Burning TV questions that only time can answer/things we're worried about:

1. Will they drag Pretty Little Liars on too long?
2. Will Supernatural ever be good again? Will Homeland be able to match the quality of its first season next year? 
3. Will Breaking Bad and Dexter have endings worthy of them? And can they please let Jesse Pinkman live?
4. Will George R.R. Martin's sixth book be better than four and five? Will he actually end it on the seventh? Can he finish on time to stay ahead of the show?
5. Will the next crop of new shows be better than the new shows last year, of which there was maybe one good effort?
6. Has Once Upon a Time completely lost its thunder, and will the show ever make sense? Ditto The Vampire Diaries.
7. Will the 24 reunion be good, or will it be like 24:Redemption, the awful movie?
8. Will they make more of the (still excellent) Arrested Development series or will the haters shut it down?
9. Will people inexplicably keep watching Arrow and keep it on the air?
10. Will Bunheads ever have anything resembling a plot?

ERGHHHH

Bunheads: Season 1, Episode 15-18

Take the Vicuna (B+), There's Nothing Worse Than a Pantsuit (B-), It's Not a Mint (A-)- We don't care for the Millie building an amphitheater storyline, because there isn't much at stake there. Still, it's nice to have Liza Weil on our TVs again. The show kind of dropped the Michelle's mom plot as soon as it brought it up. Is that going to come back soon? Why bring it up if you're not going to do anything with it? We'll wait for season two on that one.

Bunheads- Season 1, Episodes 13-14

I'll Be Your Meyer Lansky- This is the episode where Fanny and Michelle tried to get advice from a financial planner, and they drove him crazy. The good thing about this episode is that, although it featured Fanny, she wasn't annoying at all. In fact, since the hiatus, Fanny has been a lot more tolerable. Dare we say, even, likable? In small doses, Fanny is fine. Every other episode with her works for us.

We love that Godot is smart. If the younger guy is smarter than the older woman, it can work. Melanie was awesome with the violence this week. In real life, she would be psycho and cruel, but on TV, it's great. We should get to see Cozette dance more. In fact, more dancing from everyone, please. We got a good dance at the end of this one, which highlighted Sasha's emotional turmoil. Her mother is an idiot who shouldn't be a mother.

Episode grade: B+

The Astronaut and the Ballerina- It's hard to believe that there is a dance studio of any quality in this small town, let alone roller derby. Some NORMAL towns don't even have roller derby. We'll let it slide. What we won't let slide, however, is how annoying everyone was this week. The manic rants were at 100% this week. It was scene after scene after scene of loudness, monologues, and hammy acting.

The show needs to have about four manic scenes per episode, with quieter ones in between. It just needs to tone things down. You can't write every character like she's Lorelai Gilmore. Not loving Jordan as a character or Boo freaking out. They both seem unrealistic to the point that we're pulled out of the world of the show. We didn't like Michelle's brother at all. He wasn't funny. It was the actress's actual brother though. The actor wasn't bad. We blame the writing.

We heard a lot about their mother. Is she going to show up at some point? Probably. One of the freak-outs we liked was Ginny's mother, Claire, pouring punch on the bridal party and obsessing over her ex husband's wedding. Everything about that, down to the stalking, was pretty hilarious. Ginny needs to chill though, for real.

Episode grade: C+

Bunheads- Season 1, episodes 11-12

Oh, this weird, plotless show. We love it bunches. It's starting to be more confident now that it's settled. The premiere of Bunheads was really cute and only a little nonsensical. In fact, it was probably the best possible episode for it to return with. There was emotion and some of the best dialogue we've seen from this show yet. Hubbell and Michelle's wedding video was not nearly as creepy as we would have guessed. In fact, it was super sweet.

Plus, it opened with SUCH a great dance number. We want to watch that multiple times. We were confused about one thing. Did Sasha blow off that great opportunity at The Joffrey? Or did she just come back earlier than she told her parents she would be back? Did she just spend the gap hiding or was it the whole summer? If you know, let us know. We liked the episode, but we don't want to watch the whole thing again. Just that dance number.

Onto this week. Truly is starting to get on our nerves, but if it leads to more of us seeing her hilarious sister, played by Liza Weil, we'll be happy. This show needs a Paris. We don't even mind if this show is Gilmore Girls 2.0 at this point. We're just glad there is something like it. We both miss Gilmore Girls so much (Leeard more than Ern, but still; they should totally bring it back and do a time jump). It was hilarious that Truly's sister is so the opposite of her in every way and that they hate each other.

Bunheads - A Nutcracker in Paradise

By The Huntington from Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Sutton Foster) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

We’re going to be generous with the last episode of this weird first ten. Bunheads won’t be back until January. It’s such a hot mess with odd scenes like the whole last five minutes of the episode, but we’ve decided to understand it. We will root for it and allow it to be eccentric for as long as it entertains and makes us care about the characters. We actually care about Michelle and the girls. Fanny is going to take a while. This episode left us bummed, but it was good. In this show’s odd way. One of this week’s strengths was all the dancing. We saw a lot of ballet and even some musical theater dancing from Sutton Foster. We also liked the crazy, single white female ringer. We loved when she stood over Sasha and took her bow.

Sasha is Ern’s favorite character on this show; Melanie is probably Leeard’s. Charlie is no one’s favorite character. We are so happy Boo and Carl made up, even if their dancing moment and Boo’s public confession were crazypants. We liked the use of "The Rainbow Connection", even if the dance didn’t fit it at all. The song fit the mood, not the dance, and it was realistic that their dance wouldn’t fit the song that happened to be playing in the restaurant. Of course Sasha is going to take up with Roman and they will have equally stupidly named children. Ugh. At least she has a love interest though. Amy Sherman-Palladino does well with bad boys in her shows, so it might be good. We like what she’s doing with the bad girl too.

If you’ve seen the show, you know Michelle makes three mistakes. The first is telling Michael about Fanny’s secret desire to live with him in a cabin over the summer. Michelle is old enough to know that this would scare a lot of guys away. Also, if you interfere in someone else’s romantic relationship for the better, you must do so with informed advice and try not to give away secrets or exactly what the other party has told you, even if it would make your argument more convincing. What Michelle should have said was, “Oh, hey, I know this isn’t in your normal relationship habits, Michael, but maybe you should invite Fanny up sometime this summer. I can take over the studio while she’s gone if that’s something you want to do. Just let me know. It might be nice to surprise her.” And that’s how it’s done. Michelle’s second mistake was the pepper spray. Why does she even have mace?

To quote Tracey Thoms in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof: “Look, I don't know what futuristic utopia you live in, but the world I live in, a bitch need a gun…  Uh, motherf***er tryna rape me? I don't wanna give him skin rash! I wanna shut that n**** down…Look, if I ever become a famous actress, I won’t carry a gun. I'll hire me a do-dirt n****, and he'll carry the gun. And when s*** goes down, I'll sit back and laugh. But until that day, it's Wild West motherf***er!” Couldn’t  have put it better ourselves. We could, however, have put it cleaner. But that’s beside the point, which is that pepper spray is not infallible. A man can fight through it, most sprays aren’t strong enough, and you have to make sure you spray it so that the wind doesn’t blow it back in your face. Also, if it’s in the air, it’s going to hurt your eyes too, most likely. If you're not a gun person, get a powerful taser and a concealed weapons permit, and get trained to use it. Nobody mistakes a taser for a pretty spray either. Michelle’s third mistake was kissing the young Australian guy in public. Actually, that wasn’t her mistake at all. People are judgmental and should get over it.  

The audition dream was sobering and kind of deep. We liked Michelle’s rendition of "Maybe This Time". Obviously, she can sing. The whole time though, Ern just couldn’t stop thinking, “God, I’d kill for her arms. Dear Lord, do I really have to become a dancer and get off the couch to get those arms? Ugh.” We got to see Hubbell as her judge, who finally showed up. Hubbell told her that she was in Paradise to shake things up, that Fanny would have liked a daughter, and that Michelle has changed things. Michelle has bonded with the girl dancers and probably kept Fanny from falling into loneliness and despair. We loved that Sasha was the girl to start the Dead Poets Society thing. We’re glad other people stood up because for a moment we thought they wouldn’t. There was emotional payoff there and a little closure until January. Depending on how full our TV and occupational plates are, we may watch the rest of the season. The show has problems, but ain't it sweet?

Episode grade: A-

Bunheads - No One Takes the Khaleesi’s Dragons

By The Huntington from Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Sutton Foster) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Yes, that’s really the title of this episode. This show is so crazy. It’s like Amy Sherman-Palladino loves Game of Thrones even more than Leeard. Wait, not possible. Anyway, this show worked really hard to fit that reference in, even when it made no sense. Fanny is looking for a new Clara, and no one wants to fill the role. Fanny has gone crazy. Once of the dancers has a black eye. COMICAL. Sasha doesn’t like cheerleading, and Michelle gave her a talk about how she needs to suck it up and go back to ballet. It seemed to go well.

Michelle tries to get a new market to open in town, with no success. The bartender hits on Michelle and then buys her a coffeemaker. Boo tried to make up with Carl and even got a kiss from him, but then she ruins it again. Ginny has a crush on Charlie now, and Boo thinks she broke “bra code.” Carl hears Boo scolding Ginny and just leaves. Boo realizes she’s an idiot who lost Carl again.

Kirk from Gilmore Girls shows up as a coffee barista who takes his art very seriously. He’s won awards and takes forever to make a cup of coffee. It was really funny, especially in the cold open, but we hope he doesn’t stick around. The joke has been told. We also thought it was funny when Ginny was acting so weird around Charlie. The Truly stuff was funny too. A little of her goes a long way. We want Michelle to at least give the bartender a try, but he doesn’t seem like endgame for her, does he? It might be fun though. She needs fun.

Those cheerleading outfits were cute. We still don’t know what this show wants to do with its characters or where it’s going, if it’s going anywhere, but we enjoyed this hour of TV. If the show doesn't get a second season though, we understand. If it weren't summer (when there are fewer shows), we probably wouldn't still be watching it. 

Episode grade: B

Bunheads - Blank Up, It’s Time

That title (and the play title) is an example of what Amy SP does best. We will forever be wondering what the dirty word is that you could fit in the blank and have it make sense. That’s an awkward sentence. We should fix that. Naw. Too lazy. Anyway, this episode was entertaining and cute. We love having Fanny back because her return was well-done. It was good for her to leave for a while though. This episode was all about men and boys coming into the protagonists lives. Man, this weird little show needed some dudes. Fanny is back in town with an old friend in tow: Michael. Michael is a jazz pianist Fanny has known (and also known in the Biblical sense) since Hubbell was a ten-year-old. Michael easily handles Michelle and her weird humor, cooks Fanny breakfast, has a smooth and deep voice, and seems to get along with Fanny very well. He and Fanny kept it casual for decades, but, after nudging from Michelle, asks Michael to stay a while. Ooooh. We like him, and we like seeing Fanny happy and loved.

Sasha goes in the sun, in a bathing suit, and gets tan lines, which is against Fanny’s rules. In the hopes of quelling Sasha’s rebellious spirit, Fanny gives Sasha’s part in a big dance to Boo. Sasha then proceeds to go out for cheerleading and put blue streaks in her hair. She looks ridiculous. Fanny throws Sasha out of the studio. Boo gets a dance partner, Carl, who is shorter than her, kind of a dork, and clearly in love with her. Slowly, Carl wins Boo over. It’s so freaking cute. But then Ginny and Melanie are mean to him and Boo doesn’t stand up for him! They tell Carl that Boo doesn’t want him. How rude. Hopefully they can make it past that because Carl is much better for Boo than douche-y Charlie. Also, Carl is completely precious.

Fanny invites Michelle to see a play with her in Los Angeles. Michelle has a long conflict with a large woman who won’t move her legs so that Michelle could get to her seat. Pointless, plotwise, but very funny. Michelle meets Connor (DIGGER. Why is Digger Styles here? THIS IS THE DARKEST TIMELINE. If he hangs around, we will strangle ourselves.), the play’s director. After some banter, they date and then sleep together. Wow, that was quick. Do people really sleep together that quickly? Psh, we don’t. After sex, Michelle starts crying because only now is she able to grieve Hubbell. Okay, we can accept that. At least it made an amusing scene. Conner handles it well, but we still hate him because he is DIGGER and he is exactly like DIGGER and DIGGER IS THE WORST. 

Points off for the Killing Fields joke. That didn't work at all and bordered on bad taste.

Episode grade: B+

Bunheads - What’s your damage, Heather?

An actual ballet class? We haven’t gotten to see one of those yet. Oh, and it’s for little kids. Alright, that’s cute. We still want to see a little of a real ballet class though. EIGHT years, Ginny? Eight years?!! Ginny is like 15!!  Fanny still isn’t back. Michelle discovers a leak in her roof and calls a plumber. Then she takes the girls out to eat. They discuss body issues. Snore. 

Michelle accidentally convinces Ginny to dump her gay boyfriend. You know, that one she’s been dating for eight years who brings her goodie baskets. Ginny’s nasty real estate broker mom yells at Michelle over this because she needs gay boyfriend around as some sort of glue and helper around the house (and surrogate husband). 

