NYT/CNBC/MSNBC/NBC Axis of Weasel

It doesn't matter if the content has an "impact on the story" as NYT biz editor Larry Ingrassia oozes to Talking Biz News.  “Is this something a reasonable reader needs to know in evaluating a story?"

Weasel words. Conflict of interest is conflict of intererest.  Period.  And it is incumbent upon the NYT to disclose EVERY FREAKING TIME the paper writes about CNBC, MSNBC, NBC that the parties are under the same umbrella.

Rather than arbitrary and spotty disclosure, just insert the language at the bottom of every story involving the aforementioned to avoid the continued drumbeat from nags like me and Talking Biz News. Transparency, please.

Put another way, the labeling is like the Surgeon General's warning in cigarette ads. Mandatory. 

Talking Biz: The lack of a disclosure related to the CNBC agreement is not unusual. Since the content sharing agreement with CNBC was announced on Jan. 7, 2008, the Times has run 389 articles mentioning CNBC.  Of those, there were 42 that were either about or significantly mentioned CNBC. Of those, 35 stories did not disclose the paper’s relationship with CNBC.

The Times has run seven stories that mentioned the content-sharing agreement — including the story about the content-sharing agreement — and appended a correction to one story that disclosed the relationship.

John Edwards: Please Go Away!

The Inconvenient Truth for John Edwards with fantasies of redeeming himself on the political stage:  his former aide's book with what one person told Politico's Ben Smith was a smoking gun video. "It’s his hole card.”

The Edwards camp is spinning the ex-staffer Andrew Young - derisively dubbed "butt boy" for eagerly doing everything for the Edwardses but wipe their asses - as a wack job, hell-hath-no-fury, scorched earth retaliation for what Young correctly perceives as being used big time.

Taxpayers should be outraged that Edwards used campaign money to pay Young for doing grunt work like picking up their dry cleaning and a host of shit jobs even illegal aliens wouldn't do.

Not Jumping For Joy

Joy Behar ratings kill joy.  Her Tuesday debut ranked third in the 25-54 demo and fourth in viewers. TVBytheNumbers

See all Tuesday's cable news numbers here

Beck Blog Flog

The Official Obama Blog from the Taxpayer-Funded White House Is Taking On Glenn Beck. Shouldn't the WH set up a separate vehicle for this diatribe which I am posting in it's entirety?  Ragging on Fox News and Glenn Beck is not a taxpayer-subsized approved activity.  I'm calling on the White House to nip this decidedly unpresidential turn of events in the bud.  Now.  This is dirty Chicago politics befitting a corrupt ward heeler.

You can't fight City Hall.  Fox News is the City Hall of cable networks. Beck really hit a nerve, eh?

The Chicago Olympic spectacle is the point of no return for the fragile relationship between Fox News and the Obama administration.  In CIA parlance, it is beyond salvage.  This is WAR! 

Last night Fox News continued its disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration's efforts to win the Olympics for the United States. In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News' Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings.

RHETORIC: BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT "HAD THE OLYMPICS." Glenn Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: VANCOUVER'S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010. Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT "WAS LAST SEEN WITH THE NEA." Beck's guest, FOX News contributor Pat Caddell, said, "[Obama] is going to go [to Copenhagen] with Valerie Jarrett who was last seen with the NEA pumping up their use of, you know, money." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: VALERIE JARRETT WAS NOT ON THE NEA CONFERENCE CALL. Valerie Jarrett was not a participant in the August 10, 2009 United We Serve/NEA conference call.

