Cloris Leachman gets a scolding on ‘Dancing’

Daytime diva Susan Lucci gained a point on her previous performance and matched Cody for the night, but numbers aside, she’s still struggling in the competition.

As noted by the judges, Susan looked more confident and less scared to shake her booty in the mambo, but that hardly made up for her timing, which came and went throughout the routine.

That wasn’t a problem for Carrie Ann, who was on a roller coaster of inconsistent criticism and took issue with Bruno for even bringing up the “timing thing.”

A smooth looking and clean-shaven Maurice Greene made big ballroom strides in the Viennese waltz, but it wasn’t enough to charm the judges.

Sporting an improved frame and near-rigid posture, the sprinter spun Cheryl Burke through a series of dizzying counterclockwise turns and careful moves in the classic dance, but he might as well have been dancing with a stranger for all the chemistry he and Cheryl had.

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The restrained performance only merited a 21 from the panel, and marked a drop of six points from his simmering salsa last week.

After the regular routines were out of the way, it was time for this season’s group disaster. The annual ballroom catastrophe gives all the stars a chance to combine their dance-floor shortcomings into one poorly timed, cheesy dance-off.

Improving slightly on last season’s country line-dance hoedown, this time the stars strutted their stuff in a hip-hop tribute. Still, a group dance is only as strong as its weakest link. Not surprisingly, Cloris is one heck of a weak link.

Luckily for the celebs, the judges don’t score the group effort, but it wouldn’t change much if they did. Cloris, Maurice and Susan are still pulling up the rear, and with the Maurice’s previous sexy salsa still fresh in viewers minds and the inevitable sympathy vote in play for the show's senior soft-shoe, Tuesday night may end in a Susan Lucci send-off.

Ree Hines is a frequent contributor to msnbc.com.

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