Mike Hughes on TV

OK, I'm in Hollywood now, catching the semi-annual Television Critics Association sessions. I'll tell you more about them soon, now that some computer problems are fixed up. In general:

1) I almost got run over by Clint Eastwood in a golf cart. That would have been cool.

2) I'm very fond of everything related to the Chuck Lorre comedies on CBS. "The Big Bang Theory" and the people involved are a delight, but the new "Mike and Molly" is also easy to like.

3) I'm less fond of CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" remake. The first hour, at least, doesn't capture the blue-sky feel of the island.

4) Stopping into one movie theater, I was rather astonished to see Anjelina Jolie leap from bridges, land on moving trucks and barely get bumped. I hope some stunt people were involved.

5) Her movie, "Salt," is actually quite entertaining, despite its absurd stretches of credibility.

6) Also, I saw two upcoming Roadrunner shores. Wile E. Coyote still has his troubles, but now they happen in 3-D.

7) Speaking of 3-D, it really is pretty impressive when King Kong AND dinosaurs attack the tram ride at Universal Studios.

8) I'm surprised to hear that Steve McPherson is leaving as ABC's programming chief; he's done a good job overall. One rumor has him replaced by Paul Lee, who has done a superb job at ABC Family.

9) I missed half of "So You Think You Can Dance" on Wednesday, but I was lucky enough to catch the duet with Billy Bell and Ade. It was brilliantly choreographed and performed.

10) If I had to guess, I'd say Jose Ruiz and Robert Roldan will be going home tonight. Like the other four remaining dancers, they're wonderfully talented.

Watching this week's "So You Think You Can Dance," we were tempted to feel cheated. What? Nothing happened? At the end of the week, the judges decided not to decide. Instead, they'll oust two people next week.

Nothing happened -- other than making an impression on viewers and judges for the next weeks. Still, this is kind of understandable; the judges had no solution; their only options were to dump:

1) Billy Bell, who sat out this week after an injury. But that would have been the third straight week with an injury-ouster, a dull trend. Besides, Billy took himself out this week; doctors gave him permission to dance, but he decided not to take the risk. That had never happened before; ousting him would send a message that dancers must take a risk, even when common sense says no.

2) Robert Roldan. But they've spent the past two weeks telling viewers that he's a strong and underrated dancer.

3) Jose Ruiz. But for the second straight week, he put together a truly spectacular solo. I usually complain about the stupid 30-second limit; Jose stuffed it with 30 minutes of great moves.

So they paused and waited a week. It was kind of a no-win (and, for the dancers, no-lose) week. A few comments; please add yours:

a) Cat Deeley was back to normal tonight, after the disastrous dress (or something) she wore Wednesday. It's hard to make her look bad; sometimes, the show manages to do this.

b) The American Ballet Theatre number reminded us why we prefer nowadays dance. These two dancers were, I assume, making all the right classical moves. The result was still stiff and cold and uninvolving. I'm sure that classical ballet is a great preparation for contemporary dancing -- just as classical violinists turn into great Irish fiddlers. I'll wait until they transform.

c) Next week's shows -- Wednesday and Thursday -- should be good: Six great dancers and two of them must go; this time, the judges wouldn't dare do nothing.

On "So You Think You Can Dance," choreographers can give and take away. They can serve up one piece that makes a dancer seem dynamic ... and another that makes him seem blank.

Sonya Tayek did both tonight. The loser was Jose Ruiz, who was given a piece that was set entirely on the edge of the stage. "I find it very difficult to criticize your dancing," one judge (Adam Shankman) told him afterward. That may be because Jose never really got to dance; it was a stylish piece, but this high-energy guy was rarely given a chance to move.

Then Tayek gave the exact opposite kind of piece to Kent Boyd. It was big and splashy, filled with chances to show off. The piece for Jose may have been fresh and artistic and original ... but it won't get people to rush to their phones; the piece for Kent will.

