Don't expect a three-peat

Fearless prediction: Julianne Hough will not be in the winner's circle on "Dancing With the Stars" for a third straight time.

(The show's sixth season premiere is scheduled for Monday, March 17, at 7 p.m. on Ch. 4.)

The professional dancer from Utah who helped both Apolo Anton Ohno and Helio Castroneves win on the last two cycles of the hit ABC show has drawn the short straw this time around. She's partnered with Adam Carolla, and if Carolla wins it will be an upset on the level of Mike Huckabee being sworn in as president next year.

Maybe Carolla is a great dancer, but the winner isn't chosen based only on ability. Viewers decide who wins, so likability also comes into play. And Carolla hasn't got a chance on that score.

Did I mention that Carolla yelled and cursed at me a couple of years ago when I was trying to toss him a softball question during a news conference?

It could be worse. Hough could be partnered with Penn Gillette, who's already the favorite to be the first celebrity eliminated from the show.

Hough's older brother, Derek, returns for his second season. After partnering with Jennie Garth last fall (and finishing fourth), he's teaming up with actress Shannon Elizabeth ("American Pie").

And former Orem resident Louis van Amstel — a Dutch dancer who appeared on the first three seasons of "Dancing" — returns to the show as Priscilla Presley's partner.

Let the dancing begin!

ABC HAS JOINED the other networks in announcing which of its series will return with new episodes before the end of this strike-interrupted season.

As previously announced, "Dirty Sexy Money," "Pushing Daisies" and "Private Practice" will all return to ABC in the fall, but they won't have any new episodes on the air this season.

And, as expected, once "Grey's Anatomy" has some new episodes in the can, it will reclaim its Thursday at 8 p.m. time slot. Which will, as expected, push "Lost" back to Thursdays at 9 p.m.

Here are the expected return dates and the number of episodes we can anticipate:

• April 7 — "Samantha Who?" (six new episodes)

• April 8 — "Boston Legal" (six)

• April 13 — "Desperate Housewives" (five one-hour episodes plus a two-hour season finale)

• April 20 — "Brothers & Sisters" (four)

• April 24 — "Ugly Betty" (five); "Grey's Anatomy" (five); and "Lost" will move to 9 p.m. for five more original episodes.

WHEN CBS'S SITCOMS "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Bang Theory" return with new episodes on March 17, they'll be in slightly different positions.

"Big Bang" will be at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m. And "Mother" will be at 7:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

Apparently, the folks at CBS think this will help the ratings of both shows.

I hope they're right. These are two of the best half-hour comedies on TV.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com