Ox Notes: March 11, 2007

Marissa Jarrett Winokur gave an interview recently in which she talked about fighting for her spot in the cast of Dancing with the Stars 6. And reigning DwtS champ Helio Castroneves disclosed the advice he gave to one of Winokur's competitors, Jason Taylor.

In a Salon interview, DwtS vet Mark Cuban started out talking about having hip surgery weeks before dancing on national TV, but ended with some insights into how technology has changed the way we watch sports on television.

MSNBC announced that the afternoon news show helmed by DwtS vet Tucker Carlson has been officially dropped in favor of Race for the White House With David Gregory.

Britney Spears is scheduled to appear on an upcoming episode of How I Met Your Mother.

Production permits for scripted TV shows have been slow to pick up since the end of the writer's strike, although the number of permits for new reality shows remains high.

I wish the permit for TLC's new show Date My House, hosted by former Bachelor Bob Guiney, had been denied. The show, in which Guiney helps makeover houses before prospective buyers go on a "speed date" with them, just sounds stupid.

Another new reality show in the works will follow Motley Crue front man Vince Neil as his lives with and cares for his elderly parents. No network has picked up the show yet, and I kind of hope it stays that way.

MTV is working on a few new music-themed reality shows of its own. The one I'm most looking forward to is Rock the Cradle, in which the children of rock stars compete to see which of the offspring is the best singer.

This may be one of the few MTV shows that parents would want to watch with their kids, and kids might need their elders around to explain who the competitors' famous parents are. I'd bet my acid-washed jeans that most 15-year-olds aren't into Kenny Loggins, Joe Walsh, or Eddie Money -- even though they should be.