Ox Notes: November 25, 2009

Dancing with the Stars 9 is over. Congratulations to Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson, whose victory seemed almost inevitable. Was any winner ever more predictable from the start of the season? Kristi Yamaguchi in Season 6, perhaps?

Access Hollywood, The Insider and ET had cameras backstage after last night's Finale. Kelly Osbourne told Us that she never expected to win.

E! has clips of the contestants partying after the show. Many of the participants are still Twittering about the show today.

The DwtS 9 Finale won last night's ratings war with an audience of 19.2 million people. Donny Osmond's victory, however, was seen by several million people fewer than watched Marie Osmond finish in third place in Season 5.

In other DwtS news, the 1500 complaints ABC received about Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards on Sunday night is less than the number of complaints the network receives about a typical DwtS episode.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba told People that she has back surgery in her future.

My Ox Is Broken will return on Tuesday, December 8 with a new edition of Ox Notes.

Ox Notes: November 24, 2009

Access Hollywood, ET and The Insider all had cameras backstage after the Dancing with the Stars 9 Final Performance Show. Kelly Osbourne told Us that she doesn't think that she and Louis van Amstel will win. She also told OK! that she's going to wait on having foot surgery.

Pure DwtS has a cool list of Twitter posts by DwtS cast members that is constantly updating. Looks like everyone woke up early today for Finale rehearsals.

EW's Ken Tucker was grossed out by last night's premiere of Find My Family, which he describes as "a kind of benign blackmail."

Catching up on Survivor, here are links to Jeff Probst's blog post about the most recent episode and the latest Ponderosa videos (all five of them).

ABC has halted production temporarily on Flash Forward so that the show can improve its writing.

The four-episode run of V wraps up tonight on ABC. I've found the first three episodes entertaining, but not great. Here's hoping that annoying teens Tyler and Lisa mysteriously disappear before the series returns in the spring.

Last week's Project Runway 6 finale was down in viewers from the PR5 finale on Bravo, probably because the season was boring. MSN recounted the many ways in which PR6 fell short. It turned me off enough that I'm skipping Season 7, which debuts on Lifetime on January 14.

I was also disappointed in the final episode of Supernatural for 2009. The show takes itself too seriously, and trapping the brothers in an endless struggle for their dead dad's approval has stunted their development. The Watcher still loves the show, but I'm done with it.

The Watcher has a handy list of winter premiere and return dates for a number of shows.

There's only one new show this season that I can heartily recommend: The Vampire Diaries. It won't change your life, but it will entertain and surprise you. It's not sentimental about its characters and will dispatch with just about anyone so long as it furthers the plot. In that regard, it shares the same quality that I love about George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire book series (a comparison I never thought I'd make).

The CW will rerun the first ten episodes of The Vampire Diaries during the week of December 14-18. Since it's a slow period for TV, I encourage you to give the show a chance if you haven't seen it yet.

Ox Notes: November 19, 2009

Even though it hasn't been officially renewed beyond Season 20, Survivor is casting for Seasons 21 and 22. Given how entertaining Season 19 has been -- thanks to evil genius Russell -- I hope Jeff Probst decides to stick around for a few more seasons.

Pure DwtS has a roundup of Dancing with the Stars 9 Semi-Final media coverage.

Last night's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas produced a great blog post by Tom Colicchio, who explained the history of the Bocuse d'Or as well as the rationale behind their selection of the winning chef. Gail Simmons blogged about being nervous dining in the presence of Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation board members.

NBC is moving the 2010 Emmys up to August 29 so as not to disrupt the network's Sunday Night Football schedule.

The Mad Men suits on sale at Brooks Brothers are helping to bring much-deserved attention to Hollywood costume designers.

In other industry news, women and minorities are still underrepresented among TV writers.

Whoops. Looks like I missed last weekend's Supernatural convention in Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune's TV critic, Maureen Ryan, explained how she decides when to give up on a show. She lasted longer with Flash Forward than I did.

Ox Notes: November 17, 2009

Cameras from ET and Access Hollywood caught up with the couples after last night's Dancing with the Stars 9 Semi-Final Performance Show. People filed a What You Didn't See report from the set.

Kelly Osbourne tells OK! that she's due for foot surgery after the season ends.

Whitney Houston will perform during the DwtS 9 Finale next week.

In other DwtS news, Season 9 competitor Aaron Carter owes the federal government over $1 million in back taxes. Two-time DwtS champ Julianne Hough definitely won't be back next season.

