americasbestdancecrew

A year ago I was enthralled by MTV's America's Best Dance Crew. It was a concept that actually fit MTV: dancing to music which was often influenced by music videos. For episode five of the first season, Mario Lopez announced Michael Jackson week. I cringed because I knew that the crews were going to have to use things like the moonwalk and the zombie "Thriller" moves.

The contestants were celebrating the 25th anniversary release of Thriller. Luckily the crews didn't have to use the horrible remixes that were added to the rerelease. When the episode ended, I was happily surprised.

With the second week of competitions tonight on So You Think You Can Dance, I wanted to point out a trend: reality dance show contestants can't leave television. Several contestants and a few choreographers have jumped ship and have appeared on other reality shows.

The jump basically can plant an already established fanbase onto a different television show. One great example is Ty Murray on Dancing with the Stars. I'm not sure what the percentage of votes for Ty came from fans of Chelsie Hightower and her work from SYTYCD or his charm, but he definitely benefited from someone who knew to make routines that were camera friendly.

Since the reality television boom isn't going to end anytime soon, this could be a lucrative career path for the up-and-coming toddler who likes to ham it up with a microphone. After all, in this time of economic woes, what could be a better goal than glam, glitz, red carpets, and Emmy awards?

The reality show genre encompasses the gamut from talent contests to living in the jungle to living in a house with insufferable drones and drama queens and beyond. As a result, the hosts for these shows are going to be a varied lot, as well. Who are these people? How did they get where they are? And, more importantly ... what do I think of them? Read on.

'Burn Notice'
(10PM, USA) 2nd season finale
Gabrielle Anwar, who plays Fiona, burned agent Michael's ex-girlfriend Fiona, has called the revelations in the sophomore season finale "shocking."

Meaning, even the seemingly unflappable Michael will be reeling when he finds out the truth about Carla and Victor, Michael's would-be assassin.

Michael and Fiona are also dealing with his admission last week that he dumped his former fiancée Samantha because he loved Fiona more, but the real action comes when Victor's past is revealed and the new info leads Michael to square off against the mysterious Carla once and for all.

It's a fair question. I'm not going to knock the skills the boys obviously have, but in a way this is a reality all-star crew of hip-hop dancers. Three of their performers are former finalists of FOX's summer hit So You Think You Can Dance. Hell, even judge Shane Sparks choreographed and judged on SYTYCD before beginning his stint on Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew for MTV so the audience is already aware of a connection between the two shows. And you have to figure there's a pretty heavy crossover audience between the two. How many dancing competition shows are there that feature street dancing?

The question is whether or not its unfair that so much of America has already become familiar with and fallen in love with the dynamic style of Hok Konishi, Ryan Conferido and Dominic "D-Trix" Sandoval of Quest Crew. Where do you draw the line, or is there any need to? On SYTYCD the three each competed individually whereas here they're part of a larger group so it's not like they're getting a second chance. Still, I'm pretty sure I remember Quest Crew even performing on a results show of SYTYCD last summer.

'The Beast'
(10PM, A&E) series premiere
In the midst of his very public cancer battle, Patrick Swayze is making a professional comeback in this drama, playing a veteran FBI agent who may be playing a little fast and loose with the rules.

Charles Barker's (Swayze) world is about to become even more intense when he's assigned a young new partner, Ellis Dove (Travis Fimmel). Dove is happy to be paired up with Barker until the duo goes undercover to crack a weapons-smuggling ring and the rookie gets a look at how dangerous and all-consuming undercover work can be.

And there's also the little matter of the FBI's internal affairs agents, who want Dove to spy on his mentor, a suspected rogue agent.

(S02E11 ... or is that 12?) The live auditions were considered a sort of special, so does it count as episode one? This finale featured the return of all the crews from throughout the season and the results of which of the final two crews would be crowned. I'll just come right off the top and say that I was pretty disappointed to see Fanny Pak taken down before the finale. Of all the crews this season, they were the ones who got me the most excited.

The problem is I'm not sure which of the top two finalists I would have eliminated to make room for them. I just don't think either of them was stronger overall than Fanny Pak. Even the judges didn't seem pleased going into the finale with the remaining two crews. And unfortunately, throughout last week's performance episode, it was one disappointment after another until the final two dances. I appreciate the differences in these crews, but I don't think it was as exciting a finale as we could have had.

'The Cho Show'
(11PM, VH1) series premiere
Sassy comedienne Margaret Cho's last TV venture -- the 1994 ABC sitcom 'All-American Girl' -- ended with a quick cancellation and charges by some in the Korean-American community that she'd helped perpetuate negative stereotypes.

And that explains why the star is hesitant about accepting a Korean of the Year award in tonight's opener of her new series, a mix of reality and scripted bits that sheds light on her career and her hilarious relationship with her parents.

Cho's 'rents are happy she's been recognized with the honor, but in the face of such a potentially stressful event, the funny lady turns her attention to a more pressing matter: What will she wear?

On Tuesday I headed over to the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, CA for a taping of America's Best Dance Crew. I sat back in the V.I.P. room while the taping was going on. The show, which tapes at Stage 23, has a gigantic set this season (probably due to the first season's enormous and unexpected success). The taping is so boring though. While I was watching, they spent about twenty minutes taping the first thirty seconds where Mario Lopez starts things off. Each time they tweaked something he said, he got a little more annoyed. The audience never seemed to get tired of doing their job, applauding like maniacs.

But before anything started I got to interview judge Shane Sparks. Find out more about what Sparks had to say about his involvement with America's Best Dance Crew, his absence on this season's So You Think You Can Dance, Wade Robson, and the JabbaWockeeZ after the jump.

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A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have The Biggest Loser, America's Best Dance Crew and other new shows.