RHETORIC: CHICAGO IS CLOSING THE GOVERNMENT SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE OPEN. Beck's guest Caddell said, "Chicago is closing the government several days a week because they cannot afford to be open. They are going to go and reward -- this is the biggest scandal." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

REALITY: CHICAGO HAS HAD ONE REDUCED-SERVICE DAY IN 2009, AND WILL HAVE TWO MORE ON THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING AND ON CHRISTMAS EVE. On August 17, 2009, CBS Chicago reported, "If you planned to check out a library book, visit a city clinic or have your garbage picked up on Monday, you're out of luck. The City of Chicago is basically closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed. Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics are working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided. That also includes garbage pickup. Residents who receive regular collection on Mondays should expect trash to be picked up on Tuesday. Some other customers may experience a one-day delay as collectors catch up. As part of the 2009 budget, three reduced-service days were planned for 2009, days which are unpaid for all affected employees -- the Friday after Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve; and New Year's Eve. The City Council recently approved moving the reduced-service day planned for New Year's Eve to Monday. The 2009 budget anticipates saving $8.3 million due to the reduced-service days. In addition to reduced service days, all non-union employees were asked to take a series of furlough days and unpaid holidays, and most non-sworn union employees agreed to similar unpaid time off." [CBS Chicago, 8/17/09]

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT WILL BENEFIT FINANCIALLY. Beck asked, "Is it possible that she is going to benefit if the Olympics come to Chicago?" Caddell responded, "Well, that’s the word. She has certainly had a lot of dealings going on in real estate." [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09

REALITY: UPON ENTERING GOVERNMENT, VALERIE JARRETT DIVESTED ALL HER REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT HOLDINGS EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE INVESTMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OLYMPIC BID. Valerie Jarrett divested all her investment real estate holdings upon entering government except for a single real estate holding that she was unable to sell. This single real estate investment has been determined by White House Counsel and the independent Office of Government Ethics to present no conflict of interest in performing her duties as a White House advisor. It has nothing to do
with the Olympic bid.

For even more Fox lies, check out the latest "Truth-O-Meter" feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network.

Revenge Is A Dish Best Eaten Cold

Don Imus has had two and a half years to chill.  Monday morning he's back with a vengeance on Fox Business Network where he's been doing his show all week to work out the bugs before Monday's debut.

Imus can just sit back and let ratings get revenge on MSNBC for dumping him.  "Morning Joe's" going to take a real hit. And not just a one-time curiousity hit.  As soon as I heard Imus had a deal with FBN, I knew it was curtains for Joe and his MSNBC show. And Joe is what I watch. Okay, I'm getting hyperbolic.  And I don't even like the crusty, egomanical, irascible asshole.  Fox & Friends will lose some viewers to Imus but it's still all in the family.  The rest of AM talk TV probably will experience a drop.  I don't know how much or how consistent.

What's more the move raises FBN's profile big time.  It doesn't take a Stephen Hawking to deduce it's a win-win for Fox.  New distribution, new subscribers, media buzz, ratings boost -  after two years of sucking hind tit to CNBC.

NYO's Felix Gillette stirs the pot quoting Imus blabbing on a  recent radio show:  “You can nearly see our old office at NBC from here.. I’m just wondering if they ever found the cocaine in there. It was hidden in the walls.”

These days, of course, many of Mr. Imus’ new coworkers are locked in a multiheaded feud with NBC and would probably like nothing more than to see a team of drug-sniffing police dogs descend on the professional home of the likes of Keith Olbermann. But unleashing Don Imus to compete against NBC, the media company that shunned him in his time of crisis, might be even better.

“I don’t know to what degree Fox will let him nurse any grudge he has at MSNBC while he’s on FBN,” said Aaron Barnhart, the TV critic for The Kansas City Star. “But if the past is any precedent, I’m pretty sure they’ll say, ‘Don, let it rip.’”

Fox isn't openly encouraging Don's revenge. Why should they?  They're in the catbird seat already.  I figure Don's got a long rope to be Don.  I hear from inside sources that Felix Gillette had no access to FOX Business or Don Imus which might be why he made up the ridiculous story about MSNBC/FBN.  A Fox insider indicates there is no merit to Felix's story.

There Is Nothing MSNBC & CNN Can Do To Stop Fox

Huff Post is a day late to the party with the WWIII headline FOX FOX NEWS OWNS 3Q RATINGS Fox News Claims Top Ten Cable News Programs... Beats MSNBC & CNN Combined...