MSN and People interviewed Gary & Matt, the latest team eliminated from The Amazing Race.

People also interviewed Survivor: Samoa's Kelly, who appeared on EW's Survivor Talk with guest host Courtney Yates. EW has Jeff Probst's latest blog post as well.

In sad news, comedian Ken Ober died unexpectedly over the weekend. Ober hosted Remote Control back in MTV's early days, the game show that helped launch the careers of comics like Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn.

Ox Notes: November 12, 2009

Even though Let's Dance was pulled from ABC's November schedule -- and replaced with Find My Family -- the celebrity dance-off may not be dead. Cast member Kathy Najimy tweeted that the show will debut in January.

Two shows that are definitely dead: Dollhouse and Hank.

NBC announced their holiday programming plans, including the a cappella competition The Sing-Off.

FOX is working with producer Mark Burnett to develop a competition show for child prodigies called Our Little Genius. Just what neurotic kids with perfectionist tendencies need: the chance to lose thousands of dollars for their families on national television.

Author Ray Bradbury is developing a TV mini-series based on his short stories. Yay!

Dancing with the Stars lovebirds Julianne Hough & Chuck Wicks may or may not have broken up.

People filed a What You Didn't See report from the set of Tuesday's DwtS 9 Results Show.

Nigel Lythgoe told People he was "totally disappointed" in the quality of the solos on last night's So You Think You Can Dance results show.

Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Toby Young blogged about last night's Las Vegas hotel challenge.

The first half of Project Runway's two-part season finale airs tonight on Lifetime at 10 ET. Designers Christopher Straub and Gordana Gehlhausen talked to TV Guide about just missing a trip to Bryant Park.

Ox Notes: November 10, 2009

Despite getting an official premiere date from the network, ABC has canceled Let's Dance because the show couldn't find enough celebrities willing to participate.

Access Hollywood and ET had cameras backstage after last night's Dancing with the Stars 9 Performance Show. OK! magazine was also on set to talk with Kelly Osbourne about the weight she's lost during her run on the show and with Aaron Carter about the song he wrote for Karina Smirnoff.

Each 30-second commercial during last night's DwtS Performance Show cost advertisers $178,687.

Kathy Ireland is rehearsing for a DwtS 9 finale performance in spite of her pending knee surgery.

Is it a bad sign that I forgot that a new episode of V airs tonight until I saw this TV Guide interview with Morena Baccarin?

Survivor: Samoa's Erik spoke with EW and People about becoming the season's first jury member (that means Ponderosa videos!). Jeff Probst blogged about the latest episode as well.

We're little more than a week away from James Franco's General Hospital debut. Are you getting excited? NYMag spoke with Franco, while The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog caught up with GH executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.

Ox Notes: November 5, 2009

Pure DwtS has a roundup of media coverage of this week's Dancing with the Stars 9 double elimination. I can't believe there are only three weeks left.

Iron Chef America's connection with DwtS won't end with Chairman Mark Dacascos' departure from the ballroom. A January episode of the cooking competition features an appearance by First Lady Michelle Obama and will be judged by DwtS vets Jane Seymour and Natalie Coughlin.

DwtS pro Cheryl Burke is reportedly headed to Broadway, where she will appear as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago.

ABC will keep on dancing after DwtS ends, filling its timeslot with the comedic celebrity dance show Let's Dance. The new series, hosted by Kathy Griffin, debuts on Monday, November 23 after DwtS 9's final Performance Show.

Keeping with the ABC theme, I liked the network's reboot of V on Tuesday night (though I can't compare it to the original -- too scary for me when I was a kid). It won the night in demos. The Watcher gave her take on the first episode and her hopes for the series.

Speaking of scary things, I fear getting sucked in to Broke and Famous on VH1 tonight at 10 ET. The show follows Willie Aames for seven days as he tries to get his life back in order.

Comedian Artie Lange turned down $200,000 to appear on Celebrity Rehab in part because he's not sure that it works. Also, he didn't want his mom to see the results if he failed.

Next time you're in New York City with $45 to spend, take the Top Chef walking tour.

Reality Blurred has a roundup of interviews with Tiffany & Maria, the duo booted from The Amazing Race last week. Had it been a non-elimination week, they would've been able to take a 24-hour penalty for not completing either Detour task.. But it wasn't, and they were sent home.

Time for me to get a jump on setting my DVR: James Franco's run on General Hospital starts November 20.