Monday, August 29, 2011

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies

Can I confess something?

When a recipe calls for peanut butter, I've gotten into the habit of just estimating by sight the right amount. Because I hate cleaning measuring cups that have peanut butter all up in there. It's annoying, right? No one likes to clean peanut butter off things. It's sticky. It sticks.

So with these brownies...

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies by freshfromthe.com

I think I over-estimated the peanut butter and under-estimated the Nutella. Because you can definitely taste that slight hint of peanut butter, but the Nutella gets virtually lost in the mix. Or maybe I just have a tongue that likes the taste of peanut butter more, thereby picking it up more.

Or not. Because Nutella already has chocolate in it, so it's not a surprise that its flavor gets easily lost in a chocolate-based dessert. And, you know what else? My eyes may have overestimated the peanut butter because, well, I like peanut butter. And Nutella? I'm only on the fence about. I'm not sure. It's okay. I'm sure this is blasphemous to many a person, but you know what! Whatever. It's not like I need to be obsessed with some other fatty buttery spread. Peanut butter, my lifelong friend, can do that all on its own.

At any rate! These brownies. They're pretty good. I would not hesitate to experiment a little with ratios, though, because they get hard pretty quick. I like a brownie that can hold its own for a few days, rather than just one.

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies by freshfromthe.com

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies
(as taken from Tasty Kitchen member Chrystal)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup nutella

Preheat oven to 350F. Either line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, or just spray it with some non-stick spray.

Measure flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Stir the sugar into the melted butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time until each is combined. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Put the Nutella and the peanut butter in a small, microwave-safe, bowl and microwave 30 seconds. Stir it around and get it all mixed together, then fold into the brownie mix.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top forms a crust and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Cut, devour, enjoy.

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies by freshfromthe.com

I forgot to take pictures of the step-by-step stuff. "Forgot," as it really was just night, and therefore dark, and therefore devoid of natural light, and therefore hard to get good photographs. And night cravings for brownies just won't be denied, blog be damned.

Peanut Butter Nutella Brownies by freshfromthe.com

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Molten Chocolate Cake

Warm gooey chocolate center.

If that doesn't sound good to you, I'm not sure we can be friends.

Molten Chocolate Cake by freshfromthe.com

Here's a pro tip: test your eggs if they could be of questionable good-ness. You really don't want to take a bite into a dessert and go "this tastes weird." For those who don't know how to test your eggs, listen up. It's easy. All you have to do is plop it into a glass of water. If it sinks, it's good. If it floats? Bad. Do not use. If it kind of bobs somewhere in the middle - you can use it, just make sure you use it soon.

See? Easy. There are no excuses for ruining perfectly good things.

Not that I did that. Because I wouldn't do that, would I? That's an amateur mistake, for baking losers!

...

I can only assume it was the eggs. Because otherwise, what could possibly make these taste weird? Nothing, because they're made of good things. If your eggs are good. Which we've discussed.

So just look at the pretty pictures and imagine the molten chocolate taste, sans weird eggs. It's the only way to move on from this sad state of affairs.

Molten Chocolate Cake

4 pieces (squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
½ cups butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 whole eggs
2 whole egg yolks
6 Tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray 4 custard cups with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

In photos:

Butter and chocolate whisked together.


Adding some sugar... this does not look a whole lot different.


And the eggs and flour. Only subtle differences now. It just looks chocolatey.


Fill up some ramekins.

Molten Chocolate Cake by freshfromthe.com

Fresh out of the oven, they look pretty poofy.

Molten Chocolate Cake by freshfromthe.com

Gooey chocolatey center. Would be better with ice cream. I also was lazy and did not invert it onto the plate to give you the full effect. Sorry. Sometimes laziness wins.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Supernatural: Most Beloved Guest Stars (Seasons 1-6)

After going over the most controversial characters on the show, I figured it was time to give the other side their due. Because though we have had some controversial characters, we have also had a lot of awesome guest stars. I decided to focus more on the actors themselves over the characters, because for some reason that was easier in my brain. Weird. Sometimes my brain is weird, don't try to understand it.

