For Better or Werts : TV Worth Watching

REALITY CHECK: Lil' Kim and Woz go 'Dancing With the Stars'

I'm always a sucker for Dancing With the Stars, and I think I may be a bigger sucker starting March 9. ABC's latest lineup of celebrity achievers and/or embarrassments, announced Sunday, includes an even wider and stranger variety than usual.

From perky teenage Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson to hulking NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, with husband-and-wife rodeo/music stars Ty Murray and Jewel, and such polar opposites as ex-con rapper/babe Lil' Kim and Apple co-founder/bulky uber-nerd Steve Wozniak -- this should be a DWTS to remember.

Of course, we thought that last spring about the "brilliant" casting of 82-year-old livewire Cloris Leachman. Now her unending "antics" (in lieu of aptitude and discipline) are something we're trying to forget.

Looks as if she may have poisoned the elderly well, too. After Leachman (and 61-year-old Susan Lucci) last time, nobody is older than fiftysomething this time.

And lots of them have previous "reality" show experience. (But no Kardashians. We promise.)

Here's the new lineup of 13, with bullet-point info:

Belinda Carlisle -- lead singer of '80s group The Go-Gos.

David Alan Grier -- DAG starred in a sitcom of that name after In Living Color, then broke out last year with Comedy Central's in-your-face Chocolate News.

Shawn Johnson -- 17-year-old Iowa gymnast, Olympic all-around silver medalist.

Lil' Kim -- busting-out-all-over rapper, went to jail rather than snitch on a New York shooting, thus starred in BET reality show Countdown to Lockdown.

Gilles Marini -- French actor, Sex and the City "naked guy."

Ty Murray -- seven-time all-around rodeo champ and Professional Bull Riders co-founder, ran CMT reality competition Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge, married to . . .

Jewel -- singer-songwriter (Who Will Save Your Soul), published poet, second half of DWTS' first married couple to compete the same season.

Steve-O -- one of the title stars of Jackass.

Nancy O'Dell -- Access Hollywood co-host.

Lawrence Taylor -- NFL Hall of Fame linebacker (New York Giants).

Denise Richards -- Charlie Sheen's ex-wife, star of E! docusoap It's Complicated, will dance with returning pro hottie Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Chuck Wicks -- country singer, dating his prospective DWTS pro partner, Julianne Hough.

Steve Wozniak -- The Woz, co-founded Apple, left for teaching and philanthropy, dated Kathy Griffin (as seen on My Life on the D-List).

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Diane Werts has been glued to the tube since she can remember, growing up in a household where the TV came on first thing in the morning and stayed on till bedtime and beyond. She worked for the USA Film Festival, then for The Dallas Morning News writing about everything from Shakespeare to macrame art to rock music (and has the hearing loss to prove it). She moved to New York's Newsday to edit their glossy TV magazine, then returned to writing about television, specializing in its stranger permutations. She's a past president of the Television Critics Association.

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