My Ox Is Broken

Time for an "Amazing Race" Makeover

Monday, April 12, 2010

Obviously, I'm a fan of The Amazing Race. This website got its name from one of the funniest meltdowns in the history of the show:

But that clip of Colin & Christie is from Season 5. I'd argue that the show never fully recovered its original appeal after the disastrous Family Edition (Season 8). I'm sticking with the current season (16), but I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, and I know I'll forget most of the teams once the season ends.

Despite new locations and challenges every week, the show has become predictable. After inevitably getting lumped together on the same flight, leads evaporate and teams execute their Roadblocks and Detours week after week.

The new elements added over the seasons, like U-Turns and Speed Bumps, haven't improved the show. If anything, the U-Turn typically hastens the exit of strong or controversial teams, making the race less competitive and the show less interesting for viewers.

The show's casting formula doesn't help. Casting easily labeled pairs -- "The Brothers," "The Gay Couple," "The Mother-Daughter Team" -- surely forces producers to reject some compelling teams each season because their role has already been filled by another team.

It's time to give The Amazing Race a facelift. First, the casting process has to change. I don't care if the season is made up of nothing but teams of siblings or friends who are dating on-and-off; I just want to watch the best teams. Qualities like humor and competitiveness should trump filling certain demographic niches.

To that end, I propose winnowing down the number of teams. Instead of casting eleven teams, cast eight teams but make every other leg a non-elimination leg, which would still allow for twelve episodes per season. Even on a known non-elimination leg, teams will race hard for the time advantage of finishing in first place and the associated prizes. Drama needn't be sacrificed.

The biggest improvement the show could make would be to get rid of the tasks and transportation issues that seem to level the playing field every leg. Whether its arriving at a challenge location hours before it opens or boarding the one-and-only flight available with the rest of the teams, these equalizers remove any advantage for the team that finished the previous leg in first place. Rarely is a team able to leap ahead by making a bold move in an airport (or fall out of contention like Charla & Mirna did in Season 5), so why not skip the airports all together?

These equalizers exist to make it easier for the production crews to organize tasks and get cameras and equipment where they need to be. The stress of losing a lead or having to sleep in a car is minor given all of the other sources of stress teams are subject to. It has nothing to do with making the leg more interesting for viewers.

To eliminate these equalizers and ease the strain on the production staff, I wish that all long-distance travel between locations would take place off-camera. For example: after Leg #1 ends in Lisbon, the teams rest up and board the same flight to Moscow where Production Team 2 is waiting for them. Meanwhile, Production Team 1 flies to Tokyo to set up Leg #3.

Instead of teams starting the next leg 12 hours after they finished the previous leg, start each leg at a set time (7 a.m. perhaps). Give the teams a time advantage based on how far ahead of the last place team each pair finished, kind of like the staggered start used in the Tour de France.

Whether the time advantage is cumulative or based on a percentage of how much quicker each team finished doesn't really matter. But each leg should be designed so that it can be finished same day, avoiding boring downtime as teams wait for someplace that's closed to open up.

This redesigned format might make it hard to send teams on a true round-the-world journey, but who cares? The show only mentions that aspect in the first and last episodes; Phil Keoghan doesn't hold up a map every week showing the teams' trans-global progress since from the start map. The whole season could be filmed in Europe or Africa and it wouldn't matter, so long as the locations are novel and the teams are interesting.

Without some changes, I don't know how much longer I can stick with the show. I've stopped watching additional online content and reading interviews with the eliminated teams because I just don't care about any of them. I don't even watch the commercials now that I have a DVR. If I'm going to watch The Amazing Race, I want to do so because it deserves my attention, not just out of a sense of nostalgia for the great show it used to be.

Ox Notes: March 4, 2010

Thursday, March 04, 2010

The subject of today's Ox Notes is Ox Notes itself. After today, Ox Notes is shifting from regular posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays to more sporadic postings so that I can focus on other projects.

I'll still post here at My Ox Is Broken when the mood strikes and as news crops up closer to the premiere of Dancing with the Stars 10. I mean, is there any chance the celebs make it through preseason rehearsals without a serious injury?

In the meantime, follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/kathyfgibson), where I'll still be posting frequently. (Even if you have no desire to post, it's worth getting a Twitter account these days, just to read what others are writing!) I also write weekly Bollywood movie reviews for Access Bollywood (http://accessbollywood.net).

