Dancing with the Stars Season 8 Cast; Remembering James Whitmore; WGA Awards Winners

Monday, February 09, 2009

Dancing with the Stars Season 8 Cast; Remembering James Whitmore; WGA Awards Winners

An all-new cast of celebrities hits the dance floor on ABC's Dancing with the Stars with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere on Monday, March 9, 2009 from 8:00-10:02 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Season Eight introduces us to 13 new stars, including the youngest competitor to date, an NFL legend, a computer icon, a female rapper, three music artists and a "Wildboy."
Additionally, "love is a battlefield" when, for the first time, three real life couples take the ballroom floor. Husband and wife Ty Murray and Jewel compete for bragging rights, while newly engaged professional dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff go head to head. To top it off, country crooner Chuck Wicks teams with girlfriend and two-time Dancing with the Stars champ Julianne Hough. And in an exciting new twist, the bottom two couples facing elimination will "Dance Off" to determine who is dismissed in the first weeks of competition.
Among the stars this upcoming season are David Alan Grier (Life with Bonnie, In Living Color), Gilles Marini (Sex and the City movie), Denise Richards (Wild Things, Spin City), and Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood, Scream 2 and 3).
View the full cast and details on each star. As for pairings with professionals, we know Julianne Hough will be with Chuck Wicks as per the press release and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be with Denise Richards as per Good Morning America. The full professional partnering will be announced on Thursday, February 12.

James Whitmore, the many-faceted character actor who delivered strong performances in movies, television and especially the theater with his popular one-man shows about Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt, has died. The Emmy and Tony winning actor was diagnosed with lung cancer the week before Thanksgiving and died Friday afternoon (Feb. 6) at his Malibu home. Now he wasn't known really for TV sitcoms, but he did appear on quite a few. In fact, one of his ex-wives was a sitcom star. Mr. Whitmore was married to Audra Lindley of Three's Company fame in the '70s. Even after they divorced in 1979, they remained friends and appeared with each other in the big screen movies Zoo Ship in 1985 and The Relic in 1997. When they were married, they appeared in the TV movie The Canterville Ghost in 1974 and such plays as The Magnificent Yankee, On Golden Pond, The Visit, Foxfire and Love Letters, among others.
In the early '70s he starred on the sitcom Temperatures Rising. Set at the Capital General Hospital in Washington D.C., follows the adventures of the no-nonsense chief of surgery Dr. Vincent Campanelli (James Whitmore) and his all-nonsense staff. He guest starred on the sitcom A Minute With Stan Hooper in 2003. Among his other credits include series regular in dramas The Law and Mr. Jones, Mister Sterling, and My Friend Tony. In 2000 he won an Emmy for outstanding guest actor in a dramatic series for The Practice. Among his other guest appearances include CSI, Burke's Law, Riptide, The White Shadow, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Big Valley, Rawhide, Dr. Kildare, Route 66, Twilight Zone, Ben Casey, and more. His other big screen credits include The Shawshank Redemption, The Majestic, Give 'em Hell, Harry, and Battleground. The latter saw him earn Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
Mr. Whitmore will certainly be missed. His legacy continues with his children and grandchildren, among them are grandson Matty Whitmore who was on Survivor: Gabon. Mr. Whitemore was 87.

Finally, we leave you today with the winners for the 61st Annual WGA Awards. Comedy wise, 30 Rock was the big winner for their writing work. While Mad Men took home the win for writing for dramas. Among the other categories, Breaking Bad won for best new series.
View the full TV portion winners.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, September 17

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Rally" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava and the Abbott teachers go to the district to plead for Ava's job back; Gregory handles duties as interim principal.

Abbott Elementary - "Please Touch Museum" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Abbott Elementary goes on a schoolwide field trip to the Please Touch Museum, which has some of the older kids skeptical.

The Hospital - "Double or Nothing; Make a Wish" (BET, 11:00PM ET/PT)
Apparently the best spot to gamble during your shift, is in the morgue.

The Hospital - "Lyrical Surgery; Get It Poppin" (BET, 11:30PM ET/PT)
Dr. Do-It-To-Em's mixtape has more bars than a nursing student during finals week.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 15)

Wednesday, September 17

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Jason appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Ron Howard (Arrested Development/Happy Days/The Andy Griffith Show) - Ron is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Brett Goldstein (Shrinking/Ted Lasso) - Brett stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rob Reiner (All in the Family/Morton & Hayes) - Rob appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Paul and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about FX's Necaxa on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Marlon Wayans (Marlon/The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon talks about Him on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) - Eugene talks about The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Mark Duplass (Big Mouth/Togetherness/The Mindy Project/The League) - Mark talks about The Morning Show on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Kristin Davis (And Just Like That.../Bad Teacher/Sex and the City) - Kristin dishes on the end of And Just Like That and surprises Drew with an item from the set of Sex and the City on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) - Jane talks about Fox's Celebrity Weakest Link on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Judy Reyes (Scrubs) - Judy is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.