My Ox Is Broken

Ox Notes: July 9, 2009

Thursday, July 09, 2009

I enjoyed last night's episode of Top Chef Masters, but I was less intrigued by the food than I was by the venue where they held the tasting: The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. I'd be bummed that I can't get in, but I don't own anything that meets the club's dress code anyway.

Bravo revealed the identities of the Top Chef Las Vegas contestants. The new season premieres on August 26.

Lifetime introduced the contestants for its first season of Project Runway, which starts August 20.

After only one episode, NBC booted the reality show The Great American Road Trip from Tuesdays to Monday nights at 8 ET, in favor of a rerun of America's Got Talent.

My beloved Harper's Island comes to a close this Saturday night with two back-to-back episodes starting at 9 ET on CBS. Voters in an EW poll overwhelmingly chose 9-year-old Madison as the character they'd most like to see get whacked before the end.

WFMU.org has a great video compilation of one-liners from '80s action movies, including clips from my dad's favorite movie to quote, Hard to Kill. The creation of the video was inspired by the writer's viewing of Commando. I watched it recently, too, and man, oh, man is that a good movie.

AMC will air Commando on July 21 and 22, so mark your calendar accordingly. Until then, here's a clip from the movie, featuring my brother's favorite character actor, David Patrick Kelly:

Ox Notes: July 7, 2009

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Cable channel Sci Fi officially changes its name to Syfy today. The Watcher has the scoop on the network's attempt to rebrand itself.

Cameramen on The Deadliest Catch have an innovative way of getting their footage to their editors: they put their recorded footage into a waterproof case and chuck it overboard.

Choreographer Mia Michaels told People that the performance Katie Holmes shot for the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance is "brilliant."

Kathy Griffin will emcee the roast of Joan Rivers on Comedy Central on August 9.

ABC has begun making its shows available on Hulu, starting with Grey's Anatomy.

MSN posted a slideshow of the best TV rich kids.

Throughout the summer, Zap2It will post new weekly polls seeking to find the greatest TV characters. This week's polls include Best Mom, Best Co-Worker and Best Reality Personality.

Finally, Lucha Libre is coming to TV in the United States. Not sure what Lucha Libre is? Check this out:

Ox Notes: July 2, 2009

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Former TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno is apparently in the running for a spot on Dancing with the Stars 9. Other DwtS 9 rumors so far include Vera Wang, Dominique Moceanu, and Danny Gokey: not exactly the A-listers fans are hoping for.

DwtS alum Denise Richards makes her Bollywood debut this weekend in the film Kambakkht Ishq (the title translates to something like "Crazy Love"). The movie is set in Hollywood and features American actors Sylvester Stallone and Brandon Routh alongside Bollywood megastars Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor.

Zap2It recapped last night's new episodes of I Survived a Japanese Game Show and So You Think You Can Dance.

SYTYCD producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe finally confirmed that Katie Holmes will perform on the 100th episode of the show, scheduled to air July 23.

Starting tonight, ABC has yanked the remaining episodes of In the Motherhood from its lineup, filling the slot with a bonus episode of Samantha Who?

ABC is also working on a mystery novel tie-in for the series Castle.

PBS's Antiques Roadshow made its first $1 million appraisal.

Ever wondered what actors are actually snorting when they do a line of cocaine in a TV show? It's usually powdered sugar, baking soda or baby laxative.

On July 21, Discovery will debut a new reality series called The Colony. The premise is that ten people have to rebuild a functional society after a global catastrophe. I'm looking forward to it, given my fondness for all things post-apocalyptic. Heck, I even enjoyed the ridiculous Doomsday:

Ox Notes: June 30, 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Dancing with the Stars judge Len Goodman recently had surgery for prostate cancer. He told The Daily Mail he feels "right as rain" and will take part in DwtS 9.

The latest DwtS 9 casting rumor involves Debi Mazar, an actress who's played bit parts in seemingly everything.

In other DwtS news, Melissa Rycroft is engaged to Tye Strickland, whom she did not meet on a TV show.

I know I've been singing the praises of the low-rated murder mystery Harper's Island all season long, but the show got really good on Saturday. The episode was exciting and the deaths were heart-breaking; I actually cried.