Here are a few sites I recommend for entertainment news:

Pure DwtS -- an excellent catalog of Dancing with the Stars news and commentary
People -- the best of the celebrity mags, especially their TV Watch blog
EW -- good for general TV news and home of Jeff Probst's Survivor blog, updated on Friday mornings
Reality Blurred -- a great site for reality TV news
The Watcher -- my favorite TV critic

Thanks for all of your comments and contributions during Ox Notes' three-year run. Talk to you soon!

Dancing with the Stars 10 Cast Announcement

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

At last, the cast of Dancing with the Stars 10 has been revealed. Kudos to those of you who stuck with last night's Bachelor finale until the last 15 minutes of the show, when Tom Bergeron and Melissa Rycroft finally announced the names of the celebrity cast members. Here's the list:

Buzz Aldrin & Ashly Delgrosso

Pamela Anderson & Damien Whitewood

Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Shannen Doherty & Mark Ballas

Kate Gosselin & Tony Dovolani

Evan Lysacek & Anna Trebunskaya

Niecy Nash & Louis Van Amstel

Chad Ochocinco & Cheryl Burke

Jake Pavelka & Chelsie Hightower

Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough

Aiden Turner & Edyta Sliwinska

Overall, this is one of the strongest casts DwtS has had in years, at least in terms of name recognition. Aiden Turner is the least recognizable celeb, but he's a young, hunky English soap actor: red meat for the older, female DwtS demographic.

The two most cynical castings are Kate Gosselin and Jake Pavelka. Bachelor Jake is blatant ABC cross-promotion. Kate is currently one of the most reliable headline generators. From her perspective, DwtS is a much safer bet than trying to launch her own talk show or product line. Plus, it gives producers a chance to see her when she's not swamped by toddlers.

This is Evan Lysacek's trophy to lose, right? Olympians usually do well on DwtS -- figure skaters and gymnasts in particular -- and he won a freaking gold medal in figure skating two weeks ago! I'm not sure about Anna's freestyle choreography skills, thought, and that's the routine that ultimately decides the winner. If he was paired with Cheryl or Chelsie, I'd say victory was an absolute lock. But Evan's got enough relevant experience to make his input valuable.

As for the rest of the field, the three "sexy" couples -- Aiden & Edyta, Nicole & Derek and Erin & Maks -- could put up a fight. Then there are the wild cards like Jake & Chelsie, Ochocinco & Cheryl and Shannen & Mark who could be surprisingly entertaining.

I'm going to take Kate out of the running because she's paired with Tony, the pro partner equivalent of mirrorball kryptonite. Buzz is out because he's 80 (welcome back, Ashly!). Pam's out because she's with the new guy, Damien. And Niecy's out because she's a comedian, the profession that fares worst on DwtS. Still, I'm glad they included a funny woman this season, and I hope she sticks around a while.

Here's part one of Kate Gosselin's appearance on last night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live:

What do you think of the new cast?

Ox Notes: February 25, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Am I the only one surprised by the relative dearth of information about the Dancing with the Stars 10 cast? There has only been a handful of rumors, even though the announcement in only a few days away. Usually celebs are falling all over themselves to spill the beans.

One rumor that seems to be gaining traction regards Kate Gosselin. It makes sense for her to appear on DwtS because 1) she's co-hosted The View and has an existing relationship with ABC, and 2) she's not doing anything else (besides parenting eight kids, of course).

EW notes that gold medalist Evan Lysacek has expressed a desire to compete on DwtS, but I doubt it will be this season. After all, he needs to keep his schedule free for Evan Lysacek Day here in Naperville.

By the way, kudos to Evgeni Plushenko for awarding himself the platinum medal after finishing second to Lysacek. I'm going to start campaigning for Naperville to hold a Evgeni Plushenko Day, too.

NBC reports that 174 million people have watched the Winter Olympics during its first 12 days.

Apparently, Melissa Rycroft hasn't secured the DwtS co-host gig after all, despite revealing the contestants during this Monday's Bachelor finale. Mel B did a screen-test for the job yesterday.

TV Guide wants to know who you think should be the new DwtS co-host.

