Ox Notes: August 20, 2008

Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy told OK! Magazine that he will participate in the upcoming season, after taking last season off.

If ex-NFLer Warren Sapp joins the DwtS 7 cast as rumored, he'll have to schedule dance rehearsals around his new gig as an analyst on Showtime's Inside the NFL.

Another former pro football player, Antonio Freeman of the Green Bay Packers, told ESPN that he's in talks to join the DwtS cast for Season 8.

EW's Michael Ausiello reports that Veronica Mars scribe Rob Thomas recently spoke with Kristen Bell, the actress who portrayed the title character, about the possibility of a VM feature film.

While TV critics are buzzing about The CW's decision not to send out preview copies of 90210 -- fueling speculation that the show isn't very good -- the Chicago Tribune's blog The Watcher has a list of other shows which haven't been screened for critics.

MSNBC announced that political analyst and Countdown with Keith Olbermann guest host Rachel Maddow is getting her own nightly show on the network, starting September 8. Olbermann himself broke the news yesterday on the website Daily Kos.

Rachel Maddow is the smartest political analyst on TV, and one of my favorite on air personalities. She's adept at getting good answers out of her guests, forcing them to support their claims with evidence and not just talking points. The Rachel Maddow Show will be a great addition to MSNBC's lineup.