Poor Arianna Huffington.  There's nothing she can do to stem the tide.  The only counter-programming I can envision to save MSNBC, CNBC, and CNN:  porn videos.

Anderson Cooper Loses Erection Over Lack of Election

The only way for Anderson Cooper to get a rise in his ratings?  Teabag one of his hunky Latin lovelies on the air.

Bill Gorman TVbytheNumbers: One thing you can say about the Q3 2009 vs. 2008 ratings declines suffered by MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, they’re not quite as bad as those for CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.


Comparing Q3 2009 with Q3 2008, AC 360 has lost 23% of its cable news target adults 25-54 demo , and 17% of its average viewership. Likely because of the lack of an election year, but I’d have thought that Cooper’s ratings would be less effected by the lack of an election than Olbermann’s, not more.

Did he say lack of election or erection?

Twit Her

I defy you to guess who this is getting drilled.  A narcissistic celebrity takes a photo of herself in the dentist's chair and tweets about it.

MIchelle Obama in Denmark

I'm liking the suit and the pumps.  But Michelle desperately requires Spanx to tame that ass. 

Even I hold it all in with Spanx...

CNBC's Ratings Blow

Check it out.  You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...

Madeleine Albright: Breast For Success

CNN's John Roberts: "She made me feel very red." No, not in commie. Red, like in embarrassed. The former Clinton Sec State revels in her Untold Story of how her "very firm breasts" impressed in diplomatic hugs.  Roberts made her demonstrate: 



How come CNN blushes over a hug but snickers over "teabagging?"

h/t ZD

Bette Midler: Wind Beneath My Zings

NYP TV critic Linda Stasi LOVES Joy Behar's new CNN HLN show that debuted in Glenn Beck's former 9p slot:  "What Joy Behar, heir apparent to Larry King, did last night was present the smartest new talk show of the TV season, a show that could turn out to be the smartest news show on television, period."

Glenn's apparition is hovering above coaching Joy:  "The most telling thing that lefty Behar did was finally to figure out what TV and radio right-wingers have known for years: If you're in an entertainment medium, you better be entertaining.

Joy gets into the ring with Ann Coulter on Wednesday night's show.  Good luck. 

So here's the unrecognizable (massive plastic surgery) Divine Miss M Bette Midler, 64, going after the guy who warmed the seat before Joy: 

And what's with those false eyelashes?  The 2005 Bette Midler, right.

h/t/ NewsBusters

It's faster to read the transcript than to watch the show.

Nancy Pelosi: Bono Vivant!

Okay. I'll admit it.  I don't know U2 from G5 (Nancy Pelosi's preferred jet). Bono did DC Tuesday night. Pelosi was the rocker's special invited backstage guest, and according to witnesses was "Loving it here. On her feet, clapping."

Politico's Patrick Gavin: "If U2 ruled the world, Bono would be the obvious choice to fill the role of POTUS."

That's not as ridiculous as it sounds.  Bush fan Bono knows how to play both sides of the fence - Repubs and Dems.  He could teach Obama and Nancy Pelosi a thing or two about bipartisanship.

U2 wasn't just a Dem do.  DC's Catholic cardinal was there, Repub congressional leaders, media fans.

Wash Post has a review and more photos.

The Rise and Fall of Keith Olbermann

In the ideal cable news ratings world there would be the run up to a Presidential election *every* year. Sadly for MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, it’s just one in four. Comparing Q3 2009 with Q3 2008, the show has lost 21% of its cable news target adults 25-54 demo , and 12% of its average viewership. 2012 will be a long time coming.  Bill Gorman TVbytheNumbers

Uh, Bill, are you a Worse, Worser, or Worst Person?

This Case Is Shakier Than Cafeteria Jell-O.

