Stargazing : “Dancing With the Stars” cast; Will Forte’s “SNL” replacement [The Kansas City Star, Mo.]

Aug. 31--Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino leaves the Jersey Shore for the dance floor in the upcoming season of "Dancing With the Stars." He'll cha cha cha against singer Michael Bolton, Kyle Massey ("Cory in the House"), recently retired NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, retired basketball player Rick Fox and David Hasselhoff.

And Baby will be coming out of the corner: Jennifer Grey ("Dirty Dancing") is also in this season's cast, announced Monday, along with singer Brandy, "Brady Bunch" mom Florence Henderson,Audrina Patridge ("The Hills"), comedian Margaret Cho and Bristol Palin.

"DWTS" casting chief Deena Katz thought getting Bristol was a long shot. But when Katz asked her, "she packed up her truck and drove all the way from Alaska."

Not so 'Glee'-ful

"Glee" didn't win the big comedy Emmy, but that may not be the show's biggest stiff: E! reports cast members are unhappy they were largely cut out of a music deal between show creator Ryan Murphy and Sony Music.

Cory Monteith (Finn) and Mark Salling (Puck) told D.C.'s Hot 99.5 they haven't seen much in the way of royalties.

"I got 400 bucks from it going to No. 1," Monteith said of "Glee: The Music -- Journey to Regionals." "But you know what, that's OK, because if I'm patient, and this thing does really well, maybe I'll see another 400 bucks."

Three to one

The Comic's Comic site out of Chicago reports Will Forte will be replaced on "Saturday Night Live" by these three comics:

-- Taran Killam: He has been on "MadTV" and "Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out," and he was part of the "Scrubs" spin-off on ABC. He also played the recurring character Blauman on "How I Met Your Mother."

-- Vanessa Bayer: She's from Cleveland with experience throughout the Chicago area, including the puppet show Felt.

-- Paul Brittain: A performer and instructor at iO Chicago who starred in his own one-man show as "Sex Ed."

Look for clips of the three on the Stargazing blog.

3-D or not 3-D?

Courtesy of Vanity Fair, here's "Avatar" director James Cameron on "Piranha 3D":

"I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus, but that is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3-D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3-D horror films from the '70s and '80s."

(We think that was the point, Jimmy.)

Yippee-ki-yay, it's clobbering time!

Comic Book Movie reports Bruce Willis is on a short list of actors to play the Thing in a reboot of the Fantastic Four movie franchise.

He may just voice the character. Few were happy with the rubber suit that Michael Chiklis wore in the first two films, so the blue-eyed, ever-lovin' Benjamin J. Grimm may be computer-generated in the next installment.

Also rumored: James McTeague ("V for Vendetta"), Joe Carnahan ("The A-Team") and David Yates (the final four Harry Potter films) are up for the job of directing the film.

Clearing the air

Are John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston back together?

"This is equal parts fabricated, cobbled together and misleading," Mayer tells People. "Let's break it down: I don't think I ever said 'I believe in second chances!' but I can't be 100 percent sure, as it's possible I could have accidentally said something succinctly and to the point."

Soooo ... maybe?

Holding out hope

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe still wants Elton John to be a judge on "Idol."

"I must say I really do love Elton John," Nigel said. "He's a huge favorite of mine."

Sir Reginald's agent said in so many words it won't happen.

Smatterings

-- A toilet once owned by dead Beatle John Lennon sold for $14,700 at an auction in Liverpool over the weekend.

-- News of the World UK reports that Madonna wants Lady Gaga to open for her on tour next year, and there are reports that Gaga can "name her price."

-- John Cusack is set to play Edgar Allan Poe in "The Raven," a fictionalized account of the writer's final days.

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David Frese, who often reminds people of the bad 3-D horror films from the '70s and '80s, compiled Stargazing from wire and Internet reports. Reach him at stargazing@kcstar.com.

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