I'm setting my DVR now for Kathy Griffin's guest spot on Law & Order: SVU this coming Wednesday.

I'm also setting my DVR for Johnny Depp's appearance on 48 Hours Mystery on Saturday. Depp will speak on behalf of the "West Memphis Three", three men convicted of murder when they were teenagers despite an abundance of evidence pointing to their innocence.

On March 15, HGTV debuts the show Home Rules about a life coach who helps struggling families. Thus continues HGTV's slow metamorphosis from informative how-to channel into a family freakshow network like TLC. I assume that series on room makeovers for child beauty queens and women who didn't know they were pregnant are already in development.

Cast your vote in E!'s March Madness-style bracket poll of TV's Top Couples. Riker & Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation for the win!

Ox Notes: February 23, 2010

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

With less than one week until the cast of Dancing with the Stars 10 is announced, details about the new season emerge. Pro dancers Lacey Schwimmer and Jonathan Roberts announced via Twitter that they won't participate this season. Pure DwtS posted a summary of which twelve pros seem likely to compete in DwtS 10.

Pure DwtS also noted that the new cast members will be announced during Monday, March 1's Bachelor finale by Tom Bergeron and Melissa Rycroft. Does that mean Melissa's officially the new co-host?

DwtS pro Derek Hough got himself involved in the ongoing drama between British singer Cheryl Cole and her allegedly philandering husband, footballer Ashley Cole.

I'm loving Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, especially since I'm rooting for the Villains. People and EW interviewed the latest booted cast member, Stephenie LaGrossa. EW, as always, features great episode recaps and Jeff Probst's blog.

One thing I'm not loving is NBC's Olympic coverage. Besides the universally despised tape delay the network insists on using, even in the DVR era, I'm most disappointed in the network's Web coverage of events.

The event I've been most looking forward to -- the men's 4x10k cross-country relay -- takes place tomorrow at 1:15 CST, and it's not airing on any network. U.S. men's hockey, which normally airs on USA or MSNBC, is the Wednesday afternoon feature on NBC. Instead of airing the cross-country relay in the open timeslot, USA is airing a marathon of NCIS reruns.

Here's the really dumb thing. NBC's Olympic website is only streaming curling and hockey live, two events that already get live coverage on the main network or on cable. Why not use the website to broadcast events that won't be aired on TV? I'd even be willing to pay a small amount ($.99, a la iTunes) to watch a live stream of some of the cross-country relay.

Instead of making money off of me and other fans of sports in which the U.S. isn't competitive, either directly or via ad exposure, NBC forces fans to seek out international live streams on the Internet (bring on the Tim Horton's ads, Canadian Olympic coverage!).

NBC's Olympic broadcast contract runs out after 2012. I'm hopeful that a new network will embrace current technology and profit from making the Olympics more accessible to viewers.

Ox Notes: February 11, 2010

Thursday, February 11, 2010

The two-hour premiere of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains begins tonight at 8 ET on CBS. Reality Blurred and TV Guide interviewed the participants, and EW posted behind-the-scenes video shot on location.

A new name has surfaced in the race to fill Samantha Harris' empty co-host spot on Dancing with the Stars: E! News correspondent Ashlan Gorse. I haven't seen her in action, but she's cute and she won't upstage Tom Bergeron, so she might be the right choice.

Deadliest Catch captain Phil Harris died on Tuesday after suffering a stroke on January 29. He was 53. The show's sixth season finished filming last month, and Capt. Phil will feature in the new season when it begins in April.

Top Chef Masters announced the participants for Season 2, which debuts April 7 on Bravo. I'm pulling for Chicago's Rick Tramonto.

Lost's Daniel Dae Kim and Three Rivers' Alex O'Loughlin will star in the upcoming remake of Hawaii Five-0. Can the handsome Aussie complete the trifecta, starring in three failed CBS dramas in a row?

You're going to want to bookmark this list of Hollywood character actors, complete with photos. Every time you watch a movie or TV show and are inspired to shout, "Hey! It's That Guy," you'll be able to look up his name.