If you plan on checking out the show when it comes out on DVD on September 8, don't read this Zap2It recap, or EW writer Michael Slezak's post titled: Breaking: Harper's Island Made Me Feel Something!.

The CW is now using Sunday nights to burn off episodes of the canceled Valentine.

Reality Blurred has the scoop on new CBS reality show There Goes the Neighborhood, described as "Big Brother but with families living in their actual homes."

USA Today's Pop Candy blog features an interview with Parker Lewis Can't Lose star Corin Nemec.

I think I've said here before that, if you ever have the chance to see Neil Diamond in concert, you should do it. Soon, you'll be able to do it without leaving your house! On August 14, CBS will air a concert special called Neil Diamond -- Hot August Night: NYC. Too bad the accompanying DVD and CD will only be available at Wal-Mart.

Ox Notes: June 25, 2009

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Networks are suffering this summer, particularly ABC. Tuesday's premiere episode of The Superstars was watched by less than 5 million people. The supposedly funny new episode of Better Off Ted that followed didn't even get 2 million viewers.

I hope things are faring better for two of the only shows I make a point of watching during the summer, both of which happen to be on ABC on Wednesday nights: Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show.

Also on TV last night were new episodes of So You Think You Can Dance and Top Chef Masters.

If you'll in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area this weekend, stop by the Millennium Dancesport Championships to catch a glimpse of celebrity judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy in action.

CBS announced its fall schedule, including a two-hour premiere of The Amazing Race on Sunday, September 27.

Here's Melissa & Ade's Rumba from last night's SYTYCD:

Ox Notes: June 23, 2009

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tonight, ABC unleashes its latest celebrity competition show, The Superstars, at 8 ET. One of the contestants, Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, spoke with TV Guide about being the celebrity in a celebrity-professional athlete pair for a change.

In other DwtS news, Julianne Hough is up for a lead role in the Footloose remake, provided she gets her acting skills up to speed.

Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane landed an acting role on ABC's new fall drama Flash Forward.

So You Think You Can Dance fans will want to check out host Cat Deeley's blog at EW.

Jessica Simpson will travel the world for VH1 in 2010 for a new series called The Price of Beauty. I admit that I'm intrigued by the show's premise: "Jessica will study the local fashions, dietary fads and beauty regimes and even participate in some of the extreme practices she discovers."

Apparently, I wasn't the only one unimpressed by NBC's Merlin, which premiered on Sunday night. Over two hours, it was only watched by 5.3 million people.

The reimagining of the legend -- including Merlin's relationship with Arthur and the fact that Arthur has a relationship with his dad at all -- didn't work for me, and I thought the acting was lame, particularly Merlin's wide-eyed staring at a CGI of Camelot (the 0:15 mark in the video):

Ox Notes: June 18, 2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Vera Wang confirmed to People that she's been approached to compete on Dancing with the Stars 9 and is considering the offer.

DwtS pros Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will join the stage show Burn the Floor for a three-week run on Broadway, starting in late July.

Former DwtS contestant Melissa Rycroft landed a gig as a summer correspondent on Good Morning America.

Wednesday is my favorite night of TV during the summer. Last night I watched Wipeout, the premiere of I Survived a Japanese Game Show, an episode of Globe Trekker on PBS (whoops, forgot about Chess on the other local PBS station), and the latest episode of Top Chef Masters.

Zap2It posted a recap of last night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

The CW announced its fall schedule. Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will swap timeslots on Monday nights, and Smallville moves to Fridays.

The Emmys have moved back to their original September 20 air date after realizing that MTV had already scheduled its Video Music Awards for September 13.

The Travel Channel is set to premiere the lengthily-titled reality competition The Streets of America: The Search for America's Worst Driver in early 2010. By rewarding bad drivers with fame and presumably money, isn't Travel Channel actually promoting bad driving?

Ox Notes: June 16, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So You Think You Can Dance fans, brace yourselves for a performance by Katie Holmes. Us Magazine reports that Holmes filmed the Tyce Diorio-choreographed routine yesterday, and it may air as early as this week.

FOX announced its fall schedule, which includes abbreviated episodes of So You Think You Can Dance until Hell's Kitchen finishes its season in October.