I also had a couple criteria for myself. The guest had to appear in more than two episodes, and I don't include Jim Beaver just because he's more of a regular to me than a guest star. I may have missed some of your favorites, but I tried to go with what I thought were the most universally beloved, the ones that everyone gets pumped about when they would see his or her name at the top of the hour.

These aren't in any particular order (I included a link to one of my favorite scenes from each guest beneath the photo)...



The erstwhile Ash makes this list based on his ridiculously embraced mullet alone. You can (or could) always rely on him to bring a lighthearted tone to whatever dire situation they may have been in, which was always a breath of fresh air.



While the yellow-eyed demon was a constant background presence for most of season one, he gained a face in season two when Fred Lehne brought him to life. He seemed to have a lot of fun playing the demon, and it made us love to hate him.



A lot of people have basically cemented their belief that Chuck was actually God, but I'm not so sure. I prefer him as the goofy Chuck, the prophet and writer of the Supernatural novels. While it could be argued that bringing in that meta-type story was kind of weird, you can't deny that Chuck was entertaining, and I think we can thank Rob Benedict a lot for that.



Trickster turned angel Gabriel. I'm not sure I really liked the twist that he was actually an angel in hiding. I preferred him when he was just the trickster up to no good. But hey, a prime example of a guest star being so popular that his role was expanded.



Women have a hard time in the Supernatural world. Unless the woman happens to be older and more of a mother-type. And Ellen fits that bill completely. As played by Samantha Ferris, Ellen was hardcore but with a soft heart, and it's always a pleasure to see her, even though she may be technically dead now. Come to think of it, most of these guest stars' characters are dead!



From the first time Colin Ford played young Sam back in season three, it became clear that he was perfectly cast. I know personally I get really excited every time he's going to be on the show. Not only because that means we get to see a flashback moment (most of the time), but because I love his take on the young Sam.



Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Okay, sorry, I don't know what I'm doing. Mary is not a very contrary character in the Supernatural world, and it's always great to see her come back. I went with Samantha Smith instead of Amy Gumenick because when you think of Mary, you think of Sam. At least, I do. Though she had a secretly badass past to her, the Mary Dean knew as a kid was nothing but his mom, and... ahem. Awww.



By far the guest star I most wish the show could get back. (And can I just complain for a second how epically long it took me to just find that damn clip?! You'd think that would be an easily searchable clip but no!) ANYWAY. John Winchester was a polarizing figure in the boys' lives. He made them the hunters they are today, but that led to a lot of resentment. I really wish JDM could come back for at least some flashback episodes or something, because seeing him and Colin Ford together would be pretty epic, wouldn't it? Or how about him and Samantha Smith? I'm not sure they even really had a scene together in the pilot at all! Sad.

For my past lists, head over: here.

Psst! Hey you! You should totally go like my Facebook page. I'd love you forever and ever. Click and like: http://www.facebook.com/freshfromthe.com
Supernatural: Most Beloved Guest Stars by freshfromthe.com

Friday, August 12, 2011

Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins w/ Streusel Topping

This post is coming a few weeks after the fact for these muffins, but that does not diminish their loveliness in mine own eyes.

Because these muffins? They're kind of great.


You wouldn't necessarily think to combine raspberries and blueberries together in a muffin, since you nearly almost always see just blueberries, but let me tell you something - why not? Why is this not a more common thing? Is it because of growing seasons or something? I really know nothing about growing seasons, so this could be true. Or it could be people just make blueberry all the time because they are boring old fuddy duddies.

But me? I push the envelope! Not really, I just happened to have a lot of both on hand and wanted to do something fun with them together. And then I still had two little plastic boxes of the raspberries go bad on me. Dang it!

But before that, there were muffins...


Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

Ingredients
  • FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons old-fashioned oats
  • FOR THE MUFFINS:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed (optional)
  • 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
  • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
Cooking Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners OR spray with non-stick spray and go liner-free.
  2. To make the topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
  3. In a bowl, whisk togteher the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
  4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the melted butter. Add the buttermilk and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just to combine. Batter will be somewhat lumpy, make sure to not overmix. Gently fold in the blueberries and raspberries so they do not break open, and pour into the prepared muffin tin. Crumble the streusel topping over the muffins and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
  5. Let cool in the tins for about 10 minutes, then remove and cool on wire racks.
Adapted from a recipe by Emeril on foodnetwork.com

In photos:


Crumbly topping! Tip: if you like nuts, you can use chopped walnuts or pecans instead of oatmeal.


The butter and eggs and "buttermilk" all mixed together. Why is the buttermilk in quotes? Because I used powdered, so this is actually butter, eggs and water.


And all of the dry ingredients, which includes the buttermilk powder. You see, you add the powder to the dry ingredients, and use water instead in the wet. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. (As another aside, the original recipe calls for a bunch of lemon zest... I am not a lemon fan, so that was nixed!)


Wet and dry all mixed together. Slightly lumpy, and that's okay.


A berry good time! Oh man, sorry. Bad pun.


I just sprayed my tin with non-stick spray, as I did not have any liners. They plopped out fine, but did make for harder traveling. Also, I put these in the oven for a full minute before I remembered to add the streusel topping! Quell horror!

Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins w/ Streusel Topping by freshfromthe.com

Oh wow, these bake up quite nicely, don't they?

Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins w/ Streusel Topping by freshfromthe.com

Can I tell you something? These muffins tasted like I had bought them at a bakery. They were really that good. I was kind of amazed at how professional they looked and tasted. Or wait, no! No, I was not amazed! I was like - oh yes! Duh! I am amazing, and it is to be expected! Ha, sure.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

SYTYCD: Season 8 Finale

Can you believe the season is already over? This summer has just flown by so incredibly quickly, it's crazy. But, yes, everything must come to an end eventually, and tonight was the crowning of season eight's America's Favorite Dancer.
Recap/Review of So You Think You Can Dance - Season 8 finale by freshfromthe.com

It should come as absolutely no surprise whatsoever that the winner is none other than... MELANIE!

Do you know, I've had the top three as my top three from the very start of the competition? I'm not making this up. Following Melanie were Sasha, Marko and Tadd, in that order. And apparently, Melanie and Sasha's votes combined to over 70% of the total votes, which is pretty crazy. The poor guys didn't stand a chance!

Are you satisfied with who won, or do you wish it was someone else?

Before I sign off, I'm going to give you a quick rundown of all of the top routines of the season that the judges picked, and add one of my own that I think definitely should've been included. In the order presented (click on them to see a youtube clip)...

Sasha and Kent - Tyce Diorio contemporary (picked by Mary)
Melanie and Marko - NapTab hip hop (picked by Nigel)
Tadd and Lauren - Mandy Moore jazz (picked by Robin Antin) ** this link is the original, though their finale performance was better!
Robert and Miranda - NapTab hip hop (picked by Lil C)
Top 8 Circus Routine - Tyce Diorio (picked by Cat)
Melanie and Neil - Mandy Moore contemporary (picked by Mary)
Marko and Allison - Sonya Tayeh contemporary (picked by Jesse Tyler Ferguson)
Top 10 Girls Geisha Routine - Sonya Tayeh (picked by Tyce)
Chris and Ashley - Spencer Liff Broadway (picked by Lil C)
Sasha and tWitch - Christopher Scott hip hop (picked by Nigel)
Top 10 Guys Routine - Christopher Scott (picked by Sonya)
Caitlynn and Pasha - Argentine tango (picked by Jesse)
Melanie and Marko - Travis Wall contemporary (picked by Mary)
Melanie and Sasha - Sonya Tayeh jazz (picked by Nigel)

And the one that I personally think should've been included...



Well, that's it for this season! Were any of your favorite routines left out?

Congratulations Melanie!

