Is he a judge this time around? I'm trying to stay away from ANTM...

He's replacing Miss Jay and you know that shit is about to start getting amazing! I would pay folding money to see Fivehead and the gay giant that made her famous try to share diva space. So, so good. I haven't been a regular ANTM watcher since the season when Jaslene won, but I will be back for ALT. Oh, yes.

ALT grew up in Durham, NC, raised by his grandmother who was a housekeeper at Duke. He buried her in a Chanel suit. His autobiography about it is fascinating, and manages to completely elide the question of his sexuality.

there is no question about his sexuality.

Did that start already? Did I miss it?

Not yet, Perkins.

Andre Leon Talley in a turban and a caftan. That is all.

I FORGOT!!!

ABDC: Yeah, Gaga week was a little weak. Bluprint Crew rocked it (dude, the bit where it looked like they picked her up by the throat? Crazy. And creepy. And very athletic, but definitely weird in a gaga way, which the other crews missed, I feel.), but they were pretty much it.
 
So I was talking to my band leader and he was swinging a guitar cable like a jump rope. I was all, "do you watch America`s Best Dance Crew...no, I`m sure you don`t..." And he was all, "Saltare!" Hee. So it turns out he did show choir and all and loves dance. Must remember to ask him if he watches Glee. Anyway, in general, I don`t think any crew is going to live up to Jabbawockees. But I still watch and enjoy the show.

ABDC: I'm dreading this week, because Mario's chipper preview was that they're going to be doing disco or some such, and whenever they do stunt trips to the past like that it usually trips the crews up really, really badly. And this week 2 of them will be voted off as it is.

I love Saltare, but when a crew comes on with a gimmick (like Saltare, or the guys on skates, or the cloggers) are they required to use that particular skill every single week?

On ABDC, I don't think the trick crews are required to use their gimmick every week, but I don't see how they could not, no? I mean, the non-jump rope parts of Saltare's routines are definitely the weakest (even though for all that, I think they are better hip hop dancers than both the cloggers and Break Skate and I, in general, heart Saltare a whole lot)

I think this season of ABDC is tons better than last. I'm enjoying Blueprint Crew and Poreotix. I like that crew with the jungle theme, although Gaga week was not their strongest. I'm even OK with Heavy Impact. And there's no crew that I hate as much as I did Afro-borike. Basically, though, I think ABDC shot themselves in the foot by having Jabba in season one. No crew is ever going to be as good as they were. Even Qwest, whom I also loved a lot, weren't as consistently awesome as Jabbawokeez. When the bar is set that high in S1, everything else is bound to be a let down. But overall, I feel like the quality of the crews this season is definitely up a tick from the last few seasons. I'm also enjoying Omarion as Shane's replacement, although being better than Shane is a low bar, right? And JC continues to be one of the best reality show judges going, although not nearly as fashion forward as he once was. I miss those really out there get ups he used to rock. Oh, well. We'll always have L'il Mama.

Oh also, Undercover Boss is excellent reality TV crack. So manipulative and yet soooo satisfying.

Agreed. I even liked the Hooters episode. The fact that it was a family company just cracked me up.

It was something how boggled the guy was that people could possibly think there was an Issue with Hooters.

But I wish they'd be less about the "here's a fabulous vacation or promotion for the overworked peon I happened to encounter" and more about "hey, maybe there's a lot of people in my organization with these issues."

I only really watched the first couple so maybe that's not fair. From the commercials it seems on target.