Idol’s coming! Run away! Dance away!

We don’t think we have to remind you that theAmerican Idol juggernaut-steamroller-sh**storm kicks off tomorrow night. And as Season 6 approaches, people, productions, shows and conglomerates are diving for cover. The latest news out of the TV Critics tour in Pasadena this weekend, where the nets put on the dog-and-pony shows for industry writers, is that Dancing with The Stars is the latest to waltz-two-step-hustle-scramble- run for their lives from the big show.

ABC’s fourth season of Dancing will be scheduled around Idol when it kicks in while the big show is in full swing. It’s set to return on Monday, Monday, March 19 at 8, with a two-hour episode. A second two-hour performance show will follow on Monday, March 26, and the season’s first results show will air on Tuesday, March 27 at 9 (the results show is delayed to give us more time “to see performers in action”). That 9 pm slot on Tuesdays shows will keep Dancing out of harm’s– and Idol‘s way– until those guys at Fox start playing with the schedule, expanding Idol just to mess with them.Well, the move sure shows one thing– those guys at ABC are real scaredy-cats! They already pushed Lost to 10 pm Wednesdays to get clear of the Idol tsunami/others (remember:all times are Eastern and Pacific…).

Dancing will still find itself up against Fox’s 24, but over the weekend, ABC prez Stephen McPherson shrugged that one off. “24, I’m sure, is going to do great, but we’ll do well as well,” he said. Ha! ABC’s got bigger things to worry about.

–Tabloid Baby