Ox Notes: March 14, 2007

Last night's episode of Survivor: Micronesia was a doozy. Even though I knew it was coming, I teared up when Jonathan Penner had to leave the game for medical treatment. And I can't believe Chet ruined one of the biggest blindsides ever and passed on the chance to make himself a Survivor legend. Instead, he'll forever be remembered as that useless beauty pageant guy.

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas (no, not the guy from Matchbox 20) has two cool projects in the works. He's reviving his short-lived show Cupid for ABC, and the CW has commissioned him to write a Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off.

Nickelodeon is working on a couple of interesting projects of its own. The kids' network has plans for a dance competition show for teens, and is preparing to launch a multiplayer online green game to promote environmental awareness.

Cast members of Battlestar Galactica will present a special Top 10 List on Late Night with David Letterman on Wednesday, March 19, presumably to help promote Tuesday's release of the BSG Season 3 DVD.

I just noticed a totally kick-ass feature at TVShowsOnDVD.com. They have a complete list of Amazon sales on TV show DVD sets that is updated hourly, and can be sorted by the percentage discounted off the suggested retail price, with a minimum of 35% off. As of this writing, there are 279 titles available for 50% off or more. Sweet!

Evil Dead director Sam Raimi is working on a new horror reality show for the CW. 13, which debuts this summer, will eliminate contests through a series of scary challenges.

This show sounds an awful lot like MTV's Fear, which tortured willing young adults by sending them to supposedly haunted locales and making them sit alone in the dark for hours at a time. Believe it or not, it was exceptionally entertaining to watch contestants freak themselves out.

Take, for example, my favorite contestant, Holly. One of her challenges at a haunted military academy involved enduring a mild electrical shock. Her whiny valley girl voice made her exaggeration of the pain and minimal understanding of electrical conductivity all the more memorable: "I hope nothing's physically wrong with me. I have piercings on my body and stuff." (Quote is at the 5:00 mark in the video below.)



I hope to see you all on Monday night for our first Dancing with the Stars live chat of Season 6. A post at the MOIB homepage will direct you to the chat, and we'll discuss the show live during the East Coast broadcast, which starts at 8 EST. West Coasters and those outside the U.S. are welcome to join in if you just can't wait to find out what happened on the show.

Can't wait to talk to you on Monday night!