In Dancing with the Stars news, MOIB reader Deb noticed a rumor that Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu may be paired with Tony Dovolani for DwtS 9. The website Pure Dancing with the Stars also reports that American Idol contestant Danny Gokey is rumored to be in the DwtS 9 cast.

Nielsen's report of online network TV viewing -- which doesn't include Hulu viewers -- revealed that Dancing with the Stars had the highest number of unique viewers among all shows in May.

Jeff Probst told Reality Blurred that Survivor seasons 19 and 20 will film back-to-back in order to save money. The fact that Survivor's crew has booked Aggie Grey's resort in Samoa through October means that both seasons will likely be filmed there.

The musical Chess features on this week's episode of Great Performances on PBS. I'm planning on watching the episode when it debuts on Wednesday night, but "One Night in Bangkok" won't be the same without Murray Head (song begins at 0:51):

Ox Notes: June 11, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Top Chef Masters debuted on Bravo last night. There wasn't much drama in the episode, but I thought that was fine. It's just nice to watch a fresh episode of something from the Top Chef franchise. Zap2It recapped the premiere, and The Futon Critic interviewed TCM host Kelly Choi.

Last night also featured performances by the top 20 competitors on So You Think You Can Dance. Zap2It's recap includes the names of each couple's choreographer and song, including new SYTYCD choreographer Louis van Amstel.

SAG members agreed to a new contract, averting an actors strike for the time being.

Hollywood is still feeling the effects of the 2007-08 writers strike. Fewer pilots are filming in California these days, heading instead to Canada and New York to take advantage of tax breaks.

Comedy Central plans to revive Futurama, with new episodes of the cartoon airing mid-2010.

Shark Week returns to Discovery Channel on August 2. The new season of Mad Men kicks off on AMC on August 16.

ABC announced its fall premiere dates, including a September 21 debut for Dancing with the Stars 9.

To go along with the schedule announcement, we have our first DwtS 9 cast rumor: Vera Wang. MOIB reader Amy wonders if there's any chance that the 60-year-old fashion designer won't be paired with either Jonathan Roberts or Tony Dovolani.

ABC also revealed plans to import yet another celebrity dance show from the U.K. Let's Dance will feature celebrities recreating famous dance routines, with proceeds from audience votes going to charity. The series will air in between seasons of Dancing with the Stars.

The winner of the British version, officially titled Let's Dance for Comic Relief, was Robert Webb, better known as Jeremy from Peep Show (the funniest show I've ever seen). His take on Flashdance is hilarious, even if is leotard is unsettling.

Ox Notes: June 9, 2009

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Emmy balloting is underway, with the nominees set to be announced on July 16. Variety compiled a list of likely contenders in the reality show categories.

Variety also gathered a list of reality show stars who, while not eligible for Emmys themselves, keep us watching their shows -- guys like Bret "Set Piece in the Face" Michaels and Survivor: Tocantins' Coach.

Speaking of Coach, he recently gave a predictably long interview to the Springfield, MO News-Leader about life after Survivor. His villain edit on the show appears to have prompted a religious conversion, and he's sadly toned down the Dragon Slayer act.

Variety has another article about what it takes for new reality shows to succeed in a saturated market.

EW gave a nod to fun, trashy summer TV shows, including Charm School and my beloved Harper's Island.

Former Dancing with the Stars contestants have found a home onstage in Las Vegas. Kelly Monaco and Mel B are leaving the revue PEEPSHOW on June 21, making way for Holly Madison to join the cast.

In the previous edition of Ox Notes, I embedded a video compilation of '80s cartoon theme songs. It inspired me to spend an embarrassing amount of time searching for other classic cartoon themes.

Thanks to YouTube, I discovered that the wonderful theme song for Gummi Bears is available in Japanese, German, Swedish, Polish, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Czech, French, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish and Slovak. The Slovak version is pretty intense, but I'm partial to the Russian version, complete with English subtitles:

Ox Notes: June 4, 2009

Thursday, June 04, 2009

I'll get the bad news out of the way first: TV is bad for infants and reality show contestants.

Everyone knows that it's bad to use TV as a baby sitter, but a recent study reports that infants' language development suffers just being in the room with an adult watching TV.

TheWrap.com posted a two-part article about the dark side of participating in reality shows. Part 1 highlights eleven successful and unsuccessful suicide attempts by reality show contestants. Part 2 features commentary by mental health professionals.