My favorite That Guy is Clancy Brown, the man responsible for my most beloved film scene of all time (don't ask me why, 'cause I'm not sure):

Ox Notes: February 9, 2010

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Two bits of unsettling Dancing with the Stars news. First, DwtS pros Cheryl Burke, Anna Trebunskaya, Chelsie Hightower and Edyta Sliwinska posed in bikinis alongside some of their former celebrity partners for the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. There's something creepy about these videos from the photo shoot, where the bikini-clad women pose suggestively with their partners -- who are clad in regular clothes -- while a fan blows on them.

I'm also disturbed by the rumored final two candidates to take over Samantha Harris' co-hosting duties: Nancy O'Dell and Marie Osmond. Nancy O'Dell is a fine choice, with years of hosting experience and the right amount of empathy for the contestants.

Marie Osmond, however, strikes me as a terrible choice. While she might appeal to the average DwtS audience member -- a woman in her mid-fifties -- that's not the demographic advertisers are most interested in. Following DwtS, Marie pursued hosting her own daytime talk show, which makes me wonder if she'd be willing to cede the spotlight to the contestants and to the real star of the show, Tom Bergeron.

Karina Smirnoff's dream dance partner is John Stamos.

Following the Super Bowl, CBS's Undercover Boss scored the largest audience ever for a reality show premiere: 38.6 million viewers. If its second episode, which follows the debut of The Amazing Race on Sunday, garners even 30% of that number, I'll be impressed.

Speaking of TAR, TV Guide interviewed contestants and Big Brother vets Jeff & Jordan.

Survivor fans can breathe a sigh of relief: Jeff Probst has agreed to host Season 21 & 22. People and EW have the scoop.

Ox Notes: February 4, 2010

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Pamela Anderson has reportedly signed on for Dancing with the Stars 10. I wonder what kind of dance style best suits the Baywatch theme song?

Melissa Rycroft has joined Entertainment Tonight as a special correspondent, effectively nixing her chances of filling Samantha Harris' shoes as DwtS co-host.

The retrospective Surviving Survivor airs tonight on CBS at 8 ET. Reality Blurred will live blog during the show. I'll be watching Vampire Diaries.

Starting February 18, my fellow PS3 owners and I can watch The Tester on the Playstation Network. The Hal Sparks-hosted competitive reality show puts gamers through a series of challenges as they compete for $5000 and a job as a professional game tester (which isn't as glamorous a gig as it sounds).

I'm getting excited for Sunday's "big game": Puppy Bowl VI on Animal Planet! Beginning at 3 p.m. ET, the show -- which features puppies playing on a miniature football field -- repeats every two hours until the wee hours of the morning. The official Puppy Bowl site is borked, but you can view the Starting Lineup here.

Zap2It interviewed the Puppy Bowl referee, Andrew Schechter.

If you don't intend to watch the actual Super Bowl but are still interested in the commercials, cable network Spike will post all of the commercials online at Spike.com almost immediately after they air on CBS. Thank you, Spike!

Ox Notes: February 2, 2010

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

If you want to learn who's on Dancing with the Stars 10, you're going to have to sit through an episode of The Bachelor to do it. ABC will reveal the identities of the DwtS 10 cast members at intervals during the March 1 Bachelor finale. I think I'll skip the dating show and wait until the cast list is posted at the ABC's DwtS website.

The first believable DwtS 10 cast rumor comes courtesy of former MMA fighter and actor Jason Chambers. He's not a household name, but he's young and hunky, so I'll be surprised if he's not in the cast.

Olympic diving champ Greg Louganis is campaigning for a spot on DwtS 10.

The first half of the Lost final season premiere -- which airs tonight on ABC at 9 ET -- is available online, but fans aren't watching it. They don't want to be spoiled.

Reality Blurred is posting preseason interviews with the Survivor 20 cast members.

In sad news, Phil Harris, captain of the Cornelia Marie on The Deadliest Catch, is in the hospital recovering from a stroke. Discovery promises to update fans on Phil's condition here.

If you're not sick of the Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien Tonight Show feud, check out this fascinating dissection of Jay's interview on Oprah last week. It's long, but it contains a lot evidence to indicate that Jay was being, um, less than truthful.

Masterpiece Classic aired the final episodes of Jane Austen's Emma on Sunday night. If you missed it, you can watch the mini-series online here. It's worth it.

I'm looking forward to Masterpiece Classic's March 28 feature, Sharpe's Challenge, because of its major WTF factor. The co-star playing opposite Sean Bean's Richard Sharpe is none other than Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi.

