Despite the fact that Dina Lohan is an executive producer of Living Lohan, her influence over the editing process can't hide the fact that she is a famewhore first and mother second. During last night's episode, Dina was "surprised" by her son Cody and "forced" to perform at the Pearl in Las Vegas in a totally spur-of-the-moment routine with some So You Think You Can Dance hasbeen. It's all too much, and the sooner this show comes to an end, the better.
If you've watched just one episode of Fox's dancing competition So You Think You Can Dance — as every member of Jossip HQ has — then you already know the best part of the show is not Cat Deeley's legs, the male dancers' lean and solid torsos, or the female dancers' crotch flashing. It is Mary Murphy, the choreographer and ballroom dancing champion who sits in the judge's chair next to producer Nigel Lithgow. After each performance wraps, Murphy tells the dancers one or more things, which range from, "It just wasn't doing it for me," to, "You've got a ticket on the HOT TAMALE TRAIN!" The number of her shrieks are matched only by the number of times she flashes that toothy smile. Today, she is profiled by the Los Angeles Times, which, according to this graph that charts the paper's coverage of her, is making it her month.
While the hot tamale train used to be Murphy's most esteemed honor bestowed on contestants, her newest top award is "Tra La La," as in, "the Tra La La phase of my heart."
Every notable reality show judge has their "thing." For Donald Trump, it's, "You're fired." For Heidi Klum, it's, "Auf wiedersehen." But those are concocted by producers; they're supposed to stick. Murphy's "hot tamale train" catchphrase, however, seems to have been born organically. It doesn't seem to be an executive producer-coined (in this case, it would've been Lithgow, who created the show) gimmick to deliver each episode. Rather, if our memory serves, she began saying it during Dance's first season, realized how much of a trademark it was, and kept on using it.
What, then, of other reality show judges who have tried to follow her lead? One horrific example sticks in our memory, and MTV's to blame. CONTINUED »
Watching last night's So You Think You Can Dance premiere left us with two questions: 1) Why did producers so devilishly try ripping our hearts out with auditions from dancers who were either near-blind or so overweight they couldn't catch their breath, but wanted so badly to impress others?; and 2) Why the hell does such a popular show, now in its fourth season, lack the type of American Idol-style sponsorships that make this franchises so hugely profitable?
Those unbranded green cups on the judges' table are getting tired; Simon, Paula, and Randy have been drinking (water) out of Coke cups for years.
Doesn't PepsiCo want in on the action? Doesn't Coke have a few more bucks to promote its Dasani water? Surely Starbucks is exploring new opportunities?
Then came news that Dance has, actually, scored two huge sponsors.
Neither of which fit particularly well into the show's format. CONTINUED »
• Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is confident that this whole cheating-on-his-wife scandal will not affect his game, nor detract from his modus operandi of "hitting lots of homeruns, then sucking in the playoffs."
• Post columnist Andrea Peyser would never take back a significant other if he threw lye in her face, just FYI.
• Has Kent Brownridge finally nabbed Dennis Publishing? And, if so, does this entitle him to an all-expenses paid trip to Maxim's new Dominican Republic brothel hotel?
• LA Times calls So You Think You Can Dance "the most gay-friendly show" on television. Clearly, they've forgotten all about Tinky Winky.
• This woman's morning sickness was so bad she decided to have an abortion. And to think, some people still want to reverse Roe v. Wade!
Editorial Director