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

SYTYCD S8: Top 4 Perform

Hmm. Is it just me, or was tonight's finale kind of lackluster? Lacking some definite luster. I think maybe three routines stood out to me out of the ten partner dances. 30% is not the best percentage. And, also? Tonight was a prime example of ridiculously overpraising guest judges. Not to get all rude up in here, but Katie Holmes basically said the exact same thing for every routine. At least Kenny Ortega mixed things up, but neither of them once said anything bad, and there was some bad stuff to be seen, I think we can all agree.
Recap/Review of So You Think You Can Dance - Season 8 - Top 4 Performance Episode by freshfromthe.com

Observation: all of the dances they did with the all-stars were in their own style while the ones with each other seemed to try to make them step more outside the box. This drawing things out of a hat business is clearly bunk.

I'm going to go through by dancer, in their solo dancing order. Up first...

Melanie - Though I'm not sure her solo quite lived up to the one she did last week, I still feel she has the most heartfelt and quietly powerful solos this season. She can do so much with just the smallest movement, and that's what everyone has come to love about her. Were all of her partner dances tonight as powerful? Ehhh... I think, by far, her best routine of the night was with Tadd in their Ray Leeper piece. She had great attitude and dancing to match. Her worst routine of the night, however, opened the show, and was especially sad since it was a reunion with her longtime partner Marko. But their Doriana Sanchez disco just could not be called great by any means. The lifts were labored, and honestly I found the camerawork really distracting. Not to mention the slow song choice. I termed it "weird." And not in a good way. Rounding out the middle were her two contemporary pieces - the first with all-star Robert in a Stacey Tookey contemporary number that just felt like most other contemporary numbers I've already seen, there really wasn't anything extra magical about it for me. The other was, oh me oh my, also choreographed by Stacey Tookey and danced with Sasha. It was fine. Honestly they had so much dancing to do tonight, you can't expect them all to be amazing.

Marko - I think Marko's solo tonight was the best solo he's demonstrated in the competition ever. He really seemed to put his heart and soul into it, and it showed. Marko's best routine of the night was easily the contemporary piece he had with all-star Lauren, choreographed by Tessandra Chavez. They had such a great connection; everything about it was incredibly heartfelt and powerful, but not in an overpowering way, if that makes sense. Honestly my favorite routine of the night, period. I've already mentioned the dismal disco debacle (alliteration!) earlier. Bluck. His second best routine of the night was the Broadway number danced with Sasha and choreographed by Spencer Liff. It had a certain lightness and playful nature to it that was nice to see, as sometimes things can get too dark and sad. Nigel was negative about his performance but, whatever Nigel. The final routine of the evening was the gumboot stepping piece he had with Tadd, choreographed by Chuck Maldonado. I'm... not so sure about this one. I know that the gumboot thing is in the name of the style of dance, but those boots were seriously distracting, and looked incredibly hard to dance in. I can barely walk well in those non-bendy boots. I didn't get it, to be honest.

Tadd - Tadd has had to do a lot of solos over the course of this season, but you know what? I never get tired of seeing them. I love that he brings the sense of humor and uses the stage in unexpected ways. Not to mention his always surprising music choices. Tadd's best piece of the evening was the previously mentioned Ray Leeper routine with Melanie. Though, I must admit that my favorite part of the whole thing was afterward when Cat said, "When all else fails, bring out a pair of comedy boxers." Comedy boxers! Can we please make this a phrase? Tadd's worst piece of the evening was undoubtedly his Mark Ballas choreographed cha cha with Sasha. Egads was that bad. They had absolutely no sexual chemistry, seemed to miss a lot of the moves just slightly. All in all, a serious struggle. And seriously, Sasha looked like a giant next to him! I already talked about that gumboot routine he had with Marko, which I also termed "weird." Two weirds in one night! Not a great sign. But I will say that I thought Tadd was doing the stepping slightly better than Marko. Finally, Tadd's all-star piece was with season four winner Joshua in a Lil C hip hop. Now don't get me wrong, I love Lil C, but I'm rarely a fan of his hard-hitting style of choreography. I think Joshua was out-doing Tadd in it, which is not really a surprise since it's his bread and butter.