Ox Notes: January 28, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Samantha Harris is leaving Dancing with the Stars. This is not a joke.

Citing an increasing workload at The Insider, Harris has opted not to return for DwtS 10. No word on who will replace her, but I'm sure Lisa Canning is available.

Tonight, Jeff Probst's new reality series, Live for the Moment, debuts on CBS in Survivor's 8 ET timeslot. It features real people who faced life-changing events that made them reevaluate their priorities. It sounds a bit like The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan's Discovery Channel show No Opportunity Wasted.

I'm skeptical that these kinds of TV shows and movies really have the power to change the daily lives of their viewers. While they feel good to watch, I don't think these programs have a lasting effect. After listening to their positive review of The Bucket List, I asked my in-laws if the movie inspired them to undertake any adventures of their own. They both shrugged and said, "No."

Roger Ebert explains in his terrific review of The Bucket List that, contrary to what we see on TV and in movies, brushes with death don't usually inspire us to seek adventure. They inspire us to seek comfort in the ones we love.

Turner Classic Movies starts its annual 31 Days of Oscar programming on Monday, February 1. This year's schedule is organized so that each successive film features one star from the previous movie. Zap2It notes that the TCM event begins and ends with films starring Kevin Bacon.

Maureen Ryan condensed her interviews with Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse into a spoiler-free Q&A for fans. Cuse said that they won't be doing interviews after the season finale in order to avoid interpreting the ending for fans, citing the show's ambiguity as a strong point.

This worries me. The writers of Battlestar Galactica also refused to explain their ambiguous series finale, saying that fans could interpret the episode the way they wanted to. Bullshit!

The reality is that the various writers started a bunch of new plot threads during the last season of BSG that couldn't be logically connected in the finale, so they didn't even try. That is the height of laziness. I don't recall any of the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm containing any moral ambiguity or lacking a definitive conclusion.

Lost's story belongs to Lindelof and Cuse, and they need to own it. They've been drawing the threads back together since things went haywire in Season 2, so they've set themselves up to give fans a satisfying conclusion. Don't take the easy way out now, guys!

The CW is rebooting yet another series. This time it's USA's La Femme Nikita (1997-2001), which was based on the French movie by the same title, which also inspired the movie Point of No Return.

Given how poorly series about butt-kicking femme fatales have performed recently -- like The Bionic Woman and Dollhouse -- I'm not sure why The CW thinks a Nikita revival will work. I've got my own theory as to why it won't. Hopefully my brother, Dr. Lunch (not his real name), will let me know if my amateur sociology is on point or not.

I don't think women want to watch shows about butt-kicking females right now. The current economic climate demands a different kind of feminine toughness. Right now, being a tough woman means telling your kid that you can't afford the toy she wants, then enduring the ensuing tantrum. It means worrying about losing the job you have, finding the job you don't have or explaining to your teenager that there's no money for college. It means spending your vacation sleeping in a tent instead of a hotel bed.

Right now, I want the option to not be tough. I don't want to have to beat up bad guys and balance my budget. I want my devoted vampire boyfriend to take care of the bad guys for me.

Ox Notes: January 26, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The latest Paula Abdul-Dancing with the Stars rumor is that ABC offered her a development deal at the network contingent upon her participation in DwtS 10. Pure DwtS's Princess Heidi says of Paula: "She's tiny and she's a ringer. Which means, she'll dance with Mark Ballas."

People posted this news item: "Dancing's Cheryl Burke and Model Boyfriend Split." So long, model boyfriend. We hardly knew ye.

TV Guide Network will air a Survivor 20 preview special on February 11, hosted by Survivor Samoa winner Natalie White.

EW's Dalton Ross is preparing us for the new season with on-site interviews with Survivor 20 contestants, including a priceless interview with Coach. He has no chance to win, but, man, I want Coach to stick around as long as possible.

CBS revealed the cast of The Amazing Race 16 last week. Because young fit couples almost always win, my money's on either Brent & Caite, Dan & Jordan or Jordan & Jeff.

CBS renewed Survivor for two more seasons and The Amazing Race for one more, all of which will air during the 2010-2011 season. That would reduce the number of TAR seasons per broadcast season from the current two to one.

