TV Potpourri

Former Dancing with the Stars contestant VIVICA A. FOX turned herself in to authorities in San Fernando Valley Wednesday to be booked for a March DUI charge. According to police, she was fingerprinted, photographed and released within a half hour without posting bail. The actress turned herself in after a judge warned her Monday that she'd face a bench warrant for her arrest if she didn't...

NBC will begin airing "best of" episodes of Saturday Night Live as a regular primetime series, beginning this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time with The Best of Will Ferrell. That'll be followed by The Best of Chris Farley on December 15th and The Best of 2006-07, featuring the popular SNL "Digital Shorts,"on the 22nd. An entire episode of the show's signature commercial parodies, called Saturday Night Live Goes Commercial, airs December 29th...

E! Online reports that TORI SPELLING will appear in print and TV ads for NutriSystem in a new campaign kicking off next month. Spelling has credited NutriSystem with helping her lose 35 pounds in six months following the birth of her son LIAM last March...

While every other TV show is shutting down because of the writers strike, Boston Legal fans can cheer because there are still new episodes of the ABC series in the can. According to The Hollywood Reporter,it's thanks to creator DAVID E. KELLEY, who cranked out three scripts before the strike began, which also allowed the cast and crew of the show to keep their jobs, at least for a bit longer...

TV Hullabloo

The writers' strike isn't stopping CBS. The eye network announced yesterday the second season of The New Adventures of Old Christine will premiere January 28th. CBS also revealed the next edition of Survivor -- the 16th overall -- will kick off February 7th, while Jericho will return for a second season February 12th. That same night, a new season of Big Brother will also begin. Combining these premieres with the writers' strike, CBS has decided to pull The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, Cane and The Unit from its schedule next month...

NBC announced yesterday Law & Order will return to the network's primetime schedule with a two-hour episode January 2nd...

According to a TV Guide poll, 89 percent of respondents gave a jeer to MARIE OSMOND'S recent wind-up doll performance on Dancing with the Stars, while nine percent cheered it. Another two percent felt that was the moment Osmond jumped the shark...

Like you couldn't see this coming...

HELIO CASTRONEVES may have won the mirrorball trophy on ABC-TV's Dancing with the Stars Tuesday night, but he lost his fiancée. Less than one day after his victory, ALIETTE VAZQUEZ announced that she decided to call off her engagement to the Brazilian race car driver. Vazquez's publicist, HOWARD BRAGMAN, explained yesterday, "There's been a lot of rumors and a lot of stuff said, and she just wanted confirmed that they are no longer engaged. There's no animosity, there's nothing mean. Just a simple confirmation."

Bragman added that he wasn't going to address any rumors of a Dancing with the Stars romance brewing between Castroneves and his dance partner, JULIANNE HOUGH. He said, quote, "I'm not gonna talk about the rumors. I mean they're clearly out there." For her part, Hough confirms that a certain amount of "chemistry" on the dance floor is necessary for a good performance. She said, "We have to make sure that we have chemistry on the dance floor, otherwise we're not gonna entice the audience and I think that's what's a big deal. She added, "And you know the people that are around you that love you and support you should understand that."Castroneves and Vazquez had been together for more than six years and were engaged last year.

Nielsen Ratings

ABC's Dancing With the Stars was the most-watched show during Thanksgiving week, but CBS had nine of the top 20 shows and squeaked out a ratings victory over its competitors. For the week, CBS averaged 11.71 million viewers while ABC averaged 11.57 million. Monday's Dancing With the Stars competition show attracted more than 22 million viewers, and Tuesday's "results" show drew 21 million fans.

NBC had only one show in the Top 20 -- Sunday Night Football -- and finished third in the network ratings race. NBC's fading Heroes finished in 27th place.

More than 11 million viewers watched BRAD WOMACK reject his final two matrimonial contestants on The Bachelor finale. The show attracted one million more viewers than last fall's finale. Last week's follow-up show, The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, did even better -- 12.3 million viewers.

Here are the ten most watched prime time shows for the week ending Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. Dancing With the Stars (Monday) - ABC, 22.8 million viewers

2. Sunday Night Football - NBC, 21.8 million

3. Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday) - ABC, 21 million

4. Desperate Housewives - ABC, 18.6 million

5. NCIS - CBS, 17.3 million

6. House - Fox, 16.9 million

7. 60 Minutes - CBS, 16.1 million

8. Criminal Minds - CBS, 15.9 million

9. CSI: Miami - CBS, 15.8 million

10. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - ABC, 15 million

DWTS Odds!

