'Dancing With the Stars': No Illusions About Penn Jillette
So "Dancing With the Stars" is back with another eclectic field, but let's cut to the chase in terms of the first obvious storyline: Julianne is this season's Cheryl.
Last season, if you don't remember, two-time champion Cheryl Burke found herself paired with Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton, and she struggled (with a smile!) through the certainty that she had absolutely no shot at winning next to slow-footed Mr. "Danke Schon."
(Kelsey McNeal - ABC)
This season, two-time winner Julianne Hough -- who won last season with partner Helio Castroneves -- finds herself paired with the lumbering legs of master magician Penn Jillette, who is so large that it seems no amount of training will help him survive more than a round or two. So Julianne is the sacrificial lamb. Sorry, sweetie, no triple crown for you.
No one is getting eliminated this week, so it's just a chance to get to see what people can, and cannot, do. The men danced in Monday's debut; the women dance Tuesday.
Random observations:
Wow, that 21-year-old Mario knows how to move his hips.
Adam Carolla isn't nearly as funny playing off the judges as he is playing off of Jimmy Kimmell.
Steve Guttenberg is this year's version of the guy who really, really, really wants this (and, sadly, probably won't get it) but he does have personality. (Think Mark Cuban last year).
Cristian (a Chilean actor who snared Cheryl as his partner) has tremendous potential. He could be this year's Helio.
And Pro Bowl player Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins is, in my opinion, the immediate front-runner among the men. Historically, athletes have done well on this show -- hello, Helio, Emmitt Smith and Apollo Ono -- and as big as he is, Jason has poise and control and a powerfully sinewy body. And he and partner Edyta are already showing signs of generating some heat.
Why not Mario, who finished with the night's highest score? Well, as he put it himself, "Look what happened to Sabrina." Sabrina, as in Sabrina Bryant, the Cheetah Girl who was prematurely bounced last season, in all likelhood because viewers thought her previous on-stage dance training gave her an unfair advantage. Mario is in the same boat -- as an R&B star, his day job involves choreographed concerts, videos, etc. It remains to be seen whether that's held against him here.
The men's first-round scores:
Mario 24
Jason Taylor 22
Cristian de la Fuente 21
Steve Guttenberg 18
Penn Jillette 16
Adam Carolla 15
--JENNIFER FREY
By Jennifer Frey |
March 18, 2008; 8:55 AM ET
Dancing With the Stars
Previous: 'Celebrity Apprentice': Time for the Final Four |
Next: Put My Head on the Platter!
Posted by: justthefacts | March 18, 2008 9:17 AM
Yeah, she is definitely with Adam Carolla... don't think she's going to win this season.
Posted by: Julianne Fan | March 18, 2008 9:25 AM
You beat me, justthefacts. I bet Penn does pretty well -- he's got the flair and the showmanship. He's no Joey Fatone on his feet, but he's a fastidious professional who makes his living paying attention to the most minute details. Technique? If he messes up technique in his regular line of work, people can die, so I bet you see him putting the work into it to get pretty far in the competition. The winner? No, because he's not the young pretty boy, but I bet he stays in pretty far.
Posted by: ncc | March 18, 2008 9:28 AM
Was this the most boring opener of DWS ever?
Doesn't seem to have any celebrity who electrifies. Priscilla Presley? Monica Seles? Penn Jillette?
They gotta be kidding.
Posted by: rickNmd | March 18, 2008 9:52 AM
Typical American stupidity and obsession with the people on the tee-vee set.
Posted by: Faye Kane | March 18, 2008 9:53 AM
Uh, Julianna is paired with Carolla not Penn Jillette.
Other than that though, really clever thoughts. You should get a raise.
Posted by: Justin | March 18, 2008 10:36 AM
Geez. Did you watch the show? Julianne is with Adam.
Posted by: not that bright, but can tell blondes apart | March 18, 2008 11:24 AM
I think you should quit or be fired for not even getting your facts straight.
Posted by: bmg | March 18, 2008 11:55 AM
Correction from The Washington Post:
Julianne Hough is paired with Adam Carolla.
Penn Jillette is paired with Kym Johnson.
Posted by: The Washington Post | March 18, 2008 11:59 AM
To Faye Kane: Regarding "typical American stupidity", watching tv is not as stupid as reading columns about tv shows you apparently don't watch. Get a life, sweetheart.
Posted by: Jim Dobson | March 18, 2008 12:15 PM
TO Faye Kane,
You came to a web site to read about a TV show, but then post how stupid TV and people who watch it are.
I think that makes you much, much, much, more ignorant then anyone who is watching the show.
Posted by: DW | March 18, 2008 12:17 PM
Let's not fight. Or I'll separate you two.
Or as my mother used to say - "Don't make me come up there!"
Posted by: now, now kiddies | March 18, 2008 12:58 PM
To Faye Kane - you apparently are not from the U.S. originally (?). Then turn off your TV
Posted by: Hanley | March 18, 2008 1:05 PM
Steve Guttenberg looked like an excitable boy who rides the short bus. Very annoying. Get rid of him.
Posted by: No Dancer | March 18, 2008 1:45 PM
Typical American stupidity and obsession with the people on the tee-vee set.
Posted by: Faye Kane | March 18, 2008 09:53 AM
* * * * * *
Seriously, don't YOU have anything better to do than troll websites so you can make snide comments about the other chatters? Go somewhere else so we can get back to talking about the dancing.
That said, I thought everyone was pretty good. No Master Ps or Tucker Carlsons--at least everyone tried. And I thought Guttenberg had a lot of charisma. I wouldn't be so quick to write him off.
Upon meeting his partner, Kym, Penn Gillette did make some comment to the effect that she'd scored Sasquatch as her partner. They've got a lot to overcome and certainly won't go the distance, but I think Penn will put the work in and knows how to perform for a live audience.
Adam's toast on the men's side. He'll be the first to go next week. Then he'll go on Kimmell and Jimmy will humiliate him.
DwtS is mindless entertainment, but it's a happy kind of show. Definitely a guilty pleasure.
Posted by: | March 18, 2008 3:49 PM
That's funny that the Washington Post posts a correction in the comments instead of pulling the article and having Jennifer Frey rewrite it. Nice journalism people.
Posted by: duh | March 18, 2008 11:18 PM
Holy crap ... I thought this was some low rate blog when I read the story, and then I realized it was the Washington Post. My, how the mighty have fallen to get the basic facts so very wrong.
Posted by: yikes | March 22, 2008 1:14 AM
Yes, I do think your opinion is righteous. (So do lots of people). Luckily majority of people are intelligent :).
Posted by: Chris | April 6, 2008 4:19 PM
I'm so glad that I finally found what I was searching for! It doesn't matter what other people write or think, I just know for sure that I'm right. Here I found all useful information , all I exactly needed for my new experience. It's not just a great entertaining source, it's also a way of giving different information for all of us
Posted by: st | April 9, 2008 7:03 AM
Post a Comment
We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.
Julianne Hough is paired w/Adam Corolla, not Penn Jillette. Penn's partner is another bleach blonde, Kym Johnson. Fact checker, anyone?