I'm cool with that. As much fondness as I have for TAR, it's not as exciting as it used to be. I watch it for the destinations and the challenges, not for the teams. Formulaic casting has lead to predictable results, making it a glorified travel show. I'd much rather have one good season each year than two mediocre seasons.

Ox Notes: January 19, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Here's a Dancing with the Stars 10 cast rumor that delights me almost as much as the one about Jonathan Frakes. Producers unsuccessfully pursued NFL player Chad Ochocinco for DwtS 9, but now that the Cincinnati Bengals are out of the playoffs, he's available. You have to love a guy who legally changed his name to the Spanish pronunciation of his jersey's numerals.

NBC is reportedly ready to pay Conan O'Brien nearly $40 million to leave the network. He wouldn't be allowed to host another show on a rival network until September, and NBC would retain the rights to many of O'Brien's signature bits. The fate of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is still up in the air.

Jay Leno addressed the situation on his show last night, and comedian Louis C.K. added his two cents as well.

Rob Thomas says the long hoped for Veronica Mars movie is dead in the water.

The identities of 21 of American Idol 9's Top 24 contestants have leaked online.

This Friday, January 22, eleven cable and broadcast networks will air a celebrity telethon to raise money for Haiti. The telethon, which starts at 8 p.m. ET, will push back the series finale of Fox's Dollhouse one week to January 29.

Yesterday's Oprah dealt with the dangers of texting and talking on the phone while driving. Visit Oprah's website to sign the pledge to end distracted driving and make your car a No Phone Zone.

Ox Notes: January 14, 2010

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Finally, we have a premiere date for Dancing with the Stars 10. The show debuts on Monday, March 22. Producers have promised a smaller cast than last season, which unfortunately means that some favorite pro dancers won't make the cut.

Also coming in March is a new series on TLC about addiction, aptly titled Addicted. This seems like a cynical bid to steal viewers from A&E's terrific show, Intervention. And I frankly don't trust the network responsible for I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant to handle the topic of addiction with the sensitivity it deserves.

Project Runway 7 debuts tonight on Lifetime at 10 ET. Last season was such a dud that I've given up on the show. Are you going to watch? If so, how high are your expectations for PR7?

Also on TV tonight, Jimmy Kimmel stops by The Jay Leno Show, two nights after impersonating Jay for an entire episode of his own show.

Tech writer Andy Ihnatko wrote a wonderful history of the events that led up to NBC's current Jay Leno-Conan O'Brien impasse. The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has some suggestions for what NBC should do following Conan's seemingly inevitable departure.

Ox Notes: January 7, 2010

Thursday, January 07, 2010

The cast of Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains was officially revealed last night. EW asked all of the competitors why they think they'll win and got Jeff Probst's assessment of their chances.

There are some questions about how the cast of veterans was assembled. Reality Blurred wondered why nine of the contestants were brought back for a third time. EW's Dalton Ross isn't sure how Candice Woodcock and Danielle DiLorenzo made the cut. And Tocantins vet Stephen Fishbach is confused by the way producers divided the teams.

Stephen also noted in his blog post that he's dating Courtney Yates. What an excellent couple!

Pure DwtS posted a second round of stars once rumored to be cast on Dancing with the Stars that may yet pan out for Season 10. Paula Abdul is free, after all.

DwtS 10 doesn't have a cast yet, but you can already start betting on the pro dancers' chances of victory. Corky Ballas has the longest odds of the 21 dancers you can put money on, though his chances are still better than Andrea Hale's.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy ends his Broadway run in Burn the Floor tonight. He'll be replaced starting Friday night by Derek Hough.

David Hasselhoff is leaving America's Got Talent. The gang at The Soup must be devastated.

Ox Notes: January 5, 2010

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Let's start the new year with some Dancing with the Stars 10 rumors. Pure DwtS has a roundup of all of the celebrities associated with the upcoming season, however tenuously. I'm most excited by the prospect of Jonathan Frakes -- best known as Commander Will Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation -- joining the cast.

Donald Trump bashed the quality of past DwtS casts while promoting the cast of the new season of Celebrity Apprentice, which includes two folks who had shows on VH1 and Rod Blagojevich.

CBS is debuting the first few minutes of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains during Wednesday night's broadcast of the People's Choice Awards.

I'm going to have to watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 23 to see Sandra Bullock present a Life Achievement Award to Betty White.

