About Last Night…MASTERCHEF JUNIOR, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND, and More

Let’s talk about Monday night’s TV!

MASTERCHEF JUNIOR: I will start by saying I’m so glad this show is back and Tilly is a fun addition.

I am, however, more than a little confused about them giving a kid a trip to Vegas?! Like, I get it’s about Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, but what an odd opening gift for the contestants.

Lilo’s flying noodles were so creative; I really am glad she wasn’t sent home and we can hopefully see more of that going forward. I do feel awful that Bre had to go home after overcooking her burger and undercooking the potatoes. It’s always hard to see kids so upset.

THE VOICE: Brian is great. And I’m so happy Madison came back and got a four-chair turn…it’s always great when contestants actually put in the work and come back to a big win.

I wish I was connecting more to the coaching panel this season. There’s been a few cute moments, and I like them all individually. It just feels like their group dynamic isn’t quite there yet.



SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: This is a show I dearly love, which is why its premiere feeling so disjointed is a real disappointment.

I will not pretend to know how much of it is due to the elephant in the room—I simply don’t know. Whether auditions were re-recorded, carefully edited, or they changed the approach when they realized they had to overhaul everything…in some ways it’s moot. All we can work with is what’s put on the air.

When you’re coming back for a new TV season on a show like this, especially when you’ve been off the air for almost two years, the first audition should blow viewers away. Immediately draw them in and remind them why they love the show, why they should be excited about the new season. It should be a performance that people want to share everywhere.

With all due respect to the first performance…yeah, it was an emotional backstory. Absolutely. But Maks had to go get another contestant to help do a partnered dance so the young man could get this yes. It was…fine. Significantly more memorable for the personal element than the dancing itself.

And, yes, we’ve been told this season will be a bit more of a hybrid seeing how the dancers live/work together. But there is no way there wasn’t a performer who has incredible with a backstory the producers liked enough. (And the judges, if we believe them, said that was audition #1. They don’t normally air in order, it would have been fine to skip to someone else first!)

There were a couple of good dancers; notably, Olivia was great. The best of the night was Jin Lee, but even that was partially obstructed by showing us the judges’ reaction to her piece. There’s always a tricky balance with a show like this, because obviously you want to see how the judges are being impacted, but it also takes away from us being able to feel the same way.

I really hope future episodes feel better.

(And, yes, that tWitch tribute at the end absolutely broke me.)

DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND: Oh, it’s interesting the contestants didn’t have choices of their partners—that could have made all the difference. I cannot believe Alyssa got ten arrows (and the personal offer!) and Kim missed them all. And Rob was gutsy going for that $1.5 million case when he knew that Kim had missed and he could have taken everything. But it paid off!

I’m really disliking Kim’s game so far and hated that she was safe/beat the banker. Fingers crossed it won’t be that way soon.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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