International Standard is always one of my favorites rounds on America’s Ballroom Challenge, and this season’s competition didn’t disappoint.

The costumes worn during the group dance round were classically glamorous, and they added to the drama of the couples nearly crashing into each other at every turn. Arunas Bizokas & Katusha Demidova won the group dance round.

For the showdance round, most of the couples steered clear of traditional standard routines, opting instead for combinations of standard and Latin moves. After Mikhail Avdeev & Anastasia Muravyeva’s performance in Shrek costumes, Ron Montez muttered, "Oh, boy. That was something different, for sure."

All of the performances were good, although I think the judges were generous in rewarding the Shrek routine 4th place. But it was Arunas & Katusha’s elegant performance to "Rhapsody in Blue" that won the showdance round. They’ll compete in the grand finale in two weeks.

All of this episode’s exhibition dances were enjoyable, too. Jasmine Guy was especially impressed with Maxim Kozhevnikov & Yuk Chun: "Oh, he’s hot. Yeah, I like him."

Next week’s penultimate episode is the International Latin competition.

Finally, the strike is officially over. Saturday Night Live will be the first scripted network show to feature a new episode,when it returns to the air on February 23.

The return of the writers isn’t necessarily good news for every series. While CBS ordered more episodes of Shark and Rules of Engagement, ABC has put the brakes on Women’s Murder Club and Big Shots.

Meanwhile, E! is giving Denise Richards her own reality show.

The CW is keeping Smallville‘s Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) on retainer.

Send your sweetheart a Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, or Ugly Betty e-card for Valentine’s Day.

I don’t know why it’s taken so long, but Fox is finally bringing the game show Hole in the Wall to the US. Regular YouTube users already know this Japanese game show by its nickname, Human Tetris. I confess that nothing makes me laugh as hard as these videos.

TV Guide has a report from the last stop on the Dancing with the Stars Tour. Thanks to MOIB reader Notaverygoodfan for providing a link to an ET article debunking the rumor that Sean Hayes will join the Season 6 cast.

Now that showrunners have gone back to work, networks are announcing their plans for the rest of the season. USA Today got the scoop from several showrunners on why certain decisions — such as holding new episodes of 24 until early 2009 — were made.

CBS is waiting to see how quickly its scripted shows can get back on air, and if the turn around is fast, Big Brother 9 may only get eight episodes. The new season, which debuts tonight, features contestants competing in pairs. If the network needs the extra episodes, the couples will be split up at some point and forced to compete individually.

The New York Post explains how another of CBS’s strike-filler shows, Dexter, is being made suitable for network TV.

Even though American writers are ready to go back to work, that hasn’t stopped networks from importing show concepts from Britain.

To celebrate the 20th season of The Real World, MTV is asking viewers to vote online for their favorite cast members. The voting results will be announced during a televised awards show/roast, during which the former cast members in attendance will get drunk and make asses of themselves.

With the strike nearing its official end, the picket lines are over and showrunners have gone back to work. Once the contract is signed, the writers will return to a world in which the pilot development system has been turned on its head.

Even though the new contract puts WGA members in a better position, many long-time writers say the biz ain’t what it used to be.

To keep the identities of the Project Runway finalists secret, all five remaining contestants exhibited collections at Fashion Week. Salon has video from the runway show and descriptions of the collections, so only click on the link if you just can’t wait for the finale. I’m choosing to wait, at least for another day or two.

People has a screen capture from Dancing with the Stars’ Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s recent appearance on All My Children.

Some news outlets are reporting that the cast of Dancing with the Stars 6 will be revealed during tonight’s episode of Dance War. Nothing on ABC’s site confirms that, and it seems more likely that the announcement will be made during the February 18 Dance War finale. That would give the couples exactly four weeks to train, as was the case last season, not to mention giving the pros a week to recover from the Tour, which just ended.

Star Magazine reports that Hairspray’s Marissa Jaret Winokur and Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes will be two of Season 6’s stars.