Sasha - You know, all of the dancers had good solos tonight, which is not always the case. Sasha was no exception, though I'm having a hard time recalling anything specific about it other than this thing she does with her legs. I don't know what to call it, so we'll just leave it at that. Sasha's best dance of the evening was her all-star dance with Mark (Mark!) in a Sonya Tayeh jazz number. I mean, come on. Mark and Sonya, you can't go wrong. Plus, a shirtless Mark? mmmmmmMark. Oh, sorry. I'll stop the drooling now. Ahem. Okay! They both demonstrated such strength in this piece! It was my second favorite routine of the night. I dig the quirky dark style Sonya always brings, which is obvious to probably everyone by now. Sasha's worst number of the night was, obviously, the cha cha with Tadd. I thought it was weird that the judges were saying she danced it slightly better than him, because honestly I thought he was doing a bit better than her, but then what do I know about ballroom dancing? The answer is only what I've seen on this show, so I am clearly not a reliable source. I think tonight was also the most we've seen Sasha in dresses! Right? I loved her gorgeous purple gown in her Spencer Liff dance with Marko, which I think was her second best dance of the night. Some of you may disagree on that, but I was left not feeling much in that '50s housewives number with Melanie. Maybe I was just tired of seeing so much standard contemporary by that point? Bring on the funky jazz! Oh well.

Phew! Okay, well, that was the last performance show of this season! Who do you think will be taking home the prize tomorrow? Do you agree with Nigel that it's going to be between the girls, or does Marko have a chance of making the top two? Should Tadd just know right now that he's going to be the first eliminated? Can I ask more questions?

If past records are any indication, it should be Melanie to take home the top prize, but if we're just going based on tonight's show, I really don't know. They all had highs and lows, so it's hard to say.

That's all for tonight! Get pumped to see the best routines of the season in the finale tomorrow! I'm sure we'll be seeing at least the Melanie/Marko statues, the tWitch/Sasha breakfast hip hop and the Jordan/Tadd vulture routines, right? Plus that contemporary one from Allison and Marko. Oh and maybe that jazz one with the kiss from Melanie and Marko! Wow that's a lot of Marko. What routines do you hope to see?

I'm done asking questions, I swear.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Friday, August 5, 2011

Supernatural: Best Scenes of Dean Eating (Seasons 1-6)

As promised, I am focusing on some less than serious lists on here this year. We've had a ranking of Sam's Hair, so I figured it was time to give Dean his own list. Since his hair doesn't change much through the seasons, what better way to celebrate our love for him than to focus on one of his true loves: food.

Oh yes, Dean likes to eat. A lot.

Some of his "best" moments shoveling stuff down his gullet....


It's a Terrible Life (4x17)

What's this? Starting off with such an atypical scene?! It's true, this may be the first and only time we have ever seen Dean eating a salad. Of course, this wasn't our real Dean, but a version in another life, which was the whole point of this scene in the first place, to show us that something was terribly wrong with him if he wasn't eating burgers and fries and pie.


Provenance (1x19)

The best part of this little scene is Dean's total entitlement for the hors d'oeuvres and champagne, even though it's quite clear he's not really from some kind of art firm. Classic.


Nightmare (1x14)

One of the very first instances of Dean being inappropriate with his food needs, but certainly not the last.  Posing as a preacher, no less!


Mystery Spot (3x11)

Not the last time his food will come back to haunt him, but certainly one of the most memorable times. Technically two, twice in the same episode he died from his food intake. Maybe that's telling you something, Dean? Nah.


Wishful Thinking (4x08)

Of course the thing that Dean would wish for from a magical wishing well is a sandwich. And, as you would expect, the wishes don't exactly go so well. Cue vomiting up said sandwich! Note to self: don't make wishes in magical wishing wells.


Bad Day at Black Rock (3x03)

We've all experience this moment. Or at least, we all should have. What is life without an occasional ice cream headache? This was like Dean's dream come true - free food for, what, a year? I can't remember the exact details anymore! 


