There are many things that Dancing with the Stars is. It's family-friendly entertainment, an enjoyable journey watching people with no background in dance perform fabulous tangos, or even a trip down memory lane as we root for stars who were famous way back when. However, one thing that Dancing with the Stars is usually not is funny. That is, until Cloris Leachman came on the scene.

Cloris Leachman is an 82 freaking years old. She is old. Even after her long and illustrious career as an actress, if she chose to spend her twilight years sitting in a rocking chair and knitting lopsided hats for her grandchildren, nobody would bat an eyelash. Yet, here she is, cutting a rug and swearing like a sailor while she dances.

Cloris may have been way out of her league in season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, competing against people way fitter, way spryer and way more agile than she, but she certainly injected levity and high spirits into the competition in a way that nobody else could have. Nobody else would have the balls to do whatever the hell she wants, consequences be damned. The funniest thing about her elimination last night was how she patently ignored all of Samantha Harris' awkwardly eager questions. Instead of answering, she just sat her butt down on the floor and said, "You know, I'm not leaving." Bless her soul and willingness to do whatever the heck pops into her mind. I'm sure she must have had the ABC censors sweating bullets every time she wandered into the camera frame, fearing that she would drop a random F-bomb here or there.

It was definitely Cloris' time to leave the competition. In fact, by all rights, she should have been eliminated long, long ago. However, I'm really glad she got as far as she did. To be perfectly honest, I wish that she would have beaten Susan Lucci because I'm bored of watching Susan's safe and uninspiring routines every week, but I guess Susan Lucci fans are legion.

I'm incredibly proud of what Cloris accomplished during her stint on the show. She made Dancing with the Stars fun again. I'm also fairly certain that she will be one of the most memorably performers the show will ever have.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)