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Saunders: 'Dancing' will skirt 'Idol' for first week

Published March 19, 2007 at midnight

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The contestants will do a lot of ballroom and acrobatic dancing while ABC programmers are doing the dodge dance.

Dancing With the Stars premieres its fourth session tonight (7 p.m., Denver's 7).

Normally, a results show would follow on Tuesday.

Not this time.

Tuesday is American Idol night on Fox.

So Dancing With the Stars will be pre-empted and return March 26, with another two hours of competition.

The first results show is scheduled March 27.

ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson has admitted the first results program is being delayed because of Idol competition, claiming the network doesn't want to force viewers initially to have to choose between two of TV's most popular reality series.

It's also obvious that ABC is - if you'll pardon a reference to another popular reality series - in a survivor mode.

The network doesn't want Dancing to be out of audience sync during its second night out.

McPherson admits Dancing and Idol ultimately will clash on several occasions later in the spring.

Some of the Dancing "stars" who begin competing tonight:

• Heather Mills, estranged wife of Paul McCartney, who'll compete with an artificial left leg, the result of a 1993 auto accident.

• Clyde (The Glide) Drexler, former NBA star.

• Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer.

• Laila Ali, a boxer and daughter of Muhammad Ali.

• Joe Fatone, former member of *NSYNC.

• Apollo Anton Ohno, Olympic skating champion.

• Leeza Gibbons, former TV host on Hollywood tabloid shows.

• John Ratzenberger, known to Cheers fans as Cliff Claven, the know-it-all mailman. He replaces Vincent Pastore - Big Pussy on The Sopranos - who discovered he was not up to the task physically.

(If you're a betting viewer, take Drexler; they didn't call him The Glide for nothing).

Idle networks

American Idol continues, as expected, to steamroll all network opposition.

While down a bit in some demographic ratings, the Fox series has, unfortunately, turned rival networks into rerun havens.

Last Tuesday, for example, the two hours of American Idol had higher audience ratings than all the rerun programming on ABC, CBS, NBC and The CW combined during the time period.

And the Simon Cowell Ego Express continues on track. The controversial judge, appearing on 60 Minutes Sunday night, told interviewer Anderson Cooper he's worth five times more to his record label (Sony BMG) than is Bruce Springsteen, the company's major recording artist.

"I sell more records than Springsteen," Colwell said of the rock star who has a contract reportedly worth around $100 million.

According to 60 Minutes, Cowell's deal with Sony BMG is in the same dollar neighborhood as Springsteen's.

Local names

KWGN News2 photographer Everett McEwan has won first place from the National Press Photographers Association in the spot- news category for his coverage of the rescue of a dog caught in a storm drain. McEwan also was first runner-up in the NPPA's photographer of the year competition.

• Aaron Harber of KBDI-Channel 12 will interview Gov. Bill Ritter at 9 p.m. Friday, with the hour to be repeated at 2 p.m. Sunday. Harber is seeking questions from viewers through Tuesday; send them to Aaron@HarberTV.com. The interview will be taped Wednesday.

QUOTABLE

"It won't come off. As much as everyone would love to see it go flying, I'm sure it's not going to come off." Heather Mills, commenting on a Web site's offering betting odds on whether her artificial leg falls off during competition on Dancing With the Stars.

Today's nostalgia

On March 19, 1977, the Mary Tyler Moore Show, one of the most popular comedies in network history, aired its final new episode on CBS after seven seasons. The finale had WJM-TV in Minneapolis firing the entire crew except Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). The final scene featured Moore, as Mary Richards, turning out the lights in the TV newsroom.