In happier news, Bravo announced that the sixth season of Top Chef will take place in Las Vegas. EW interviewed Season 5 contestants Carla, Fabio and Jeff about life after Top Chef.

With Alec Baldwin already a star on 30 Rock and Daniel Baldwin joining his brother, Stephen, on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Variety's Brian Lowry speculates that NBC really stands for "No Baldwin Control."

In Dancing with the Stars news, Season 8 runner-up Gilles Marini had shoulder surgery on Tuesday. The trophies belonging to Season 8 champs Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas are already broken.

Variety has a great article about the death of TV theme songs. These days, network shows devote as little as ten seconds to opening theme music.

The Variety article prompted me to search YouTube for great TV themes. I found this compilation of ten cartoon theme songs from the 1980s. Of the shows featured in the video, the only one I watched was Jem, and I still remember all the lyrics to its theme song. The rest of the songs are pretty epic, even if all of the cartoons seem to involve space robots:

Ox Notes: June 2, 2009

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

I feel bad for EW's Ken Tucker. He had to watch both I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night.

Just in case Jon & Kate's marriage implodes, TLC is looking for another family with multiples for a new reality series.

In other big-families-on-TV news, a Netherlands-based production company is preparing a reality show starring the Octomom. And EW's Michael Slezak hopes to cash in on the craze by proposing his own reality show: Gay Dads + Countless Bebehs.

I'm not easily charmed by photos of the children of celebrities, but this picture of Suri Cruise messily eating a chocolate croissant is pretty adorable.

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew will return for a third season in early 2010. If you can't wait that long, you may want to check out Celebrity Rehab alum Mary Carey's new film, Celebrity Pornhab with Dr. Screw, released on DVD today.

Another production slated for release in the U.S. in 2010 is a BBC production of Hamlet starring Patrick Stewart. I'm not sure what you'd call a porn rip-off of Hamlet. Spermlet?

The Futon Critic has the scoop on celebrity guests for Jimmy Kimmel's summer primetime specials and airdates for previously unaired episodes of ABC's canceled shows.

Zap2It posted another gleeful recap of the latest episode of Harper's Island. If you're not watching the horror/slasher show Saturday night's on CBS, this is what you're missing:

Ox Notes: May 28, 2009

Thursday, May 28, 2009

ABC has the cure for Dancing with the Stars fans already experiencing Tom Bergeron withdrawal. The DwtS host will emcee tonight's primetime finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at 8 ET.

American Idol contestant Danny Gokey is campaigning for a spot on Dancing with the Stars 9. I don't think it's gonna happen, Danny. The only reality show talent ABC poaches from FOX are contestants from So You Think You Can Dance.

TV Guide recapped last night's episode of SYTYCD.

Tonight at 8 ET, CNBC will air a special on the vast influence of Oprah Winfrey called The Oprah Effect. The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan reviewed the special, which deals with the hidden dangers of Oprah's public approval.

TLC announced that Jon & Kate Plus 8 isn't going away anytime soon. The current season is 40 episodes long, and nearly 10 million people watched Monday's season premiere.

EW has the scoop on the new season of Project Runway.

This interview with Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the creator of Designing Women, is pretty interesting for what she reveals about how the TV industry has changed since the 1980s.

Variety has an article about how the current recession has shaped the fall 2009 TV season.

Last night marked the return of my beloved Wipeout. An intrepid MSN reporter ran the course for a piece she wrote about the show. She didn't bite it quite as bad as this guy did in the premiere:

Ox Notes: May 26, 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

It's summer in TV land, when news slows to a trickle. Therefore, I'll usually post new Ox Notes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, until we get closer to the fall TV season.

You can keep tabs on summer series premiere dates with Zap2It's Premieres and Finales Calendar. The website posted reviews of two new shows premiering tonight, Mental on FOX and Hitched or Ditched on The CW.

And, of course, Wipeout premieres on ABC Wednesday night at 8 ET.

A new season of Jon & Kate Plus 8 debuted on TLC last night, and critics weren't impressed with the latest episode in the increasingly uncomfortable-to-watch series.

Fans of The Bachelorette will want to read host Chris Harrison's blog for his take on last night's episode.

