How many more times are we going to be led to believe that Bristol Palin is "in jeopardy" on elimination night, when she could theoretically be getting more votes than Jennifer Grey?
With Dancing With the Stars' results show extended by a half-hour to accommodate occasional election news break-ins, it took for...ever to find out who was out and which five celebs were in.
Even Tom Bergeron checked out for a minute, leaving Taylor Swift to take over his hosting duties. (For the record, she rather excelled at it.)
Oh, and the answer to our question is: As many times as it takes.
Bristol and Mark Ballas leaped into each other's arms upon hearing that they were safe for another week after having to face the red danger light yet again.
Meanwhile, retired NBA stud Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke were sent packing, despite "best dance yet" remarks from the judges last night, as well as their best individual score and a 10 from guest judge Hélio Castroneves.
Sitting in the audience with Fox's daughter, Eliza Dushku looked disappointed for her man as she joined in the round of goodbye applause.
"It's been a transformational journey for me," Fox said, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's been amazing. My relationship has transformed with my girlfriend, my daughter—it's the most enjoyable time having her here and sharing this with me."
Brandy, now pretty assured of a trip to the finals pending a major upset, was scooted off to safety right away, enabling her to enjoy performances by Swift, Rod Stewart and the cast of Mary Poppins from a more comfortable vantage point than her fellow contestants.
About a half-hour later, Grey joined her. Kurt Warner, Kyle Massey and, yes, Bristol Palin are still along for the ride, as well.
Also throughout tonight's show, part of DWTS' ongoing 200th episode celebration, "awards" were handed out in categories such as Most Dramatic Moment (Marie Osmond fainting, of course) and Best Worst Dancer (Kenny Mayne).
"I want to personally thank Jonathan Roberts...without you this award wouldn't have been possible—because you didn't catch me," Osmond deadpanned in a pretaped message.
Next week's challenge will be more than just the dance at hand: The couples will know their routines beforehand, but won't find out which song they're dancing to until they're on the air.
A ridiculous idea, really, but maybe it will level the playing field a bit.