CBS figures Dan rather wasted spent as much as $5 mil on his $70 mil lawsuit a NY appeals court tossed out wholesale yesterday. Bill Carter NYT

Rather will probably appeal.  There goes his hoped-for retirement.  I think Dan figured CBS might settle out of court.  No chance, now.  Dan has zero leverage.

The Rise and Fall of Roman's Empire

NYT:  “Roman Polanski deliberately, in his mid-40s, set up a young 13-year-old actress to come to his home, drugged her, got her naked and raped her,” said Paul Petersen, president of A Minor Consideration, a foundation devoted to the protection of young performers. “The Hollywood community is protecting him. It makes me crazy.”

Paul Peterson. Hmmm.  Most of CB's readers have no clue.  But For Those Of A Certain Age, Paul Peterson was Jeff Stone on "The Donna Reed Show" from 1958 to 1966.

Still pretty hunky at 64. 

It's not just the Hollywood community protecting the Oscar-winning filmmmaker.  Some liberal political and media types are finding excuses for the sexual predator. 

Not the NYT.  "But to hear the protests from the French, the Poles and other Europeans, you might have thought the filmmaker was seized by some totalitarian regime for speaking truth to power.... we were glad to see other prominent Europeans beginning to point out that this case has nothing to do with Mr. Polanski’s work or his age. It is about an adult preying on a child. Mr. Polanski pleaded guilty to that crime and must account for it.  NYT editorial Sept. 30, 2009

But I digress as I get to my point.  Roman "Everyone wants to fuck young girls!" Polanski is getting help in his extradition fight from a Washington hot hired legl gun and bud of Obama's AG Eric Holder.

Reid Weingarten.  A partner in the white shoe DC law firm Steptoe & Johnson.  The trial lawyer represents big name clients accused in big cases like Enron, Worldcom, Whitewater and more.  Weingarten was inside Justice as a trial lawyer in DOJ's Department of Public Integrity.  Whatever the fuck that is.

I don't care if the then-13-year-old Polanski rape victim - now 45 - has "gotten over it." Polanski flew the coop after his 1977 conviction and has lived a life of luxury ever since shuttling from France to his Swiss chateau, right, Polanski named "Milky Way."

Joe Scarborough: Waiting To Exhale

Huff Post:  Scarborough's "Morning Joe" co-hosts have been alluding to the surgery the last two days, leading "Joe Scarborough surgery" to be one of the top trending search topics on Google.

Really?  Joe Scarborough's sinus surgery? A top search topic. 

Joe tweets:  "I'm coming along slowly but surely. I can't wait to be able to breathe!.  

I wonder if he had a deviated septum corrected.  I had horrible sinus infections until I had that done more than 25 years ago.  Naturally I piggy-backed a nose job.

Joe returns Monday.

Hips Don't Lie

"We chose her for our fall issue because we admire her body of work."

Fox: Cable Kill Joy

Former MSNBC GM and "The Verdict" host Dan Abrams's news aggregator Mediaite finds Fox News has the top 13 cable news shows.

 Marisa Guthrie B&C:  FNC was the third-ranked basic cable network among total viewers behind ESPN and USA. CNN came in at number 20 while MSNBC was 25th.

Fox News – great network or the greatest network?

Strike that "Moment of Joy."  That's Joy Behar's logo.

When Life Imitates "Art"

This is depressing. At Tuesday's WH press briefing a chick reporter asked press sec Robert Gibbs a question involving "strategery."



SNL came up with "strategery" to make fun of George Bush's serial mispronunciation. Rush Limbaugh uses it pm air all the time.

Tears Of A Clown

Dan Rather's $70 mil wrongful termination lawsuit is thrown out of court. Courage, Dan.

The appellate court found it should've never gotten this far. Read the decision.

CBS muzzled the glee.  Dan's lawyer's appealing.  TVNewser

Whoopi on Roman Polanski: "It wasn't rape-rape."