Zap2It has a photo gallery of January premiere and return dates. The Watcher's winter TV preview is in a more readable list format.

As a promo for the final season of Lost, the cast posed for a cool photo that recreates da Vinci's "Last Supper." I'm a fan of this, as proven by the poster of the Battlestar Galactica version of "The Last Supper" hanging on the wall behind my desk.

Chef Ina Garten turned down Jennifer Garner's request to appear on Barefoot Contessa because the actress isn't a "real friend." Don't worry, Jen. I'm sure Giada would let you appear on Everyday Italian.

Some celebrities make as much at $10,000 per Tweet for mentioning products in their Twitter feeds. Wait, you can make money on Twitter?! Good thing I just started posting at @kathyfgibson. Now all I have to do is become a celebrity.

Ox Notes: December 22, 2009

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Survivor: Samoa ended its entertaining season on Sunday night with a disappointing finale, as jury members cast petty votes against the man they felt had wronged them -- choosing instead to reward the more palatable option among his two opponents in the final trio.

It's not that Natalie played a bad game; she made the moves that were most likely to get her to the end. But, compared to Russell, she might as well have been camping next to the Survivor set, only to stumble into the game by accident.

As far as the audience knows, Natalie never once considered voting for Russell, despite knowing exactly how manipulative and untrustworthy he was. (Mick and Jaison are also guilty of the same blind faith and lack of initiative.) Russell, on the other hand, played the game from the second it started.

EW's Dalton Ross subtitled his finale recap "The worst jury vote ever". Jeff Probst, despite being kind to Natalie during the reunion show, made it clear in his blog that he felt Russell should have won.

Ratings for the Survivor: Samoa finale were up over those for last fall's Survivor: Gabon finale.

Now, on to the interviews. Winner Natalie White spoke with EW, People, TV Guide and Reality TV World. Reality Blurred combined its interviews with Natalie and Russell into one article.

Russell Hantz spoke about his defeat with EW, People and Reality TV World.

If that's not enough, Reality TV World interviewed Mick Trimming and Jaison Robinson, while Reality Blurred interviewed Mick, Jaison and Brett Clouser. Last Thursday's victim of the vote, Shannon "Shambo" Waters, chatted with EW, Reality TV World and People.

CBS has video of Shambo, Jaison and Brett during their brief time at Ponderosa.

Next up is Survivor 20: Heroes vs. Villains, which debuts on February 11. While CBS hasn't announced the official cast of returning contestants, Survivor Sucks has a list of likely cast members that I'd be willing to bet on. The list contains the only name I need to see to make me excited for the new season: Coach.

Ox Notes will return on January 5, 2010. Happy Holidays!

Ox Notes: December 17, 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The first fall edition of So You Think You Can Dance concluded last night, and Us interviewed the winner.

Top Chef Las Vegas bid farewell for good with last night's lame reunion show. The only good part of the reunion was this blooper footage.

Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced today. Zap2It produced its own list of 2009's underrated TV stars.

EW's Dalton Ross ranks Survivor: Samoa -- which ends on Sunday night -- high on his list of best Survivor seasons.

If you're in the mood to cry, watch this episode of Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn's People video blog in which he calls his mom to tell her that his cancer is in remission. Yay, Ethan!

EW has a guide to TV return and premiere dates in early 2010. New episodes of TLC's What Not To Wear start on January 8, while HBO set a March 14 premiere date for the mini-series The Pacific, made by the same crew behind the excellent Band of Brothers.

Zap2It posted a list of holiday programming leading up to Christmas, as well as a preview of Christmas day's televised NBA games.

Pure DwtS created a Christmas wish list for Dancing with the Stars. Top of the list: "Replace Samantha."

Ox Notes: December 15, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. I haven't seen any of the ten TV series nominated for awards this year, apart from one episode of House. I did, however, watch every episode of Rock of Love Bus.

The Watcher compiled her list of the Top TV Shows of 2009. Again, no Rock of Love Bus.

NBC gave Parenthood a March 1 premiere date, right after the network's Olympic coverage ends. Variety warns everyone to be on the lookout for show star Lauren Graham ringside at the figure skating for a little cross promotion.

People offers three reasons to watch The Vampire Diaries, which is airing as a five-night marathon on The CW this week.