Sasha steals Michelle’s shirt and they have a fight. We LOVED Michelle taking Sasha to task (when she shouted the episode’s title). Sasha really should have gotten that reference, but we doubt most of the people watching ABC Family did. And then they showed us a little of a ballet class. Nice, show. Michelle has a little meltdown about not being perfect with the girls and feeling overwhelmed with the studio. Boo’s awesome Mom, Nanette, feeds Michelle cookies and encouragement. We still don't like Truly, even when she's less pathetic. We did like the Gilmore Girls alum who stopped by to do the plumbing...

Charlie asks Boo to talk him up with the newly single, and “hot,” Ginny. Poor Boo. Guys need to retire that term. “Hot” is the least intimate way a guy can say he finds a girl attractive. It’s callous, objectifying, and too casual for the sentiment. Don’t let guys call you hot. Lots of people are complaining that this show has no discernible plot, even episode-to-episode. We agree, and if one doesn’t crop up soon, one week we’re going to get too bored to tune in. This is the most meandering show we’ve ever seen. It also feels so unnatural (STILL). We are still enjoying Sutton Foster though. We love that the girls are getting more screen time, and we REALLY loved the 50 Shades of Grey dis from last week's episode. 

Episode grade: B-

Bunheads - Movie Truck

Okay, so. The first 57 minutes of the episode were actually pretty good. Michelle is being forced (by Fanny, who went on a surprise vacation and abandoned the studio) to teach dance classes. Progress! Truly basically makes Michelle and Talia bring her along for Michelle's birthday festivities. Michelle and Truly have the beginnings of a friendship. Progress! We finally see Ginny's boyfriend. Progress! Boo talks to Charlie, Melanie's brother, who she has a crush on and doesn't completely embarrass herself. Progress! Sasha's parents get into a huge fight and her dad possibly goes crazy. Or they're getting a divorce. Either way: Progress! There was a cupcake ATM. That's not progress, but it's awesome.

And then. And then, you guys. The last three minutes were Sasha and two random girls dancing. To "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" by They Might Be Giants. Which is a great song, but that dance? I don't think words can accurately describe how weird it was. And, like, Sasha was singing along to parts? She's a great dancer, don't get me wrong. But there was no talking and she was dressed head to toe in a black onesie and it was just ... bizarre. And it's how the episode ended. I think it broke me?

If someone could confirm that dance actually happened, that would be great. I cannot find independent confirmation that it happened, and there are no images/gifs on tumblr of it, so I'm not 100% sure. If it's not on tumblr, it didn't happen.

Anyway, Episode Grade: I don't even know, I can't think right now. B?

Bunheads - Better Luck Next Year

We both thought Bunheads was weird this week, in that it felt really disjointed and choppy. There were good individual scenes, particularly the dream sequence where we got to see Sutton Foster do her musical theater thing, but things didn’t flow. The show made the obvious Game of Thrones reference, since the visiting ballet studio was called “Joffrey.” We usually appreciate Game of Thrones being relevant to EVERYTHING, but Bunheads totally spoiled season one! Way to go. Michelle has some balls, trying to seduce all those handymen, but we like that Fanny was the one who got the job done. We liked the floor guy. He seemed sweet. Fanny should get some of that action. We are starting to enjoy Truly on this show. It was funny how she’s such a spineless jellyfish (always going with the majority) and is an expert on what other people need. The joke we liked the best was when Michelle muttered about David Copperfield being a top-notch magician.

It was so sad and stupid of Boo’s mom to leave that cake in the fridge. Sasha showed her nice side again though, which we appreciate. A huge weakness of the episode was that the other two dancers weren’t in it at all. We want to see more of the dancing girls, show. We also need to see some sort of structure emerge. There was so much meandering with all Michelle's stuff, curtain rods, faxes, and weird little arguments. Can Michelle teach at the studio already?!! The high points of this episode mostly involved Boo or Michelle/Fanny talking about Boo. Probably our favorite part was when Fanny kept sending Boo back in wigs so that the audition people would see Boo and her dancing, and not her larger bottom half. It was a sweet moment. Overall, this episode was less boring than last week’s and less forced than the week before, but still not what we want to see from this show.

Episode grade: B

Bunheads - Inherit the Wind

As soon as Michelle was trying to get Hubbell’s car off of a private road and needed to contact the owner, we thought, “The owner is going to be a hot guy!” And we were right. He’s a little old for our taste, but Michelle is 37 (or at least the actress is). His house is supposed to look super nice, so we think he might be gay. Then we realized he was just “Manilow rich” and could hire a (slightly tacky and cliché) designer.