And a couple of posters at Dance-Forums have posted the names of the professional dancers supposedly confirmed for DwtS 6. I can’t verify its accuracy, but here’s the list:

Edyta Sliwinska
Anna Trebunskaya
Karina Smirnoff
Julianne Hough
Kym Johnson
Cheryl Burke
Louis van Amstel
Tony Dovolani
Jonathan Roberts
Derek Hough
Mark Ballas
Fabian Sanchez

Fabian is the only new dancer on the list, which is interesting for who’s back (Louis) and who’s not (Maks and Alec). I’m excited to see if this information proves accurate, and I’ll post the date of the announcement as soon as I can find confirmation.

The WGA is expected to agree on contract terms with the studios today, which means the writers might finally get to stop picketing and start writing again.

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello complied a list of production plans for shows once the strike ends. Some shows, like Moonlight, won’t produce any new episodes until fall, while others, like Gossip Girl, will get right to work on new episodes that will hit the air in April.

Ausiello also posted his two big problems with last night’s episode of Lost, and I have to agree with him, although I was happy to see The Lawnmower Man join the cast.

Despite the fact that its ratings numbers are up, NBC says that its reality-heavy schedule is only a response to the strike and not a long-term programming strategy. But if the strategy is working, why tamper with it?

ABC has picked up a new, primetime animated series by Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butthead and the movie Office Space.

The CW is parting ways with the WWE after ten years together, right after the Divas got those snazzy outfits made for them on Project Runway.

Twelve of the designers from Project Runway 4 will compete in an online competition called Sew Not Over starting February 21. Viewers’ votes will determine the winner.

MSN has a list of 10 Great Dance Movies. I would’ve swapped Bring It On for Center Stage.

I could not have been happier when my favorite Survivor: Micronesia Favorites — Jonathan, Eliza, Yau-Man, and Amy — formed an alliance during last night’s premiere. Now they need to pull in Cirie and Micronesia is theirs for the taking.

Reality Blurred posted a brief recap of the episode that focused on the at-least-somewhat successful image makeover orchestrated by Jonny Fairplay. As RB’s Andy Denhart said, "Well played, asshole, well played."

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello recently dropped by the Dancing with the Stars Tour, and he interviewed the pros for his vodcast. He also broke the news that Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence are no longer dating.

DwtS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy is scheduled to make a guest appearance on All My Children on February 26.

Ahead of tonight’s debut of Survivor: Micronesia, Jeff Probst revealed that the cast spent most of the season battered by storms. CBS also announced that they’ve expanded their Survivor branding to a line of sunflower seeds and a "Survivor Fitness Program," in which participants compete in challenges seen on the show. I’m glad the Fitness Program is debuting in Chicago this spring, because it sounds like fun.

Also, in advance of tonight’s new episodes of Smallville and Supernatural, TV Guide has an interview with a superhero making his return to Smallville, and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke answers fans’ questions.

With only 18 days until the Oscars, organizers still don’t know if any of the stars will actually show up.

Due to a contractual conflict, Val Kilmer has replaced Will Arnett as the voice of K.I.T.T. in the Knight Rider TV movie. Arnett voices commercials for GMC Trucks, and K.I.T.T. is a Ford Mustang.

The Project Runway 4 finalists, whomever they may be, are scheduled to debut their collections this Friday as part of Fashion Week. Ousted Season 4 contestants Victorya and Elisa presented their own collections earlier this week.

Bravo’s Project Runway blogs are unexpectedly candid this week. Tim Gunn provided his usual astute observations about last night’s designs, but Michael Kors let loose on Ricky for being a cry baby. Christian even called Ricky a liar.

Ricky, Sweet P, and Christian all contributed the Burning Questions Blog, and all of them sounded as though they thought the wrestling challenge was beneath them. While Christian thinks that most challenges are beneath him, Sweet P and Ricky sound like they’re making excuses. They need only look at the outfits made by Chris, Christian, and Jillian to see how precise execution of a good concept can make any outfit look chic.

With the retirement of reigning champs Tony Dovolani & Elena Grinenko, competition in the American Rhythm division was fierce.

Tony & Elena gave a farewell performance to kick off the second episode of America’s Ballroom Challenge 3.

All of the couples looked strong during the group dance, including married couple Felipe & Carolina Telona. I wasn’t as impressed with Carolina’s outfit, which looked like something you’d find in the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog. The group dance round victory went to Jose Decamps & Joanna Zacharewicz.