Tall Tales (2x15)

Another classic moment - eating some chili fries on Sam's bed. Don't worry, the moment you're thinking of from this episode is still coming, but I thought the fries deserved their own too just for the look on his face alone.


What is and What Should Never Be (2x20)

Probably the best part of this scene is Mary's "what are you doing" facial reaction to him eating that giant sandwich. A sweet moment that he never got to experience in real life, alas.


Folsom Prison Blues (2x19)

Even while in prison, he can't stop eating, going so far as to take Sam's food as well. Not that we ever hardly see Sam eating, so that's no surprise. Maybe he's always stealing his food. Unless it's a salad shaker.


Hollywood Babylon (2x18)

Dean and craft services = made for each other. Whether little Philly cheesesteak sandwiches or... whatever that other thing is. Food he doesn't have to pay for is always the best kind.


Tall Tales (2x15)

Ah yes, the caramels. Probably the most iconic moment, even though surely exaggerated through Sam's point of view. But hey, with all of the evidence, it sure looks like all he does is stuff food in his mouth, right? 

You know what is an interesting observation? Though it has been a well-documented fact that Dean loves pie, we've never actually seen him eating it. He's ordered it, had it in front of him even, but never actually taken a bite on screen. EDIT: Someone said he did actually eat some during Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. You know why I forgot that? Because it's one of my least favorite episodes!

Sadly, I could not find individual clips of all of the scenes above, but I did find a couple of compilation videos that feature most, if not all, of the scenes above: here and here.

For my past lists, head over: here.

Psst! Hey you! You should totally go like my Facebook page. I'd love you forever and ever. Click and like: http://www.facebook.com/freshfromthe.com
Supernatural: Best Scenes of Dean Eating by freshfromthe.com

Thursday, August 4, 2011

SYTYCD S8: Top 6 Results

All is right with the world. I have to say this is probably my favorite top four ever. In the past seasons I've always been disappointed about one of the people who make it into the top, but not this time. Way to get the voting right, people!

I really don't have much to say, so I'll just list the results...

Eliminated:
Caitlynn
Ricky

Top Four:
Melanie
Marko
Sasha
Tadd

Barring something really crazy happening in the performance finale, I can't really see anyone winning this other than Melanie. She and Marko are the only two dancers to never be in the bottom this entire season, and the roar she gets from the studio audience is much more deafening than any of the others. Honestly, she's been my favorite since her initial audition.

You know what's funny? I just went back and looked at my recap for both Melanie and Marko's audition week, and this is what I wrote: "Melanie Moore, the jazz dancer who's also an artist. I liked her quirky style. Marko Gemar, the guy with the bullet in his arm. He looked like he had some real potential too. Those were really the only two from the Atlanta ones that stood out to me." HA, I guess I was right, and so were the producers, to feature them!

What about you? Are you happy with this top four, or do you think someone is missing?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

SYTYCD S8: Top 6 Perform

Can you believe next week is already the finale? This summer has just flown by so quickly, it's crazy. As far as who will be in the finale come next week, I think three essentially clinched it tonight, whereas the last spot is a little less clear. Who are the three? Obvious. So obvious. Melanie, Sasha and Marko. I hope it's Tadd joining them and not Ricky, but one never knows with the votes.
Recap/Review of So You Think You Can Dance - Season 8 - Top 6 Performance Episode by freshfromthe.com
Joining Nigel and Mary on the judging panel this week were Christina Applegate and Lil C. I wouldn't have necessarily ever expected Christina Applegate to be a great judge, but she had some great comments, I must say. Who would've thought all of the comedic actor guest judges would be so great? Not me, apparently!

On to the dancers! In the order of their solos...

Ricky - Ricky's solo was planned out well, and went in beat to the music, but I feel like we've seen just so many solos from him by now that it's hard to bring anything new to the table, and there wasn't anything new this time around either.

