Dateline Pasadena: We didn’t cancel those shows, we merely kept you from seeing them; it’s not a bonus ‘Sopranos’ unless it’s good; and lifetime deals for 2 PBS icons, assuming they live that long

  PASADENA, Calif. -- “Dancing with the Stars” will return to ABC March 19, “Day Break” will return to the ABC Web site by the end of February, and two seemingly doomed fall shows may return later this season, ABC entertainment chief Stephen McPherson told the nation's TV critics Sunday at their winter press tour.

  “Day Break's” disappearance had caused a minor ruckus among the show's fans, even if there weren't enough of them to keep the Taye Diggs thriller on the air. After ABC pulled the show off Wednesday nights, many went to ABC.com for the unaired episodes. But music rights issues had forced the network to pull those shows offline. McPherson apologized and said the network is still adapting to the fast-changing world of online video.

  As for “Six Degrees” and “The Nine,” two well-received but little-watched serials that ABC yanked shortly after their debuts this fall, McPherson said they “have a shot” of making it back on the schedule.

  The celebrities chosen for the next round of “Dancing” will be announced on an upcoming “Good Morning America” broadcast. Sarah Ferguson's name has surfaced on rumor blogs.

Other news from winter press tour

  PBS announced Saturday that it has retained the services of yarn-spinner Ken Burns through, and this is not a typo, the year 2022. The extension of his current deal amounts to a “lifetime agreement,” PBS chief content officer John Boland said, and “ensures that Ken's great documentary films will be produced only for PBS.”

  Burns will create three major series during that time, as well as some shorter programs that don't require viewers to block out three weeks on their schedules. Critics were treated to a clip from “The War,” his World War II blockbuster, which premieres Sept. 16 and looks like it will make us forget “Jazz” ever happened.

  PBS also announced that Bill Moyers will once again produce a one-hour weekly public affairs show starting in April. Taking the name “Bill Moyers' Journal” (a shout-out to his very first show for PBS 35 years ago), it amounts to sweet revenge for Moyers, who quit his last show, “Now,” after Bush administration appointees cut it by 30 minutes and forced PBS to sign conservative Tucker Carlson and the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, whose shows flopped.

  HBO on Friday announced that “The Sopranos” will return for its swansong April 8, and that the final run will be nine episodes instead of eight.

  Also Friday, Bravo announced this upcoming season of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” will be its last. The makeover show, which debuted in 2003, helped make over Bravo, as it morphed from an arts channel into a boutique for upscale reality shows like “Project Runway” and “Real Housewives of Orange County.”