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Last waltz: Your
bet, Mario or Emmitt

The season finale of 'Dancing with the Stars'

By Diego Vasquez
Nov 15, 2006

So who will it be, Mario Lopez or Emmitt Smith? That’s the big question tonight in the third-season finale of “Dancing with the Stars,” which pits the former “Saved by the Bell” star against the future NFL Hall of Famer in what should be one of sweeps’ most-watched programs.

This season “Stars” has already had several of its highest-rated episodes not including the previous two season finales. Thus ABC is smartly using the 8 p.m. “Stars” finale to launch the new show “Day Break” at 9 p.m.

Tonight’s episode could be the most-watched of any “Stars” edition so far. Last February’s finale averaged a 15.9 household rating and an 8.6 among adults 18-49. This season, “Stars’” Wednesday results episode has averaged a 12.1 household rating, No. 5 on broadcast, and a 4.6 among 18-49s, both well above season two’s average.

Lopez has been favored to win the dancing competition since the moment this season’s celebrity lineup was announced. Fan votes account for part of the scoring, with the judges’ scores accounting for the rest.

Smith was actually one of the longer shots, according to various online sports betting sites, but fan support helped push him into the final pairing, much like it did for former San Francisco 49ers star Jerry Rice last winter.

Smith, however, has shown more rhythm than Rice, who was often wooden and uncomfortable. In recent weeks, Smith has loosened up and truly seems to be having fun.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Random fact: “Today” has placed first for 569 straight weeks in a.m. news.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Dancing with the Stars” (R)	Season finale, part two. Could be record ratings as people tune in to see who won, the ex-running back or the ex-best friend of Zach. (You know, “Saved by the Bell!”)
9 p.m.	ABC	“Day Break” (D)	Series premiere. Whew, now that the show is finally on, maybe ABC will cool it with the every-commercial-break promos. Though there are worse things than looking at Taye Diggs.
9 p.m.	BET	“BET Hip-Hop Awards” (A)	Comic Katt Williams hosts. People tune in to see if Kanye West will lose it again if he loses.
10 p.m.	MTV	“Laguna Beach” (R)	Season finale. The big question: Which season had the most interesting kids, one, two or three?
10 p.m.	TV Land	“I Pity the Fool” (R)	Season finale. If you haven’t sent a Mr. T-mail yet from TV Land’s site, better do it soon.
10 p.m.	NBC	“Medium” (D)	Season premiere. The drama returns for its third year, taking the place of new drama flop “Kidnapped.”
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 p.m.	ABC	“General Hospital” (DD)	Twenty-five years ago, 30 million people watched Laura marry Luke. Today they celebrate two and a half rocky decades by getting remarried.
8 p.m.	NBC	“My Name is Earl” (C)	Supersized episode 1: After Randy eats an herbal ointment, he begins seeing Earl and the gang as claymation figures. But will the California Raisins show up?
8:36 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Reunited and viewers feel so good: Pam and Jim are back in the same episode after Dunder-Mifflin continues with its consolidation plans in supersized episode 2.
9 p.m.	CBS	“CSI” (D)	Freaky: Twin sisters who were unaware of each other’s existence, a la “The Parent Trap,” are murdered the same night in a decidedly un-Hayley Mills-like twist.
9:20 p.m.	NBC	“30 Rock” (C)	Supersized episode 3: “30 Rock” joins the Thursday lineup with Jack taking Tracy to a celebrity golf tournament. But can its awful ratings improve opposite “CSI” and “Grey’s Anatomy?”
10 p.m.	ABC	“Barbara Walters: 30 Mistakes in 30 Years” (A)	“The View” matriarch dishes on celebrity interviews and their bloopers in this sweeps special.
11:35 p.m.	CBS	“Late Show with David Letterman” (T)	The always-classy, and always funny, Ellen DeGeneres stops by.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
7:30 p.m.	Speed	NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (S)	The season finale of the series is held in Homestead, Fla.
9 p.m.	CMT	“Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team” (R)	Season finale. Presumably, we find out who made the team.
9 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	College Hoops Classic (S)	Championship game, teams TBD.
10 p.m.	USA	“Monk” (D)	This should explain a lot: Monk’s absentee father shows up for the holidays in a special episode.
11 p.m.	HBO	“Real Time with Bill Maher” (C)	Season finale. The elections are over, the Democrats won … so Bill signs off, too.
11:35 p.m.	CBS	“Late Show with David Letterman” (T)	Because the 2008 election is just around the corner, John Edwards stops by.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	ESPN	College Football: Michigan State at Penn State (S)	Will Joe Paterno’s broken bone keep him off the field for a second straight week?
3:30 p.m.	CBS	College Football: Auburn at Alabama (S)	Always a fierce SEC showdown.
8 p.m.	CMT	“Giants” (T)	Series premiere. Each week, a country music great is feted. This week it’s Reba McEntire, whose sitcom is also returning to the CW on Sunday starting tomorrow.
9 p.m.	TBS and HBO	“Comic Relief 2006” (A)	The long-running special returns.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (T)	Ludacris hosts and performs.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	NBC	Women’s Golf: ADT Championship	Final round of the ADT, which took 32 players, cut that in half after round two, and now has just eight players left in this final round.
1 p.m.	CBS	NFL: Colts at Cowboys (S)	Which Cowboys squad will show up, the one that beat the Panthers or the one that lost to the Redskins?
7 p.m.	CW	“Reba” (C)	Season premiere. Yep, it is back.
8 p.m.	History Channel	“Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower” (N)	Impress your family with some obscure Pilgrim trivia on Thursday.
8:15 p.m.	NBC	“Sunday Night Football” (S)	In NBC’s second flexible scheduling game, the Broncos face the Chargers.
9 p.m.	Discovery	“Koppel on Discovery” (N)	Ted Koppel’s second Discovery special focuses on “Iran—The Most Dangerous Nation.”
9 p.m.	PBS	“Prime Suspect: The Final Act” (D)	The conclusion of Helen Mirren’s last appearance as Jane Tennison.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.