Jose & Joanna shined again during the showdance round, and their mambo to music from West Side Story earned them a second victory and a chance to compete again in the season finale. Their dance was my favorite, although I also enjoyed the performance by Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine & Julia Gorchakova. One of Emmanuel’s booty-slap moves prompted host Jasmine Guy to mutter, "Drop it like it’s hot."

Jose & Joanna’s win was well deserved, but I hope that Jose watched tonight’s episode and saw how unprofessional he looked making weird, cocky faces after the results were announced. As the saying goes, act like you’ve been there before.

PBS.org posted a list of couples competing in the American Rhythm division on tonight’s episode of America’s Ballroom Challenge. A pair of Dancing with the Stars pros is scheduled to perform an exhibition routine.

Given how careful politicians have to be when mingling with Hollywood folk, I’m guessing Hillary Clinton won’t accept this invitation to dance at one of the remaining DwtS Tour shows.

Craig Ferguson has been tapped to entertain at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, just weeks after becoming an American citizen.

Comedy Central announced that it plans to roast Willie Nelson. Expect lots of jokes about weed and tax evasion.

As part of its new development strategy, NBC has skipped filming a pilot for Kath & Kim, and instead picked up the series for six episodes.

So You Think You Can Dance’s Cat Deeley will host Lifetime’s new dating show, The Big Match.

CBS announced the cast for the new season of Big Brother, which will feature a twist. Each contestant will be paired with another contestant the network has deemed their "soul mate." The pairs will sleep in the same bed and compete together, and be eliminated together as well.

All but one of the contestants are in their twenties, with the lone exception being a 45-year-old single mom. Nice of the producers to humiliate both the mom and the man she’s paired with, who’ll no doubt be confused as to why he wasn’t paired with a young, childless vixen.

According to TV Guide, the WGA is set to review the terms of the new contract on Saturday. George Clooney is optimistic that the strike will be over soon.

In other news of unfair employment practices, there’s reason to believe that Montel Williams’ talk show was canceled after he suggested during an appearance on Fox and Friends that the media should spend less time talking about Heath Ledger and more time talking about U.S. soldiers who’ve died in Iraq.

I’m having trouble fathoming that the Super Bowl averaged nearly 100 million viewers.

While it didn’t draw near the number of viewers as the Super Bowl, Survivor: China’s strong ratings helped save the series from cancellation.

The Travel Channel is holding a contest where fans of No Reservations can win the chance to travel with Anthony Bourdain for a special episode of the show.

I’m going to have to start watching Stargate Atlantis now that The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager has joined the cast.

ABC announced that the next Bachelor is a British guy named Matt Grant. Why couldn’t they have found someone with a more British sounding first name, like Basil or Alastair?

It looks as though the strike might be coming to an end. The writers and studios have apparently reached agreement on the most contentious issues, and a final contract could be issued as early as Friday. The WGA will email its members when it officially signs the new contract.

Once the strike ends, ABC plans on shooting new episodes of popular shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, and Brothers & Sisters to be aired in April or May. And NBC plans to get right to work filming the comedy pilot The Man of Your Dreams.

Fox has ordered 13 more episodes of the reprehensible game show The Moment of Truth.

When Discovery launches the Planet Green channel in June, one of its flagship shows will no doubt be Supper Club, an eco-friendly celebrity chat show hosted by Tom Bergeron.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette interviewed Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke ahead of the DwtS Tour’s show in Massachusetts.

DwtS 6 cast rumors are coming fast and furious these days. Reality Blurred mentions Donald Trump’s ex, Marla Maples, as a possible contestant. And Entertainment Weekly reports that ABC is courting deaf actress Marlee Matlin for a spot on the show.

Reality TV World quotes an article in the February 10 edition of TV Guide in which Louis van Amstel says that Paula Abdul told him that she’d like to compete on Dancing with the Stars. While she would obviously be unable to participate in Season 6, she is presumably available for Season 7. I’m hoping that ABC wants to avoid the circus that is Paula Abdul and would tell her a polite, "Thanks, but no thanks."