As for his partner dances... he was teamed up with all-star Jaimie for a Dee Caspary contemporary piece involving sticks. I wasn't paying attention to the intro package, and I must say I had no idea what the sticks were for when watching the actual dance itself. They seemed more like a prop for the sake of a prop, and while I can understand that it was a challenge for him, I don't know. There was some kind of emotional center lacking for me, and maybe that's because he was more worried about the prop than the intention behind the movement. He's a great dancer, but is he a great performer?

For his second dance of the night, he was paired up with Sasha for... whacking. What. This just sounds like a disaster, and honestly, it wasn't the best. After seeing the audition of Princess Lockeroo months ago, this number really just fell flat to me. It seemed really slow and didn't have as much arm stuff as I was expecting, and was just so... bubblegum.

Caitlynn - Oh Caitlynn. She really needs to do something to make her solos stand out more, because every time they just seem to be a lot of flailing about. I feel like that sort of reflects her young personality, though, so I guess it's sort of expected.

For her all-star dance, she was paired up with Pasha for a samba choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin, and though it was certainly serviceable, all I can say is that whenever I see Pasha doing a dance like that, I want to see him with Anya because they have such fire together and can both dance it so well. That lift spin thing at the end seemed super labored too. I'm not sure if it was actually supposed to be that slow or what.

I will say, however, that Caitlynn's shining moment on this entire show was her final number with Marko, a Sonya Tayeh jazz piece. I mean, I love Sonya, for one thing. And Sonya and Florence & the Machine music are just a match made in heaven. It's funny too, because I wrote "Best C's danced" in my notes, and that is what all of the judges then said! Yes, it was the best she's danced, but I don't think it's enough to beat out the other two ladies at all.

Tadd - Dude, how long can Tadd stay up on one hand like that? Crazytown. I'm not sure that Tadd presented anything new in his solo tonight, but there is just something so likeable about his performances that bring a smile to my face, so I could care less.

Tadd's first dance of the evening was with all-star Ellenore in a Sonya Tayeh jazz piece that will probably be dubbed the chandelier piece from now on. It was very cool, I thought. The judges weren't so sure about it, but I felt like I was watching something from Cirque du Soleil up in there. I will agree, however, that it seemed way too short. I wanted it to just keep going. The way he swung around and was able to time it all perfectly was great.

His second dance of the night was with Melanie in a Spencer Liff broadway piece. And can I say something about broadway? Whenever I hear that people are doing a broadway routine I straight up groan. I would say about 90% of the time I don't like them, but tonight? Tonight I did. I think it helped that there was a cool sort of Black Swan story going on. The judges really focused on Melanie in their comments, but I thought Tadd was doing just as well. Go Tadd!

Sasha - Sasha's solo left me wanting more, which can be taken one of two ways. I mean it in the positive way - that I just wanted to see more of her dancing, rather than I wanted to see her do more with it. She has a great musicality to her movement, and is always so centered emotionally in whatever she is doing. Well, except for maybe whacking, but I'm not there yet.

Her first partner dance of he night was with all-star Kent in a Tyce Diorio contemporary piece. And can we just all agree right now that Tyce should stick to contemporary choreography? It's always so much better than any of his other stuff. I really liked the use of the wall in this piece. It was all very passionate, and it came through in their movement. Sasha truly just shines when she is up there dancing, there's no other way to say it. There's something about her that is so engaging.

Except, maybe, in her final partner dance of the evening with Ricky. I mean, I already touched on this earlier, so I won't repeat myself, but this is the one time I didn't feel a connection to her at all. I don't entirely blame her for that. As the judges said, it seemed like they were focused more on getting it right than feelin' it.

Marko - I enjoyed Marko's jumping intro to his solo, and actually enjoyed it on the whole, but there wasn't necessarily anything that new about it that we haven't seen before. But hey, I still love Marko.

His first dance of the evening was with all-star Janette in a Dmitry Chaplin paso doble. First of all, I want that skirt she was wearing. I would be swishing around in that thing constantly, though, so it would probably be a bad idea. This type of dance can be sort of hit or miss, and I think they came up somewhere in the middle. We've seen better, but we've also seen worse. Honestly I hope there aren't too many ballroom style dances in the final performance show next week, because they always seem to be the least exciting.

