Twists and turns

Tuesday finally has something to offer with the return of one of my favorites. Now if I could just convince NBC to move "Law & Order: SVU" back to the 10:00 slot, I could call it a night.

"So You Think You Can Dance" (FOX, 8:00): I'm apprehensive about FOX's decision to air this show two months after picking a winner. "SYTYCD" usually airs in the summer, so the network is risking viewer fatigue by putting on a new season so quickly. The dancers are already feeling the stress as they are hit with the same injury curse that has stricken the contestants on "Dancing With the Stars". Billy Bell was removed from the cast after coming down with an illness (I hear it's mono), and Noelle is sitting out this week with a knee injury. To top it off, baseball is interrupting the Wednesday schedule, so the judges, not the viewers, decide who goes home tonight.

The Season 4 cast with Twitch, Katee, winner Joshua and Will has always been my favorite, so I also look for dancers who have personality to match their talent. Here are a few standouts:

• Russell has been my favorite since day one. He's partnered with Noelle, but since she's sidelined with an injury, he's forced to dance the foxtrot with choreographer Melanie LaPatin. I was impressed that he was able to lift that big woman! While the judges said the technique wasn't there, Russell still has that "it" factor.
• Contemporary dancer Kathryn really surprised me in her hip hop routine. Dave Scott constructed the one of the two best routines of the night. Season 2 contestant-turned-choreographer Travis Wall put together a number that had me on the edge of my chair.
• 19-year-old Jakob Karr came out of nowhere. He tackled a Tyce DiOrio Broadway number and was quite impressive.

The judges had the nerve to put Russell and Billy's replacement Brandon in the bottom four. Why pick on the guy who had no partner and the one who was given a day and a half to learn the routine? Ultimately, Brandon never has a chance to unpack and is sent home. For the girls the judges unanimously voted to off Ariana. But I'm under the impression that if Noelle can't return next week, the voted off girl is brought back. See you next week, Ariana.

"The Biggest Loser" (NBC, 8:00): It's head-to-head week and the losers have to weigh in against a member of the opposing team. Blue team wins the challenge and gets to pick the contenders. Bob leads the Black team through a grueling pool workout while Jillian pushes Amanda past her breaking point in the gym. "Why are these contestants so freakin' difficult this season?" Jillian mutters. Black team gets a two pound advantage in their first challenge win, but ends up losing the weigh-in. Blue team's Rudy breaks the campus record for losing 100 pounds in the fastest time (7 weeks). Black sends Abby home when clearly it's Daniel that's weighing their team down - literally. Fast forward: If I was forced to hear how Abby lost her family in a car accident one more time, I was going to rip my eyelashes out one by one. It's not that I didn't feel her pain. I was just tired of feeling it. And I think Shay's plan is to cry the weight off. GEEZ! That heifer cries a lot!

"Monica: Still Standing" (BET, 10:00): Monica Arnold is definitely not the same soft, shy girl I listened to in the early 90s. She's battling her way back from the trauma of seeing her boyfriend commit suicide in front of her and struggling to find the right songs for her new album. I don't think this show will be as good as Keyshia Cole's. Her show was full of raw emotion and family turmoil that there was no denying it's authenticity. "Still Standing" has a chance to be an emotional journey, but right now all the focus is on saving her career. Unless there's an episode that makes me cry, I'll be watching this one when it's on repeat. And just FYI, there is no pole vault event in a triathlon, Rocko.