Still, usually a straight guy’s house looks something like Ern’s dad’s bachelor pad, which includes a foosball table, Three Stooges poster, golf putting practice machine, alligator skin couches with alligator skin drapes, no curtains, large rugs, inherited antiques, guns, large TV, two refrigerators full of steaks, and X-box. But maybe we just need to get the gender stereotypes out of our heads.

Anyway, the boys on this show have finally arrived. The rich one, Grant, is a douche so far. Give Michelle some wine, dude! Ginny’s brother, Charlie, was at the studio long enough for everyone to realize that Boo has a crush on him. Poor Boo. Sasha’s mean girl ways are back, but we are supposed to feel bad for her now because her mom is shallow, rich, and neglectful. We meet Boo’s mom, and she’s cool. The girls are in a contest with other ballet studios to see which one’s girls have the grossest feet. That was kind of funny.

Fanny starts acting really bitchy about Michelle inheriting everything, and Michelle is nice back. Michelle moves into the guest house behind the studio, leaves Fanny in the house, and assures Fanny that Hubbell didn’t mean to cut her off, because he thought Fanny would be dead before him. It makes sense! She didn't explain it well, but we get what she meant. Michelle also gives her wine. Slowly.

Ginny’s mother, Claire, tries to get Michelle to sell the house with her. She’s a real estate agent, and she has a real grudge against her ex-husband for leaving her. She’s also a little crazypants. Even though Michelle was so annoying in the scene where she was explaining to Grant how terrified she was to put down roots, we totally sympathize. Leeard's mother keeps trying to convince her to buy a house. We don’t want to own any houses yet! We want to move far and wide!

We guess this episode was better than last week’s, at least, but it wasn’t as good as the pilot. The problems from last week (the jokes trying too hard and the painful line delivery) were nearly gone last night. This show is really trying our patience with its slow moving plots. This episode's middle was duuuuuuullllllll. We have to wait two weeks for a new one (curses) and we hope Bunheads doesn’t lose the meager audience it has in that time. Sidenote: We love the word "snood" and will be using it whenever possible. We might even start wearing them just so we can tell people what they're called.

Episode grade: B 

Bunheads - For Fanny

Michelle goes into a restaurant/bar. The guy running it is no Luke Danes. He is, in fact, old and an uggo (and MITCHUM HUNTZBERGER!). Michelle doesn’t like dogs?! What?!! COMMUNIST. We liked seeing that Pushing Daisies alumna as the crazy ex-Wiccan. We loved “Ain’t She Sweet” from last week and lamented that we couldn’t find that version of the song to buy on iTunes. This week’s song wasn’t as good, but it was still pretty good. We love that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino can exhibit her music taste better on this show by having the girls dance to it. Lane showed us on Gilmore Girls that Amy is quite the audiophile. We like that Sasha is showing a lot of heart, because it’s great to round out her character from the pilot. She’s still the troublemaking, spoiled leader of the pack, but we think we are going to like her.

It would have been inappropriate for Michelle to openly grieve immediately. When she finally asserted that she was “going through this too,” it was after she had given everyone leeway to take all the grieving rights. But using the words “crazy” and trying to change the memorial was arguably wrong. The predictable solution was for Michelle to make the memorial happen. It wasn’t very Buddhist though. Suck it, Shonda Rhimes. We saw dancers “of color” in the background during the memorial. The Grey’s Anatomy creator tweeted a while back, “Hey @abcfbunheads: really? You couldn’t cast even ONE young dancer of color so I could feel good about my kid watching this show? NOT ONE?” It’s funny that Shonda thinks all TV casting needs to be either a crusade or a rejection of one.

This episode proved that Amy’s actresses can really dance. That’s what they were picking: actresses with ballet backgrounds extensive enough to perform that memorial dance, not actresses who represented every color of the rainbow. The show is new. New, more diverse cast members may pop up. We love seeing black actresses get lead roles (we praised Shonda’s Scandal for it), but we don’t think you need to go after someone else’s fragile, cute show for casting all white actresses who are perfect for their parts. Amy responded, saying (among other things) that there wasn’t much time or budget for a casting search. We know the names of the other two main dancers! They are Melanie and Ginny. Ginny is the blonde. Boo and Sasha round out the main four. Boo’s real name is Bettina. They are all perfect for their roles.

