TV Verdict

I don’t know what is up with the voting on this season of Dancing with the Stars but the people with the higher scores keep ending up in the bottom! Maybe it’s because the scores are all so close and middle of the road, or maybe it’s the fact that people are going full force for the underdogs, but last night they got it wrong.

Debi Mazar was eliminated last night on Dancing with the Stars over Tom Delay and Michael Irvin. Even stranger, Joanna and Aaron both ended up in the bottom four, unless ABC is playing with us and the “in jeopardy” couples weren’t really the ones with the lowest totals until they got down to the last two. Debi wasn’t the best dancer in the bunch, but she was better than Tom and Michael for sure.

Ironically, Tom Delay, after being saved by the voters, left the show anyway due to injury. I guess it was only fair to still send the bottom person home, but I’m not happy about it.

Next week the celebs and the pros take on four dances never seen on the show and I’m excited about that. It’s the Texas Two-Step, the Lambada, The Charleston and the Bolero. Sounds like fun.

Not exactly fun but very entertaining is the new ABC show The Forgotten which follows the Dancing with the Stars results show. Last night, the team was charged with finding the identify of Football John. Walter let his enthusiasm get the best of him and broke into the apartment of the victim (obviously after they id’ed the man). He found evidence but also compromised the case. I suppose for this show to work, the people are going to have to cross the line now and again, but I hate to see this becoming a running plot point. They screw up, detective gets mad, case gets solved, detective is happy. Yuck.

What I like about the show is the very basic nature of detective work. I love the way they put together the puzzle pieces to build a big picture. In this case, they discovered a variety of old injuries on the John Doe’s X-rays. This led them to someone who gets injured on the job or in a sport – a boxing expert ruled out that sport because the man didn’t have a broken nose (what fighter doesn’t have a broken nose at some point? It’s like a hockey player with all his teeth) and that led them to a chiropractor who recognized the injuries as being typical of a football player. It’s boring, tedious work, but some how this show makes it enjoyable to watch. I’m not a huge Christian Slater fan, but I like him here. I also love Tyler, the med-school drop out with a talent for art and Candace, played by Michelle Borth, whom I first saw playing Dean Winchester’s alternate universe lover on Supernatural.

Unfortunately, the show isn’t doing very well in the ratings. Come on people, spread the word.

Dancing with the Stars: (ABC/ADAM LARKEY) DEBI MAZAR, MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY

The Forgotten: (ABC/ADAM LARKEY) ANTHONY CARRIGAN, MICHELLE BORTH, ROCHELLE AYTES