So, who's going to win this season's Dancing with the Stars competition? Right now, it looks like MELANIE BROWN - a least, according to Wynn Las Vegas Casino oddsmaker JOHN AVELLO. Still, Avello was adjusting his finale odds on this season's winner up until the last minute last night. Before seeing last night's performances, they stood as follows:

MELANIE BROWN: 6 to 5
HELIO CASTRONEVES: 2 to 1
MARIE OSMOND: 3 to 1

But the gambling expert was looking to see if Marie, who he believes is the weakest dancer with an incredibly strong fan base, just might have enough for him to change his rankings, moving her to second place. Unfortunately for Marie and her fans, Avello wasn't impressed, and has now declared it an even tighter race between Mel and Helio, with Marie still lagging as the longshot. Here are his latest odds, published just hours ago:

MELANIE BROWN: 7 to 5
HELIO CASTRONEVES: 9 to 5
MARIE OSMOND: 3 to 1

Avello does give Osmond credit for how far she's come. He points out that Helio was his first choice to win on September 24th, followed by Mel as his second choice. Back then, however, Marie was third from bottom, at odds of 22 to 1. (Note: Odds are for entertainment purposes only.)

Cross Promotion Part 2

JENNIE GARTH and HELIO CASTRONEVES were schmoozing with the stars last night at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles. They're among the four semifinalists still in contention on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, and Garth has at least one famous fan on her side. She said last night that QUEEN LATIFAH told her on the red carpet that she was doing a great job on the show. Castroneves said he's having fun on the popular reality series, despite the many hours he's spent rehearsing.

High School Musical star MONIQUE COLEMAN can sympathize with Castroneves, since she competed on the third season of Dancing with the Stars. When asked at the AMAs who she thinks will win the Mirror Ball trophy next week, she jokingly said she didn't want to talk about the semifinalists because her favorite contestant, fellow Disney Channel star SABRINA BRYAN, has already been voted off.

One celebrity that Castroneves can count on for support is APOLO ANTON OHNO, the reigning Dancing with the Stars champion. It was Ohno who encouraged the race car driver to participate on the show. He says if Castroneves and partner JULIANNE HOUGH, who danced with Ohno last season, reach the finals, they need to, quote, "step it up and they just have to bring everything out."The semifinal round of Dancing with the Stars airs tonight on ABC

TV FunHouse

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR is Prinze-cess. According to Us Weekly, the former Buffy star officially changed her name to SARAH MICHELLE PRINZE as a way to celebrate her fifth wedding anniversary to husband FREDDIE PRINZE JR....

People magazine reports WAYNE NEWTON will not perform on the Dancing with the Stars finale because he's battling a viral infection to the heart known as cardiomyopathy. The 65-year-old Vegas entertainer will attend the finale, however, While doctors expect Newton to fully recover in about two months, he said his doctors are just taking extra precautions. Because of the medical issue, Newton has also canceled shows he had scheduled for the next two months at Harrah's in Las Vegas...

PAIGE DAVIS will return to TLC's Trading Spaces, the home improvement show she hosted until 2005, when the program elected to give it a go without a host. Since then, ratings have taken a dip. Look for Davis again beginning in January...

It's a manny's world. ABC has ordered a spinoff of its reality show Supernanny called Supermanny, in which a man will swoop in to help families with unruly kids...

Neilsen Ratings

The writers' strike may be in full swing, but it hasn't had much of an effect on the Nielsen ratings just yet. New episodes of shows continued to air last week to the usual numbers, with CSI the week's top-rated show, drawing 21.9 million viewers.

Then again, it may be best to let some shows die when the writers return. Last week's episode of Carpoolers pulled up in 83rd place and Cavemen slumped to 88th. NBC's Bionic Woman also looked pretty rusty -- last week's episode earned its lowest ratings to date, six-and-a-half million viewers for a dismal 65th-place showing.

NBC's Heroes could also use some help. Last week's episode pulled in 9.9 million people and took 33rd place, the worst numbers the critically-acclaimed series has ever scored.One positive note from last week's ratings came from ABC's coverage of the Country Music Awards. It finished in tenth place, thanks to the nearly 16 million people who tuned in.

ABC was the top-ranked network for the week, followed by CBS, Fox, NBC, Univision, the CW, My Network TV, Telemundo and ION Television.

Here's a look at the top 10 primetime shows for the week of Monday, November 5th-Sunday, November 11th.

1. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 21.9 million viewers.
2. Without a Trace, CBS, 21.7 million viewers.
3. Dancing with the Stars (Monday), ABC, 20.5 million viewers.
4. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 19.5 million viewers.
5. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 18.6 million viewers.
6. House, Fox, 18.2 million viewers.
7. NCIS, CBS, 18.1 million viewers.
8. NBC Sunday Night Football, NBC, 17.3 million viewers.
9. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 17.1 million viewers.
10. CMA Awards, ABC, 15.95 million viewers.

The DTWS Diet!

Want to lose weight? Sign up for Dancing with the Stars. The upcoming issue of TV Guide magazine reports that MARK CUBAN dropped 34 pounds by the time he was eliminated from the show. MARIE OSMOND has lost 25 pounds, saying, quote, "I feel so much stronger and younger." MELANIE BROWN also says she's feeling fit, although she claims her rear end has grown in size. Maybe all that dancing will come in handy when Mel B tours with the SPICE GIRLS beginning next month.

Brown isn't the only Dancing with the Stars contestant pulling double duty. Mathison shuttles back and forth with partner EDYTA SLIWINSKA from Los Angeles to New York as he continues work on All My Children. He tells TV Guide magazine, quote, "If you combine all our miles, we've [each] flown around the planet twice. It's about 100 thousand miles so far."

Super Osmonds!

MARIE OSMOND has no plans to drop out of Dancing with the Stars following the death of her father earlier this week. She missed Tuesday night's results show after her father, 90-year-old GEORGE OSMOND, died earlier in the day, but ABC says the singer will remain on the show as a contestant.

Marie, her brother DONNY and other family members will also keep their commitment to appear on this Friday's Oprah Winfrey Show. According to Entertainment Tonight, Donny and Marie will pay tribute to their late father with a performance of The Donny and Marie Show theme song. Donny told Entertainment Tonight that he will also sing "Soldier of Love."

Nielsen Ratings

SABRINA BRYAN's final week on Dancing with the Stars was a success, at least from ABC's perspective. More than 21 million viewers watched the October 29th edition of the dancing competition, making it the most popular primetime show of the week. Of course, not enough of those viewers cast their vote for Bryan, who was surprisingly booted off the show the following night.

While the highest-rated show of the week also had its fair share of drama, it didn't air in primetime. Sunday's NFL game between the undefeated New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts on CBS averaged 33.4 million viewers, the largest audience for a TV program since the Oscars.

Elsewhere in the Nielsens:

* CBS' The Amazing Race had a pretty amazing season premiere, ranking in 17th place.

* You're still a ratings draw, Charlie Brown. ABC's airing of the classic Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on October 30th was seen by 11.4 million viewers.

CBS won the primetime ratings race for the week, followed by ABC, NBC, Fox, the CW, MyNetworkTV and ION Television.

Here are the top 10 primetime programs for the week of October 29th-November 4th, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. Dancing with the Stars (Monday), ABC, 21.43 million viewers.
2. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 19.31 million viewers.
3. 60 Minutes, CBS, 19.24 million viewers.
4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 19.06 million viewers.
5. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 18.86 million viewers.
6. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 18.58 million viewers.
7. House, Fox, 17.30 million viewers.
8. NFL Football (Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles), NBC, 16.45 million viewers.
9. NCIS, CBS, 16.33 million viewers.
10. Criminal Minds, CBS, 14.94 million viewers

DWTS Shocker!

SABRINA BRYAN had the talent to become the next Dancing with the Stars champion, but she just didn't have the support of the viewers. In one of the most shocking upsets in the reality show's five-season history, the star of Disney Channel's The Cheetah Girls and her pro partner, MARK BALLAS, were voted out of the competition last night. Bryan had established herself during the early rounds as arguably the most skilled celebrity dancer on the show, especially after she received the first perfect score of the current season. Evidently, the home audience was not entertained by her foxtrot on Monday night's performance show.

The results shocked host TOM BERGERON and the three judges, and Bryan herself shed tears before her final dance with Ballas. Soap star CAMERON MATHISON also fell into the bottom two, but staved off elimination.For the second time in nearly a month, celebrity contestant JANE SEYMOUR did not attend a results show. KABC-TV reports that the actress was not present for last night's episode due to a case of food poisoning for which she was taken to a hospital. Seymour also missed a results show earlier this month after her mother passed away.

BARRY MANILOW did make a guest appearance on last night's show, performing twice. Dancing with the Stars continues this Monday night.

*WOW...I don't even really watch DWTS, but even I knew she was good...wonder if NBA ref's have anything to do with the voting...that Mark Cuban did get kicked off...hmmmmm