Did Andy Richter Survive Another Week of 'Dancing with the Stars'?

Last week, I passively watched Dancing with the Stars from another room because I was amused by my daughters’ enthusiasm for it. But this week? They held me down, people! They refused to let me off the couch to go watch that terrible Harlan Coben series on Prime Video. It was against my will!

But also, it was Halloween Night, and there’s a lot of great production value in these performances. And what can I say? Dylan Efron is charming as hell (someone put him in a Netflix Christmas movie), and I’m weirdly invested in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt—and how long Andy Richter can keep overcoming the lowest scores of the night and live to dance another week thanks to the outpouring of fan votes.

I may have cast one myself. Look, I’m a dad. The girls gave me a “Why won’t you spend more time with us?” guilt trip. Whitney Leavitt crushed it to a Green Day song. I’m only human.

Somehow, that wasn’t the best performance of the night, which actually went to Alix Earle, a social media personality and construction company heiress famous for her TikTok videos. Yeah, I don’t know who that is either. She did the tango to Billie Eilish, and it was fantastic.

The big story of the night, however, was Elaine Hendrix, who’s usually cheered on in the audience by her The Parent Trap co-star and Abbott Elementary cast regular Lisa Ann Walter. This week, Hendrix managed to stay in the competition from the hospital. She suffered a rib injury during rehearsal, so the judges had to critique her last full rehearsal performance, without costumes or production value. She scored OK but likely got a boost from fans sympathetic to her injury. She moves on, and doctors have apparently cleared her to dance next week.

As for Andy Richter? Yes, he survived another week, though I understand the frustration some fans have. He’s not a great dancer, and his partner, Emma Slater, does most of the work. But he’s Andy freakin’ Richter!

One thing I appreciate about Richter? He knows he’s not the best dancer and he feels a little guilty about the better dancers sent home before him, but by God, he’s putting in the work. For comparison’s sake, here’s Dylan Efron dancing the Viennese Waltz with a broken nose. His partner, Daniella Karagach, was blindfolded for half the performance. Impressive.

Efron is actually middle of the pack as a dancer in the competition, but he’s clearly the fan favorite. Not a fan favorite? The other Mormon housewife, Jen Affleck, who got sent home even after performing to a Taylor Swift song with her partner, Jan Ravnik, a dancer from Swift’s Eras Tour.

Not a lot of fluidity in her movements. That said, one person who might be secretly happy she’s out? Her husband, who has a jealous streak.

Aside: Alfonso Ribeiro hosts the show these days, but the twins had no idea what the Carlton Dance was. I showed them, and then we watched Ribeiro do it on Dancing with the Stars the season he won, and I absolutely understand why he won. Wow.