What's Whoopi smoking these days?  There are laws in this country against statutory rape.  Normal 40ish men don't drug 13-year-old girls and have sex with them.  The celebrated Oscar-winning film maker, now 76, was convicted in 1977, bolted in 1978, and has been on the lam in France until he was arrested in Zurich last week.

Ironically the fugitive, who enjoyed European immunity until now, may have done himself in by bragging the LA prosecutors weren't doing enough to catch him.

It's not only Whoopi giving Polanski a pass:



Do you think the arrogant director should face the music 31 years after he bolted to avoid sentencing?

Nancy Pelosi's Bono Appetit!

The House Speaker is Bono's guest in DC at tonight's U2 concert.   Yeah, she's "with the band."

Captions, anyone?

Mine.  Bono whispers:  "I remember you from the Plaster Casters."

TLC's Mother of Invention

BREAKING NEWS: Does anyone really give a rat's ass if TLC's horror show has been renamed "Kate Plus 8?"  NYT's Brian Stelter does.  Brian, what has gotten into you?

I was held hostage once - in my daughter's house while she watched back-to-back "Jon & Kate Plus 8" episodes.  What a colossal waste of precious TV air.

 So much hype from so little substance.  Why America's fascination with this ordinary mother of two who popped out more six babies at once and still looks great?

Michelle Obama: Twisted Sister

The First Lady hides her pre-existing condition in one of her fave designer Jason Wu's Fall 2009 frock and Jimmy Choo pumps.

 The "twisted sheath" dress retails for $3,105.00 at Neiman Marcus.

The Jimmy Choo "Lantern D'Orsay" pumps are $585.00 at Nordsrrom.  Mrs. O owns them in black.  Wore them in NYC last summer on that widely criticized taxpayer-funded "date night" with the prez.

I hope she's getting the tens of thousands in clothes, accessories, and shoes gratis. 

If not, I'm afraid on Obama's $400,000 government salary, the First Lady is biting off more than she can Choo...

Obama's Olympic Pay to Play

The media are blubbering that Obama's taking a big chance with his international reputation as it were by making a personal pitch to the IOC in Copenhagen for Chicago 2016.  Unless it's already a done deal.  Write off Obama's personal prestige stimulus package to unmarked TARP bucks...

Oprah Winfrey is lending her muscle to the Chicago Olympic Committee, appearing in person along with the First Lady and the prez.

NBC's Chuck Todd is blaming Chicago Mayor Richard Daley for putting pressure on Obama. Convenient. CNN dismisses critics by reporting it has become necessary for heads of state to make personal pitches before the IOC.

How much gold is Obama carrying  to oust the favored Rio?  NYT  1989 "IOC Bribery:  Just Business"   1999 TIME "IOC Bribery Scandal Widens" 1999 UK Guardian "Bribes Scandal Forces Olympics Shake-up" 1999 UK Independent "IOC Report Shows Decades of Bribery" 2004 UK Guardian "Olympics Still Open To Bribes"

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey views Obama's charm 'n strong arm as a lose-lose proposition.  But this is all about money and the International Olympic Committee's long-standing tradition of taking hefty bribes.



What do you think is going on here?

Sarah Palin: Rogue Elephant

The race is on to see who gets the big get - Sarah Palin - when her much-anticipated book "Going Rogue: An American Life" comes out November 17th.

The first printing is 1.5 mil - same as Ted Kennedy's "Compass."

Paybacks are hell.  Don't expect to see Sarah on Letterman.  The TV news stars quick to diss Palin are now kissing her ass.

So, who's going to get the first sit-down?  Any ideas?   No, not Charlie who looked down on Sarah through reading glasses perched low on his nose.

How many more of these fake intimacy shots (above) between hunter and quarry can we endure?

CNN's Pride and Joy

The bad news:  The lady sliding into Glenn Beck's springboard slot on HLN tonight is into herself and not news content.  The good news:  She's not looking to pick a fight with Glenn Beck.  Or Larry King on at the same time on The Big Network.