TV Guide wants to know who you want to win this season of So You Think You Can Dance, which concludes on Wednesday night.

While on hiatus from Dancing with the Stars, two-time champ Julianne Hough created a fitness DVD called Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom.

Survivor: Samoa's double eliminees, Dave and Monica, are making the interview rounds this week. Both chatted with EW's Dalton Ross and Survivor: Amazon champ Jenna Morasca for Survivor Talk, where Dave got peevish when asked about his mistakes in the game.

He was back to his funny self in interviews with Reality Blurred and People, to whom he said, regarding Shambo's psychic visions: "A lot of ladies have dreams about Danger Dave Ball." Check out the Ponderosa video "Dave Part 2" to see Danger Dave bust out some funky dance moves.

Monica also spoke with Reality Blurred, and, as always, Jeff Probst blogged about the latest episode for EW.

Ox Notes: December 10, 2009

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Could this be the most absurd reality show yet? On January 4, ABC debuts the special Conveyor Belt of Love in which women chose their prospective beaus off of a moving conveyor belt. Reality Blurred proposes follow-up specials like "The Lazy Susan of Love" and "The Dry Cleaner Rack of Love."

With Survivor: Samoa winding down, EW posted odds on the remaining contestants' chances of winning. I agree that Natalie's probably the fave to win, at this point.

You've got until Friday to visit the charity auction site Clothes Off Our Backs and bid on tickets to the Dancing with the Stars 10 season premiere or a private dance lesson with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The site is also auctioning off autographed holiday items.

I'm bummed that tonight's new episode of Soundstage -- a Michael McDonald Christmas special -- isn't airing on any of the PBS stations in the Chicago region.

The Amazing Race's third place finishers, Brian & Ericka, gave interviews to People and Reality TV World.

TV Guide interviewed Top Chef Las Vegas fourth place finisher, Jennifer Carroll.

Now, on to last night's Top Chef finale. (Caution: spoilers ahead)

I thought that the editing was dishonest. Until Padma said that Michael was the winner, I was 100% positive that Bryan had won. Even Tom Colicchio wrote in his blog: "Based on how the episode was cut, it had me wondering up until the end whether my memory had failed me or not."

I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that Michael had been edited as a kind of villain all season, and no one likes to see the villain win. In a TV Guide poll taken before the finale aired, only 12% of respondents felt that Michael should win.

As a result of the way the finale was edited, Michael's victory didn't seem justified. Tom and his fellow judges, Gail Simmons and Toby Young, explained the outcome in their blogs, but only a small portion of the viewing audience reads the blogs. Everyone else is left to wonder why Bryan lost after he seemingly won two of the four rounds last night (Chef's Choice and Dessert).

I am glad that the editors included Toby's comment that Kevin may be the real star of the season. If anyone can inspire a cult following, it's Kevin, Patron Saint of Pork. He and some of his fellow castmates spent last weekend dining at his restaurant, Woodfire Grill, as part of their culinary tour of Atlanta.

Bravo's website has interviews with all of the finalists, including a Q&A with the winner and a depressing morning-after video interview with Kevin. Bryan was his usual animated self in his video, while Michael was understandably pleased in his.

Ox Notes: December 8, 2009

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

The Amazing Race ended on Sunday night with a seemingly inevitable win by Meghan & Cheyne. The winners chatted with E! and People, who also interviewed bickering brothers Sam & Dan. Reality Blurred summarized several other interviews with the TAR finalists.

After this lackluster season -- in which the most amusing part of the finale was a network PSA promoting Pap Smears as Christmas gifts -- I'm demoting TAR to DVR-only status. It's a glorified travel show at this point due to formulaic casting, and I no longer feel compelled to watch it live.

Dancing with the Stars pro Derek Hough dropped by the sets of British reality shows Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor.

Andrew McCarthy, star of '80s comedy classics like Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie's, will direct an upcoming episode of Gossip Girl.

On March 21, VH1 debuts its new series, Basketball Wives, which follows the exploits of Jermaine O'Neal's, Antoine Walker's and Eric Williams' significant others.

In January, ESPN picks up the show Sport Science, which explores technological developments in sports. In this clip from the show's Fox Sports Net days, golfer Padraig Harrington tests whether a Happy Gilmore swing really works: