Ox Notes: August 23, 2007

YES! NBC is bringing American Gladiators back! A revamped version of the nineties classic debuts midseason.

The contestants for Dancing with the Stars 5 will be announced on Good Morning America on Wednesday, August 29. One of the latest rumored stars is Wayne Newton, who is at the top of my list of old guys I'd want to see on the show (along with Robert Goulet and Tom Jones).

In an interview about a Hot Legs contest she was judging, Stacy Keibler confessed that she can't dance without Tony Dovolani. And John O'Hurley's $6.2 million house is for sale.

The New York Times has some of the unsavory details of the contract parents of the kids on Kid Nation had to sign. One clause states that CBS isn't responsible if a kid becomes pregnant or contracts an STD, if the child "chooses to enter into an intimate relationship of any nature with another participant or any other person."

Who are these "any other person's" outlined in the contract? Does that include production staff members? And since all of the kids were 15 or younger, how could they be held responsible for that choice? This whole show is creeping me out more every day.

In lighter kid-related news, ABC Family has greenlit the series Samurai Girl, based on a young adult book series that I'm going to have to check out.

And finally, I've got a new favorite on Top Chef after last night's Restaurant Wars redo. Sara kicked butt running the kitchen for the restaurant formerly known as The Garage. Right now, she'd be my pick for head chef if I was opening a restaurant.

Anthony Bourdain has a blog at Bravo's website, and he gave a great explanation of last night's elimination -- which he agreed with -- and talked about the diverse skill set every chef needs to have to keep a kitchen running smoothly.