Zap2It's Harper's Island recapper, Andrea Reiher, seems positively gleeful about all of the show's gory deaths. So am I.

While flipping through the channels this weekend, Greg and I wondered exactly what Ion Television is. The answer: a broadcaster in financial trouble.

My brother will be outraged to learn that Disney is planning to remake its 1986 live-action sci-fi flick Flight of the Navigator.

In other sci-fi remake news, ABC released a promo trailer for its remake of the '80s alien invasion mini-series V. While the promo clip below looks cool and stars Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell, I don't know how they'll be able to improve on this scene from V: The Final Battle.

Ox Notes: May 21, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Ox Notes is back from vacation; did anything happen while I was gone?

Catching up on the most important Dancing with the Stars 8 commentary, here's a link to the final Yahoo! Buzz Sessions of the season (the excellent post-Finale episode is the last one on the list). Judge Carrie Ann Inaba blogged about the season finale for EW.

Survivor: Tocantins also ended while I was away, so here's a link to host Jeff Probst's final EW blog post. Reality Blurred interviewed three of the final four: Stephen, Erinn and Taj.

So You Think You Can Dance premieres tonight on FOX at 8 ET. Judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy talked to TV Guide about the new season.

As soon as this summer season of SYTYCD ends, a new one begins in the fall, putting FOX's dance show into direct competition with Dancing with the Stars.

The networks have all announced their fall schedules. EW has a cheat sheet that lists the fates of current shows, while Zap2It posted cool grids of the night-by-night schedules for NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW.

NBC's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! couldn't cast indicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich because a judge wouldn't allow him to leave the country to film the show. So, naturally, they cast Rod's wife, Patti. Wait...huh? I live in Illinois, and even I don't know enough about Patti Blagojevich to want to watch her on TV. Why does the network think anyone outside The Land of Lincoln will care?

With another season of DwtS in the books, it seems fitting to end this post with a vid of Season 8 champs Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ox Notes will return on Tuesday, May 26.

DwtS 8, Week 11: The Finale

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

With four wins in the first seven seasons, athletes have had a great track record on Dancing with the Stars. Would Shawn follow in the footsteps of previous jocks and win the mirrorball trophy, or would Gilles or Melissa be able to even the score?

The performance-laden DwtS 8 Finale began with Lady Gaga singing "Let's Dance."

The bulk of the evening was taken up with performances by the couples eliminated earlier in the season. An easily overlooked highlight was the announcement that Anna Demidova beat Mayo Alanen in the Pro Dancer Competiiton, earning Anna a spot in the Season 9 cast.

Former DwtS contestant and "Roastmaster General" Jeff Ross roasted this season's finalists, asking of Melissa, "Wouldn't it be ironic if she came in second on this show, too?" (Unfortunately for Melissa, she wouldn't even be that lucky...)

Then the finalists re-performed their best routines for one last set of judges' scores (all 30s, of course). Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas kicked things off with a reprise of their Cha Cha Cha.

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani danced their Samba.

And Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke performed their Argentine Tango.

While the final scores were tabulated, Lady Gaga took the stage again to sing "Love Game."

Finally, it was time to announce the results. Melissa & Tony came in third, which was no real surprise. After Melissa got to say some final words, the winning couple was announced: Shawn and Mark, who beat Gilles and Cheryl by only a 1% margin.

That gave professional and Olympic athletes a 5-3 edge over non-athletes on Dancing with the Stars. It also evened the score between men and women, 4-4.

DwtS 8, Week 11: Performances

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Dancing with the Stars 8 finalists gave it their all, as they tried to impress the voters one last time.

The competition started with all three couples facing off against one another in a Paso Doble. The judges awarded scores to each couple individually.

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas -- 28

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani -- 29

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke -- 30

Then it was time for the Freestyle Round.

Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas -- 30

Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke -- 28

Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani -- 27

Judges' Leaderboard (60 points possible):

58 -- Shawn & Mark, Gilles & Cheryl

56 -- Melissa & Tony

While I liked all of the Freestyles, I think Shawn & Mark gave the most energetic performance. However, I'm giving at least a couple of my votes to Melissa & Tony. The judges have been inconsistent in the way they've scored the couple in recent weeks, and their comments haven't been constructive. It's as though they've been holding Melissa to a different standard, but never explained what that standard was.

