The Stars Go 'Dancing' and 'Earl' does Fast Food!

It was a strange Thursday night. The usual fare was either on a seriously long break (see Alias and Everwood, both of which will return in March) or caught in reruns after only one new episode last week (why CBS? Why?). This left room on my crowded Thursday night schedule for Dancing with the Stars and My Name is Earl. I had caught bits and pieces of the former last week during its premiere, so last night was the first time I saw some of the celebrity dancers. Overall, I thought most of them were pretty good, but I'm certainly no expert. Wrestler Stacy Keibler and her partner Tony Dovolani were the stand-out couple of the night and were rewarded as such with two perfect 10s and an almost perfect 9. Stacy has such grace and fluidity that I can't imagine her not going to the final two, at least. I did a little research on Ms. Keibler, and it seems that prior to wrestling, she trained in ballet, tap and jazz. She was also a Baltimore Ravens cheerleader, so it isn't all that surprising to see her lighting up the dance floor. Here's the question of the evening, who is Giselle Fernandez? When she and her partner came out, I wasn't sure which was the celebrity and which was the professional dancer, which I guess is a compliment to Giselle's dancing abilities. Whoever she is, she's incredibly flexible! Did you see her dance-ending split? Okay so after a little research, I've discovered that Giselle is a journalist who has won 5 Emmy Awards. As much as I would like to criticize Master P's performance, I won't because the guy deserves some props for coming on the show and filling in for his injured son Lil Romeo. The man is definitely better built for basketball, but he is improving, so he gets points for that as well. Who do you think has the talent to go all the way? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

My Name is Earl is funny much in the same tradition as Scrubs, Arrested Development and Everybody Hates Chris, which makes me wonder why this show gets so much buzz and the others do not. Out of the aforementioned list, I find Earl to be the least funny and yet, it gets the most critical and media attention. Don't get me wrong, Earl is lots of fun and definitely deserves its place as one of the best comedies on television, and last night's episode further confirmed it. Earl's stint as a fast food worker was great. I love Joy because she is a walking parody of all the misconceptions people have about women like her. I've read the complaints that this show furthers stereotypes about people from the South, but I think the complainers are missing the mark. The show seems to be mocking the people who believe these misconceptions, that's why it's so outrageous and over-the-top. Joy embodies this more than any other character on this show. I just loved when she drove up to the drive-thru and there was Earl working the register! The scene that followed was classic as Joy tried to get Earl to "hook them up" with free food. That mustache net was hysterical! The funniest, laugh out loud moment of the episode, though, came when Earl and Randy returned the wallet, and the man's totally-too-tan wife emerged from the tanning bed. Randy's frightened "what is it Earl?" had me cracking up. This was only the second episode of this show that I have seen (the other being the Christmas episode), and I must say that both were very well done, kind of like the tanning bed woman last night.

About Last Night... ABC captured the first hour of the night with Dancing with the Stars, followed by a CSI repeat on CBS and NBC comedies Will & Grace and Four Kings. At 9, CBS took over with another repeat of CSI, followed by ABC's last half hour of Dancing with the Stars and Crumbs. NBC comedies My Name is Earl and The Office combined for third. The final hour of the night went to NBC's ER, followed by CBS's Without a Trace (r) and ABC's Primetime. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.

~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - We find out who gets the boot on the special 1 Hour edition of the Dancing with the Stars results show on ABC.

@9 p.m. - Annabeth works to tie a suspect to a crime after the judge throws out his statements on CBS's Close to Home. Over on ABC, the sister of a high school senior convicted of murdering a college girl eight years ago asks the National Justice Project to take up his case on ABC's In Justice.

@10 p.m. - USA kicks off the 4th season winter premiere of its hit show Monk. Over on CBS, the team uncovers an elaborate card counting scheme on Numb3rs.

SUNDAY EDITION
@8 p.m. - Lilly reopens the 1994 case of a teenager whose death was originally ruled a suicide on CBS's Cold Case. Over on Fox it's the first two hours of the four-hour season premiere of 24. The second half will air Monday night.

@9 p.m. - Susan meets an attractive doctor and Bree gets arrested on ABC's Desperate Housewives. Over on NBC, Law & Order: Criminal Intent celebrates its 100th episode with an episode featuring original characters Goren and Eames as they track a master murderer and his gang.

@10 p.m. - Macy's downward spiral continues as he is pulled over for a D.U.I and his integrity begins to be questioned on NBC's Crossing Jordan. Over on ABC, Grey's Anatomy returns and Izzie is charmed by a patient who needs a heart transplant.


QUICK CUTS

*In a move that doesn't sound too promising, ABC is preempting new comedy Emily's Reasons Why Not along with returning comedy Jake in Progress this Monday for an encore of last week's Bachelor: Paris premiere. Both shows would have faced fierce competition from NBC's broadcast of The Golden Globes. Emily opened in fourth place last week with only 6.23 million viewers, but Jake fared even worse with only 5.58 million viewers. Both Wife Swap and The Bachelor: Paris will air new episodes in their respective timeslots. Both Emily and Jake are expected to return January 23rd.

*And finally, Fox will air a special two-hour (four episode) season finale of Arrested Development on February 10th. The network is not saying whether the ratings-troubled comedy will return for another season or not, but both ABC and Showtime have expressed interest in picking it up. The season finale will feature star Jason Bateman's real-life sister Justine Bateman as a woman who may be Michael's (Jason Bateman) half sister.

That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for Cold Case (I'm thinking grunge-rock for the soundtrack, it just sounds that way from the year and topic), Desperate Housewives (Bree in horizontal prison stripes??), and a special Golden Globes preview. Plus all the latest television news!


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