NYDN's Richard Huff: "I usually don't watch myself. "I end up looking to see how my hair looks. I say, look at my hair, or I look fat, or I hate the way my voice sounds. I'm hard on myself and in order to minimize all the pain, I don't watch it."

"I'm not looking to get into a fight with Glenn Beck or these people."

That's gratifying.  The last thing hapless viewers need is another grating voice in cable news.

Follow Joy on Facebook where she ponders the burning question:  "When is Charles Manson going to die?" in today's "Moment of Joy" commentary.

Watch Joy's well-honed interview skills on LKL where even lib NY mag is a kill Joy  in "Ann Coulter Out-Behars Joy Behar."  I would've headed it "Coulter Takes Behar On A Joy Ride":

Book Shocker: Women Still Throw Themselves At Bill Clinton

Stacy Parker Aab. Young. Hot. Bill Clinton staffer in the White House. You take it from there.

The liberal Huffington Post blogger bites Bill where it hurts - in a new book "Government Girl: Young and Female in the White House."   The tell-all won't be released until January 19th, 2010 but the NYDN was leaked an excerpt from Harper Collins (owned by Rupert Murdoch) to get the buzz going : 

Gatecrasher:  During a trip to Okinawa, Japan, for the G8 Summit in 2000, Parker Aab, who was then 26, claims Bill Clinton summoned her to his hotel room, escorted her onto the balcony and gave her a hug that she says lingered just a little too long to be paternal. As the only girl in a boys’ club, the young aide writes that she was terrified of where the hug might lead, but managed to maintain her composure as Clinton said he’d always admired her.

Bubba wasn’t the only reportedly touchy-feely guy Parker Aab encountered in the White House. She insists that Clinton pal and adviser Vernon Jordan kissed her not once but twice while he was married.

The author saw Jordan — who famously and controversially helped the disgraced Lewinsky when she left the White House — as a mentor, and was only too happy to accept his offer of a dinner date.

They dined at an expensive restaurant in the Georgetown area, and when it was time to say goodnight, Parker Aab claims Jordan gave her a kiss on the lips. He repeated the move at a later date, while also inappropriately telling her she should always wear pantyhose, she says.

In the memoir, Parker Aab says she did nothing to garner such attention by her male superiors.

Other women, though, were not so demure when it came to crushing on the commander-in-chief. Parker Aab writes that Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg’s wife, was not immune to Clinton’s allure.

She recounts a visit to the Spielbergs’ Hamptons home on Georgica Pond, when Capshaw decided to greet the presidential motorcade in her bathing suit.

Shocked that no one seemed to mind the fashion faux pas but herself, Parker Aab writes: “To [Hillary] Clinton, Ms. Capshaw might have just been another woman showing off her best bits to the President. Mrs. Clinton had seen this scene before.”

She adds, “So had I ... I watched the invited guests. How they pulled at him. Called his name. The huggers. The screamers. The wide-eyed gapers. Like Monica in her beret, waiting.”

Stacy Parker Aab is the force behind The Katrina Project:  An Oral History.  It seems as though she's got another oral history. Preorder now!  Just let me warn you Ms. Aab writes like a Valley Girl.

Yawn!  Everybody knows Vernon Jordan likes white chicks.  I had my own encounter with him at a dinner once right under his wife, Ann's, nose.

Bor-ing.  Pedestrian.  Predictable.  A clear candidate for the remainder bins...

Conan's Head Trip

"Those paramedics took a lot of pictures of your penis.  At one point they put sunglasses on it."  Conan sidekick Andy Richter telling Conan what happened after he had a concussion during a stunt last Friday and "just saw stars."  And not the celebrity kind.

Watch the clip from Monday night's show including Conan's stunt with "Desperate Housewives" wacko Teri Hatcher.

Expect to see a bump in Conan's ratings...

[Photo, the injured Conan "saw stars" and woke up thinking it was 2011 and he was forced to stand in line for treatment under ObamaCare in the hospital emergency room.  Look at him.  He's pissed.]

