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.