I think the trophy will go to Shawn or Gilles, but I want to give Melissa a fighting chance.

Ox Notes: May 14, 2009

Thursday, May 14, 2009

If you want to know why the Dancing with the Stars finalists seem stressed during the last weeks of the season, it's because they get stuck doing dumb things like magazine photo shoots about what kinds of food they like. And those photo shoots are filmed by Entertainment Tonight. Sorry, Melissa & Tony.

Catching up on some other DwtS news, Us chatted with Ty Murray, Gilles Marini spoke with OK! and People filed a What You Didn't See report from the set of Tuesday's Results Show.

In Carrie Ann Inaba's latest blog post for EW, she wrote, "I'm not saying that Melissa doesn't work hard." That sentence, placed within a rambling paragraph about how talented people sometimes have bad work ethics, can mean only one thing: Carrie Ann thinks Melissa doesn't work hard.

Tuesday's DwtS Results Show was watched by 14.06 million people, though its ratings among 18-34 year olds were only slightly better than those of The CW's 90210.

OK! Magazine is giving you the opportunity to participate in a workout with Lacey Schwimmer on May 30.

Reality TV World posted lengthy interviews with The Amazing Race teams Victor & Tammy and Jamie & Cara that I'll get around to reading later this afternoon.

Friday night's episode of Storymakers on AMC features director Judd Apatow talking about just how much male frontal nudity moviegoers are willing to sit through before walking out of the theater.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan argues that NBC's new Amy Poehler comedy, Parks and Recreation, is actually less funny than Joey, the network's Friends spin-off starring Matt Le Blanc. Wow.

I'll be on vacation next week, but I'll try and post brief editions of Ox Notes on Tuesday and Wednesday with links to DwtS interviews. In the meantime, I leave you with Keyboard Cat (contains some coarse language):

Ox Notes: May 13, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

After last night's Dancing with the Stars Results Show, the contestants chatted on camera with ET, The Insider and Access Hollywood. Print outlets OK! and People were also backstage.

Gilles Marini was especially chatty, telling OK! about his new acting role and revealing too much to E! about his, um, extracurricular activities.

Former DwtS contestant Paulina Porizkova was reportedly fired from America's Next Top Model for having a big ego. There's only enough room on that set for one big ego, and that ego belongs to Tyra Banks.

Interviews with The Amazing Race 14 contestants continue to hit the Web. TV Guide has interviews with Jamie & Cara and Luke & Margie, who also did an interview with AfterElton.com (thanks for the tip, Jen C).

FOX has renewed Lie to Me for a second season and picked up two pilots for the fall.

While you may be sick of the profusion of Jon and Kate Gosselin affair/break up stories, it is interesting to think of all the money and free stuff they stand to lose if they split up and force the cancellation of Jon & Kate Plus 8. Will $75,000 per episode and free Disney World tickets be enough to keep them together?

Finally, here's a clip of Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower's farewell appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

DwtS 8, Week 10: Results

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

With one week left, the only question that remained was whether Ty's fan support could propel him into the DwtS 8 finals.

Musical guest Raphael Saadiq kicked off the night, accompanied by his own dancers.

The judge's encore went to Shawn & Mark for their Tango. Then former DwtS champs Helio Castroneves, Brooke Burke and Drew Lachey offered some generic comments about this season's final four.

The next performance of the night was part of the pro dancer competition. This week, finalists Mayo Alanen and Anna Demidova performed two dances with one of the current DwtS pros. Mayo was first up, dancing a Tango with Kym Johnson.

Anna was next, performing a Quickstep with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

The competition took a break for the winning routine in ABC's online Design-a-Dance contest, a Quickstep performed by Derek Hough, Mark Ballas, Julianne Hough and Lacey Schwimmer.

Then Mayo & Kym were back to Cha Cha Cha.

Anna & Maks returned with a Samba.

The judges unanimously favored Anna's routines, with Len threatening to "show [his] bum in the supermarket" if she doesn't come back next season.

Finally, it was time to announce the results. Gilles & Cheryl and Shawn & Mark were told they were safe.

Ultimately, Melissa & Tony wer saved, and Ty & Chelsie were let go. I wonder how close they really were to making it into the finals.