Elle's Belle

Only one man made Elle magazine's 2009 It List "personal style" awards .  Oh wait, that's not a man.  It's Rachel Maddow.

Elle headlines "Media Master Rachel Maddow"

"Bucking the status quo, the TV anchor understands the appeal of simplicity, wearing just a brush of mascara, a clean pixie cut, and understated Jil Sander suits."

If Rachel had a cowlick she could play Alfalfa's older brother in another remake of  "Our Gang." Check out those kick ass pointed man shoes.

It looks like the photog caught Rachel posing at the end of a tap dance...

The Hand That Fed Them

They don't have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore.  SNL's premiere ratings sucked big time without the presidential election and Palin/Tina Fey.  TVbytheNumbers

Not even hot Megan Fox could get the measuring stick to rise higher than a 4.6/11.

The 2008 kick-off saw a 7.5/18 with body double Tina Fey as Palin.

But SNL won the night anyway.  In 2007 the premiere got a 4.5/11.

Inside Liz Claman's On-Air Closet

It takes a lot of green to look like Liz Claman.  Wouldn't you like to bolt across a busy Manhattan thoroughfare arm-in-arm with Liz under her $225 Burberry polyester umbrella from Neiman Marcus? 

It's not big enough for the both of us... 

Thank God for vendors wanting to see TV news stars wear their stuff on the air.

Here's the hot Fox Business babe in a Donna Karan (couture or DKNY?).  There's a huge, I mean HUGE, difference in price.  Okay, I'm like Carnac.  Answer: DKNY.

Back in the day I had a closet full of Donna Karan couture.  Still have quite a few pieces - the memorable $1,800 midnight blue velvet floor-length gown. $1,800 like in 1987 dollars.

Back to Liz and her Forbes Woman fashion spread.

There's no price listed for the frock, left.  I'm guessing $395. The under top extra. 

To look like Liz from the Hermes scarf to outrageous Fendi bag ($2,950), it'll set you back $5,764 and change. And no Christian Louboutin $895 pumps in the mix! 

See all her picks here. Hot?  Or not?  Let me assure you that Liz's picks are middle of the road in price - except for the leopard print pony hair Fendi bag.  Depressing, no?

Here's where Michelle Obama's smart:  she mixes it up.  J Crew to Jason Wu.  The ugly ass but pricey Thakoon.  The at least three grand Narciso Rodriguez black and red acid reflux horror to Donna Ricco's $148 dress she wore on "The View."   Then she goes and negates it all with those $540 Lanvin tennis shoes ($560 at Bergdorf's).

But there is a point to spending $395 on a Hermes scarf:  you can throw it on with ordinary white tee shirt like Liz did in a pinch, go on the air and look like a million bucks.

Fox Goes Widescreen

For once the picture isn't the fault of your television set. Fox went widescreen today. If you're having trouble click here for Fox's handy dandy TV fix It guide.

What you're seeing in the new widescreen format seems like it should be less on a non-HDTV but it is really more. Read the technical poop here. 

TVNewser put up the comparisons between the two formats.  Left, old.  Right new.

No other cable network is doing this. 

Joy To Unfurl

Joy Behar on a manufactured rivalry with Larry King now that Joy's new show debuts in the same block - 9p - on CNN Headline News:  "I saw him yesterday, in the makeup room, and we bonded — he's coming to the launch party. He's fine about my going up against him. He knows that he's indestructible! [laughing] He doesn't have to worry about me!"

No shit, Sherlock.  Larry could be deaf, mute, and quadriplegic and still run circles around Joy Behar. Let's call it the Glenn Beck Memorial Time Slot.  Funny, Larry's not in your launch party photo right.

Joy trumpets first guest is "the legendary Bette Midler" on her new website, and is trolling for reader involvement by insincerely querying:  What would YOU ask Bette Midler?

The 65-year-old fiery Italian (66 October 7th) appears to have had a recent eye job.  Check out her lower eyes in the banner on the website.  Any tighter and she's got that Marty Feldman look.

