Ox Notes: February 3, 2009

ABC will announce the cast of Dancing with the Stars 8 by revealing the stars' names one-by-one throughout the course of the network's Sunday night primetime lineup on February 8. I think I'll wait until Brothers & Sisters ends and then check out ABC's DwtS website for the full cast list.

One of the names expected to be on the DwtS 8 cast list is former NFLer Lawrence Taylor.

Karina Smirnoff recently underwent knee surgery, though the DwtS pro told E! that she'll be ready to start training with her new partner on February 10.

In other ABC news, producers of The Bachelor flew in special trainers from Seattle to keep Jason Mesnick buff for his shirtless scenes.

More than 95 million people watched Super Bowl XLII.

Reality Blurred interviewed Survivor: Tocantins contestants Joe Dowdle, Jerry Sims, Debra Beebe and Tyson Apostol. Any favorites among these four castaways?

Variety's Brian Lowry thinks American networks should follow the British model and keep TV shows' seasons short, especially since most series never make it to the 100 episode mark needed for syndication.

Even shows I really like, such as Battlestar Galactica, have a couple of filler episodes each season that are so bad they're almost unwatchable. On the other hand, my favorite series ever, the U.K.'s Peep Show, films just six episodes per season, and each episode is terrific.

I'd rather watch several good shows with shorter seasons each year, instead of a few uneven series with twenty or more episodes each. How about you?