For Marko's second dance, he had the Sonya Tayeh jazz piece with Caitlynn. I've already said I liked this dance, but now I'm wondering if it is going to be one of the most memorable of Sonya's pieces or not. You know I still remember The Garden from years ago with Mark and Courtney. I'm not sure it was quite to that caliber. But hey, they danced it really well. Man I am so critical sometimes!

Melanie - Wow. That solo was straight up AMAZING. By far one of the best solos I have ever seen performed on the show, period. And apparently she was just coming up with it on the fly before she had to go on! What! What in the world! That is usually a recipe for disaster! Wow.

Ahem. Okay. Melanie's first partner dance of the night, however, was with all-star tWitch in a NapTab hip hop piece. I would say that I liked the concept more than I actually liked the dance itself. That's not to say that I didn't like the dance. For the most part I thought she was hitting it pretty hard, but there were some instances where I wanted her to hit it even harder. This was the first time we've seen her do hip hop, though, so that was a nice change of pace. I was a bit distracted again by the music, though. I'm not sure songs which feature such strong lyrics are as appropriate for this show because it can often overpower the dance, like that Busta Rhymes one a couple weeks ago.

Melanie's second dance of the evening was the broadway number with Tadd. I don't really have much more to say than what I already said. Melanie's great. I think she could win the whole shebang, depending on how next week goes. You never can tell. But if it's not her or Sasha, I will be surprised.

Okay, phew! I think that's enough rambling from me. Who do you want to see as America's favorite dancer next week?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Underappreciated Gems: Reaper (2007-2009)

Underappreciated Gems: Reaper
Welcome to another of my underappreciated gems posts, the ones where I pay tribute to a TV show canceled too soon.

This time, I'm talking about: Reaper.

Reaper was a show on the newly formed CW network from 2007-2009 about Sam Oliver, a guy who finds out his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was born, and is now, at age 21, forced into being a sort of bounty hunter for him, sending escaped souls back to Hell.

Though an hour-long show, Reaper was very much about the comedy. In fact I would call it more of a comedy than a drama. While Sam (Bret Harrison) was the emotional core of the show and definitely had some moments of angst about his eventually having to go to Hell, his best friends and coworkers Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) were not always helpful layabouts who also know his secret, and attempt to "help" him catch the souls.

The beginning of the first season played a lot more episodic, focusing more on capturing the souls and the hijinks the guys would get into doing that, rather than an underlying substantial arc. The arc slowly evolved as the first season went on, and, as such, gave the show much more intrigue. The characters became people you actually cared about rather than caricatures. An important thing on a television show!

The second season amped up the serialized nature of the story, and made it more about how Sam was trying to get out of his deal and less about the actual capturing of the souls. Though that was still going on, of course. More moral dilemmas were presented for the characters, with more interactions with demons, and what that all meant.

And if you are looking for a love story, never fear. Sam's been pining after Andi (Missy Peregrym) for quite some time, and has to hide his true nature from her for awhile too. The nice thing is that the show didn't drag this out forever, which can become really annoying on other shows that take five seasons before characters get together. Alas, this show didn't have five seasons to do anything like that anyway!

In short, if you like to laugh, you'll like this show. Plus you've got Ray Wise playing the Devil, and you just can't go wrong there. He plays it with a certain panache that makes you like him even when he's doing terrible things. Personally, my favorite character was Ben. Though Sock was the more over the top funny guy, Ben was subtle, and I dug that.

Top episodes:


  • 1x12 - Unseen
  • 1x15 - Coming to Grips
  • 1x18 - Cancun
  • 2x04 - The Favorite
  • 2x09 - No Reaper Left Behind
  • 2x13 - The Devil and Sam Oliver

Best episodes to get you into it:


  • 1x01 - Pilot
  • 1x04 - Magic
  • 1x06 - Leon

The entire series is on ABC.com right now, and I can assure you, even though it's a few years old, it still made me laugh a lot when I rewatched the whole thing. There are some fun guest stars throughout the series, including Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black and Armie Hammer.