TV Theme Night

With three amazing episodes to start off the season, it was going to be interesting to see how they continued with each group, especially since we were going to be sticking with Group C who we had just met, rather than going back to Group A. It was also interesting to see that they brought back a theme night from a previous season, which was TV Theme Night, which I was surprised by, as while I enjoyed it the first time when they had it in Season 8, I didn’t think it was the best episode that season, so I was curious to see how they would pull it off this time.

The episode began in one of the best ways that it could, as it opened with all four panelists performing the theme song to “Gilligan’s Island,” and they were all on a prop of a boat and dressed as characters from the show. Ken was dressed as Gilligan, Robin was dressed as The Skipper, Jenny was dressed as Ginger, Rita was dressed as Mary Ann, and Nick was dressed as The Millionaire.

From there, we went to the first performer of the night, which was The Clock. In her clue package, she said that she has had her fair share of ups and downs in her life, and that like any good TV series, she has always been renewed, and she thinks that it’s her positive outlook that has carried her from season to season. When she was broke, she appreciated the free things in life. When her car didn’t start, she said it was a beautiful day for a walk. And even though her marriages didn’t work out, something great came from those relationships, which is her children. The visual clues were a headline that said “Clock Renewed! It’s Always Her Time to Shine,” a map of the Mississippi River Trail, a motor, and a photo of Clock with her two children, which were a boy and a girl. She then went on to give an amazing performance of the theme song to “Good Times,” where she showed off the power in her voice. After that, Jill Whelan from “The Love Boat” came out with an additional clue which was a ship. She then said that love and boat are two things that combine to make a hit, which is something that she knows first-hand. When she performed last week, the internet was saying that Clock was Disco singer Thelma Houston, and after this week’s performance, I still agree with this guess. The map of the Mississippi River Trail could be referring to her hometown of Leland, Mississippi, the motor is referring to her recording songs for the soundtrack of the film “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings,” and she is divorced and has a daughter and a son, and her saying that she knows about making hits first-hand could be referring to her hit song “Don’t Leave Me This Way.”

The next performer of the night was The Poodle Moth. In her clue package, she said that she has learned that sometimes the ones you love leave, without so much as a letter. She then said that her dad left a hole in her heart that she never filled, and that she would send him letters that were always returned to sender, with each return stamp breaking her heart. Then one day, she decided to write a letter to herself, and realized that she was capable of being loved the way she deserved. Some visual clues included cats on an envelope and stamp, theater masks, and fireflies. She then gave a beautiful performance of the theme to “The Hills,” which is “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. After the performance, Heidi and Spencer Pratt from “The Hills” brought out an additional clue, which was a choir that performed the theme to “Gilmore Girls.” Poodle Moth then said that she has a very special connection to “Gilmore Girls” that hits very close to home. After her first performance, many people on the internet were saying that The Poodle Moth was Chrissy Metz, and the clues this week confirmed it even more. Her father did walk out on her and her family when she was younger, the cats could be referring to her guest starring on an episode of “The Last O.G.” as a character named Pooh Cat, the theater masks are because she is an actress, the fireflies could be referring to a lyric in her song “Learning to Be Brave” that mentions fireflies, and the connection to “Gilmore Girls” that hits very close to home is because her costar on “This Is Us” Milo Ventimiglia starred on that show as well.

The next performer of the night was The Lizard. In his clue package, he said that as a kid, he loved cartoons so much that he spent all his days drawing them. He said that he was so good that he was offered a dream job at a huge animation studio and his dad begged him to take the job, but he turned it down because he knew he wanted to be a performer, and when he became a recognizable star, his dad was proud of him. Visual clues included a wall of clocks, a lizard doll, and cowboy boots. He then went on to perform the theme song to “Scooby Doo, where are You.” When I first read the description for this episode, I was surprised to find out that someone would be performing the theme to a cartoon. There has only been one other contestant in the history of the show to perform a cartoon theme song, which was Larry the Cable Guy giving a goofy rendition of the theme to “The Flintstones” that ultimately got him eliminated, so I was wondering if we would get another performance like that. To my surprise, he did a great job performing the “Scooby Doo” theme in an R&B style, showed off some amazing dance moves, and was very entertaining throughout the whole performance. After the performance, there was an additional clue, which was an actual dog that was brought onto the stage. He then said that a dog helped him reach a bigger audience. In one of the most entertaining moments of the panelists making their guesses, Robin and Rita had both figured out who Lizard was, and it seemed like they were both going to explain how the clues applied to this person, and while Rita did it, Robin instead just explained how the voice and the dance moves told him who it was. They ultimately said at the same time that The Lizard was Sisqo, and I still agree with that guess from the internet last week. He was offered a job by Disney and a spot at the animators’ trade school after the company saw his anime-influenced drawings, the lizard doll is a clue to the fact that Play Along Toys made a Sisqo doll, the cowboy boots are a clue to both him being a contestant on the show “Gone Country” and being featured on the Will Smith song “Wild Wild West,” and the dog that helped him reach a bigger audience is a clue to him being in the movie “Snow Dogs.” 

The final contestant of the night was the first wildcard contestant of the season, Sir Lion. The video of his clue package without any dialogue was posted to social media two hours before the episode aired, and what I saw had me concerned. The clues that I saw were a radio, an anchor, which told me that this was a TV anchor, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, which told me that this person has interviewed them, a balloon with Jerry Seinfeld on it, and a picture of Rockefeller Plaza. From looking at these clues, I was worried that Sir Lion was former “Today” anchor Matt Lauer. He was an anchor on “Today,” he had an infamously heated interview with Tom Cruise, he has often been told that he looks like Jerry Seinfeld, even dressing as him for Halloween one year, and “Today” is filmed in Rockefeller Plaza. When the episode finally aired hours later, I found out that I was wrong, as in his clue package, he said that he comes from a well-known pride and that he jumped through hoops to become a ringleader in Hollywood, and that he has always landed on his feet no matter what Hollywood throws his way. He then gave a very good performance of “Love and Marriage” from “Married… With Children.” After his performance, The T-Rex costume from Season 3 brought out an additional clue while “The Flintstones” theme played, which was a bone that said “Co-Star.” He said that he wasn’t in the cartoon, but he co-starred on a different TV show with Betty Rubble. I had no idea who was underneath the mask, and the internet didn’t know either, as they guessed people that not all the clues applied to or that had very distinct voices.

After that, it was time for the smackdown, and the two singers with the least amount of votes were The Lizard and Sir Lion, which didn’t surprise me. Right before the smackdown started, Nick said that they would be performing the best theme song of all, so I guessed that they would be singing the theme song to “Friends.” I immediately found out that I was wrong, as they started singing “Who Are You” by The Who, which is the theme to their own show. Lizard did a great job singing the song in his R&B tone, and Sir Lion had a very good gritty sounding rock voice. Ultimately, The Lizard won the smackdown, and Sir Lion was unmasked. This was one of the few times where they unmasked someone, and I had no idea who it was going to be. He was then revealed to be TV and radio personality Billy Bush, which I find interesting because I was the closest out of anybody with my first impression guess, as he was a host on “Today” for a while.

Overall, this was another great episode of The Masked Singer! I will see you all next week with the Group C Finals in Shower Anthem Night!