Joy forced CNN to pay overtime for a crew to buttonhole Joy's NYC neighbors/Nielsen diarists to find out what they think of Joy's new gig. Must-see TV:

And General McChrystal's 66-page Afghan War Report Gathers Dust In The Oval

TVNewser is puzzled why Fox News ran Obama's speech Saturday night to the Congressional Black Caucus dinner.  Not live but taped.  Neither MSNBC nor CNN ran the whole thing.

Twice Fox Television has opted for "So You Think You Can Dance?" rather than Obama prime-time pimps (press conference and joint congressional pitch). FNC and FBN have aired the things. TVNewser makes it sound as though FNC is always bailing on the prez.  It's Fox TV.  Network.  Not cable.

I digress. Fox went with Obama's CBC thing so viewers could see Obama let his hair down (or maybe slip up) in his natural habitat among his people to discern for themselves the difference, if any, in Obama.  I'm not being racist, friends. 

As for Fox News not covering the Glenn Beck Mount Washington key to the city event Saturday, Beck shouldn't be the story, although he has become media flypaper because there are no lines anymore between covering the story and being the story.  The best example of "reporter involvement" to wretched excess:  CNN's Rick Sanchez.  While the camera was running Sanchez has a) run a car into water, b) got himself tasered, and c) jumped off a cruise ship to let viewers know how it feels to accidentally fall off.

Hold On! I-Man Comin'!

NYDN TV critic David Hinckley reports Don Imus moseyed  on down to Fox studios this a.m. where he's fixin' to start his new FBN simulcast show next Monday.  Imus and the crew are working out the technical issues ahead of time.  Recall the technical nightmare when Imus went to RFD-TV?  It was so bad the bitching Imus either walked off or nearly walked off the set.  Anyone remember? 

Hinckley also tells us Imus's flagship station WABC hired MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan to host a Sunday night Siberia talk show 7-9p.  At least he'll be sober at that hour...

Show me your Jujubes and I'll let you see my Zagnuts

Who is the conservative chick liberals love to hate as of late?  A Hollywood gossip scum site exposes the masked woman as a hypocrite for posing in sexy Halloween costumes.

More photos here.

The NYT Gives The Finger To Liz Cheney

Damning with no praise.  The NYT's Mark Leibovich covers a recent conservative women's rally in Nashville starring newest GOP darling Liz Cheney with the ladies fingering Cheney as "our favorite vice president's daughter": 

"Hey sister!” the conservative columnist Michelle Malkin greeted Ms. Cheney. They posed for pictures and air-kissed. Ms. Malkin proclaimed herself a “fan girl” and told Ms. Cheney she was “doing a great job out there.”

Mark wants to make sure you know Repubs are wacko:  "The future of the Cheney message,” added a conservative blogger who goes by the name of Fingers Malloy (a rare man in this crowd, and even rarer, one with a Mohawk). He also called her “one of the fresh faces of our movement.”

As in bowel?

Glenn Beck: Catch Me If You Can, Suckers!

Check Beck last week. More viewers than the time slot competition combined.

Conan Head

What a way to boost ratings. Conan's back to work tonight after Friday's fall during a bit with "Desperate Housewives" Terry Hatcher.  Tuesday's video du jour will be the video of Conan hitting his head. 

Terry tells what happened:   "We did this bit and at the very end, when we ran in to cross the finish line, he slipped as he was crossing the finish line and hit his head,” Teri says. “And the thing was, I was in front of him so I didn’t see it initially.

“He didn’t get off floor right a way, but then he [seemed] like he recovered and [pulled] it together, and they did an instant replay, and you could really see his head hit the floor.” She continues, “He did go to the hospital and he does have a concussion.”

I think Conan should do a modified bit on The Coneheads.  The band with coneheads?

My daughter and her husband had tickets for today's Conan taping but aren't going because my son-in-law has to work.  Bummer!  Will be a good show...