The episode’s end had another twist, but a more predictable one. Hubbell left everything (the land and the house) to Michelle, not Fanny. We loved Michelle’s swig of beer after hearing the news. Sutton Foster (Michelle) is growing on us with every minute we look at her and her facial expressions, which are comedy gold. She can convey everything with a deadpan glare. This episode was a little slow in parts for us, especially when Fanny was planning her crazy memorial. We get it, show. It was crazy. The episode was also, obviously, kind of a bummer. The episode had to happen though. The Truly stuff was funny. Our favorite lines were: “I didn’t mean to scare you with hell.” “It’s okay. That’s what Hell is for.” They were delivered in the perfect, teary way.

Less perfect was the delivery of some of Amy’s more cutesy lines. The young dancers struggled with making their dialogue seem believable and needed more guidance in how to equal Lauren Graham’s delivery. Even Kelly Bishop didn’t feel genuine. We hope the show gets better at feeling natural while keeping the clever jokes. Don’t force it, Amy, it’s going to come across as a false, soulless copy of Gilmore Girls, rather than a show with its own loveable characters. The show is still building toward its main plots, where Michelle will teach the girls to dance and hopefully find her Luke Danes. When the show is done with set-up, we expect it to feel more genuine. We still think you should be watching it, if only to help the ratings, because it has so much potential to be awesomesauce. The best part was the dog-walking part.

Episode grade: B-

Bunheads - pilot review

Spoiler free

Some genius posted a link to watch the series premiere of Bunheads on ABC Family’s site. The link is http://abcfamily.go.com/watch/bunheadssneakpeek and the password is PLLFans. Capitalization matters. So, anyway, we watched the premiere. Right off the bat, you knew Amy Sherman-Palladino wrote this, because the main character speaks as fast as Lorelai Gilmore ever did. We also instantly liked the main character, Michelle Simms. Actress Sutton Foster isn’t as pretty as most other TV leading ladies, but she gets the job done, acting-wise, and she's 37. Good Lord, she looks great. Sutton is a big Broadway star and we hope the show lets her sing at some point, in a non-corny way.

You know from the trailer that Michelle goes from showbusiness to working in a small town as a ballet teacher. We can’t say that we are nuts about how she got to the small town. It’s weird and surprising, but we don’t think that plotline will do the show any favors. At least we get to know how Cameron on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off turned out…He plays Hubbell, a small-town guy. It was wonderful to see Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore), again. She’s perfectly cast as the head ballet teacher, Fanny. Fanny is also Michelle’s nemesis for the time being, which should be fun.

The focus needs to go to that core group of girls in the ballet class, quickly, if this show is going to make it on ABC Family. They need to get a little more interesting too. Right away, the show addressed the body issues present in ballet (and the Western world at large, but particularly ballet). We liked that. But if Boo is big-boned, Angelina Jolie is fat. The blonde dancer (Melanie) looks like a miniature Megan Hilty, so if Smash ever needs a younger Ivy Lynn, here’s where they can look. Of course there’s one mean girl, Sasha, but we like her. Looks kind of like Rory…

There’s no movie theater in Michelle’s new town?!! For us, that would not stand. We would have to move, immediately, or at least find out if the next town over had movies. About 16 minutes in, the show had a decent twist. We also noticed that the music is a heck of a lot like the Gilmore Girls music. The “la la la la’s” are back. Ern is annoyed by this. Gipsy from Gilmore Girls is in this too. We love the character Truly (Hubbell Flowers’ ex). We loved the line: “Where did you learn to kiss like that? Oh God, don’t say your mother.”

We loved the black dress Michelle wore through the second half of the episode. Much better than ducks. Is the show funny? Not really, but it’s fun to watch. Actually, the dancing part was funny and the bar scene between Fanny and Michelle was too. That scene also helped us understand Michelle and made the reason she moved to the small town more believable. Just as we started to accept that plot, the game changed. And we’re so excited to see where the show goes from here. 

For a pilot, this was a good episode, and we are willing to give Bunheads at least a season to hook us, based on the sheer greatness that was Gilmore Girls. The episode had a shaky, odd first half, but the second half won us over for now. We hope the show gets a long enough time to hook people and really come into its own. We are nervous about the show's network, because the show is a little smart and mature for ABC Family. It might have worked better on the CW or even one of the network stations. We hope girls can care about adults Michelle and Fanny as much as they can about pretty little liars. Boo, Sasha, Melanie, and the other one need to start dating and lying, fast.

Episode grade: B+