wanted to dance to did not get cleared, so he was forced to choose from a list of pre-cleared songs. “When I saw the song on the list I was like, ‘James Brown, okay … everybody knows it and everybody wants to move to it. …I don’t want to stress about another freakin’ solo’ … one thing led to another.” The costume was even more last-minute.  Will sent his mother and girlfriend out to grab a wig for him right before the show began.

-- Stephanie Lysaght