Here are a few of my other comments. Please add yours:

1) Jose had bad luck all-around. For his other duet, he and Adechike Torbert did a piece that devoted a chunk of its time to cape-waving. Hey, will someone just let the kids dance?

2) Fortunately, Adechike's other number was a great showpiece, a richly emotional one choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha. Anything done to Alicia Keys' "Falling" is going to be impressive; this one went beyond that.

3) Asked to do some stepping, Kent Boyd grabbed his crotch a lot. It was an OK effort; back home in rural Ohio, I'm guessing, Kent doesn't get many chances to do African-American traditions.

4) Robert Roldan offered the week's understatement: "Lauren's really hot." Verifying this was some footage of Lauren Froderman reading to an elementary-school class. When I was at Dellwood Elementary School, the student teacher never wore short-shorts.

5) Speaking of clothes, someone seems to have flung a red cloth randomly over whatever Cat Deeley was wearing. It might have even been on purpose, but I hope not.

6) The testimonials by parents were useless. It's good to have pieces about the dancers' roots; in this case, however, each parent did little more than deliver a campaign pitch.

7) That left Billy Bell out. Since he didn't dance this week (due to injury), he didn't get a parental puff piece. Life, I may have mentioned earlier, isn't fair.

8) Yes, another injury, the third in three weeks. On Thursday, Billy automatically goes to the bottom three.

9) The judges will be very tempted to NOT oust Billy on Thursday. That would make it three straight weeks of ousting the injured person, a boring trend. Still, it would be fair: I really think Billy would have been ousted in one of the previous two weeks, if there hadn't been the injuries.

10) My prediction? Jose and Robert join Billy in the bottom three. The judges reluctantly send Jose home. Or not.

Hey, this is turning into a dance demolition derby.

For the second straight week, the "So You Think You Can Dance" ouster wasn't because of viewers' votes or judges' views. It was because someone was injured and couldn't continue.

Last week, it was the brilliant Alex Wong; tonight, it was the appealing Ashley Galvan. This is sort of like a gladiator tournament, except that the loser isn't (to my knowledge) slain afterward.

This time, it was telegraphed from the start, because:

-- We didn't really see Ashley until the end; and

-- The solos didn't come until late in the show. In other weeks, the final three have their "dance for your life" solos fairly early, giving the judges time to debate and decide; for the last two weeks, they came late ... the judges already knew there was nothing to decide.

Here are a few of my other comments. Please add yours:

1) Jose Ruiz wasted a truly sensational solo. In his first time in the final three, he packed more into 30 seconds than I thought possible.

2) Billy Bell, by comparison, did a solo that was -- as usual -- technically perfect, but uninvolving. He keeps being warned that he needs to get viewers involved. He'd better do that soon; some week, there might not be anyone injured.

3) Sometimes, dance reaches stunning levels of perfection. That duet by the Alvin Ailey dancers was spectacular.

4) Speaking of solos, the Christina Perri story is fascinating. Two weeks ago, she was a waitress; now she's been on national TV while her "Jar of Hearts" thrives on iTunes ... and it all started when the song was featured in a dance number on the show. Her voice sounded a tad harsh and forced tonight, but this still made me think of early Alanis Morrissette -- a gifted and gorgeous singer-songwriter, delivering an almost perfect song.

5) Now the show only has one woman (Lauren Froderman), against five men. Let's hope she avoids injury. 

This is when I'm supposed to have some intemperate words about "So You Think You Can Dance." After each Wednesday and Thursday show, I do some second-guessing.

Alas, I was gone on a family project and missed the whole thing. I'll be back to my routine Thursday night.

Meanwhile, I do have something else worth sharing: The season-finale of "Doctor Who" is sensationally good.

That starts at 9 p.m. ET Saturday (July 17) on BBC America, then concludes a week later. This week's opener is pretty good; next week's finale is wonderful.

Add these together and you have wit, whimsy, fantasy, warmth and more. If you're not a "Who" regular, don't fret about the barrage of details. Just settle back and enjoy a splendidly imagined tale of one madly brilliant man (and his companion) careening through time.