Morning Briefing:
One more and it's a trend: Wednesday's news that CBS put Katie Couric on a Photoshop diet in a promo for her new anchoring gig may just be the first of a rash of weight-related image manipulation by the networks. Wednesday afternoon, Drudge highlighted a publicity shot for the new, Rosie O'Donnell-enhanced "The View," which features a pantsuited Rosie among the rest of the skirt-wearing cast. Wednesday on her blog, O'Donnell weighed in, in her typical free-verse style:
i saw the view black suit photo
on drudge
and i vote yes
it was photo-shopped
look at the amount of white space
between my arm and body
barbara and elisabeth seem to vanish
there in my underarm thinnest
yes i say
photoshop
(MSNBC, New York Post, R Blog)
GM drops "Survivor": Insisting that its decision has nothing whatsoever to do with the decision to split up this season's teams by race, General Motors announced on Wednesday that it won't be buying advertising time for the new season of "Survivor," though it has sponsored the show since its debut in 2000. A CBS spokesman says GM made the decision long before the new format was announced: "They informed us several months ago that they wouldn't be part of the upcoming season. It's unrelated to the controversy surrounding the upcoming edition." Meanwhile, "Survivor" creator/host Mark Burnett defended the show with some bizarre logic, saying it's not "racial": "By putting people in tribes, they clearly have to get rid of people of their own ethnicity," he told reporters. "So it's not racial at all." (Associated Press, ContactMusic)
Also:
The National Enquirer snapped a photo of John Travolta smooching with an unnamed man as he stepped aboard a plane near Toronto -- Defamer describes it as "just an innocuous image of a famous, avowedly heterosexual male rising up upon the balls of one foot to offer a platonic, same-sex pal a fond, lip-to-lip greeting before takeoff." (Defamer) ... Showing that he doesn't just say "You're fired!" when the cameras are rolling, Donald Trump axed Carolyn Kepcher, who managed Trump golf courses in real life and played Trump's right hand on "The Apprentice." "She became a prima donna," an insider told the New York Post. "Being on 'The Apprentice' went to her head." (N.Y. Post) ... Reality TV band Danity Kane had its debut album arrive at No. 1 on this week's Billboard chart -- OutKast's "Idlewild" came in second, and Paris Hilton's first record made it to No. 6. (Billboard) ... TiVo has announced it's going to start selling the second-by-second watching habits of users to an audience measurement firm. (Ad Age) ... Glenn Ford, the actor whose 80 films included "Blackboard Jungle," died on Wednesday at age 90 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Hollywood Reporter) ... Screenwriter Joseph Stefano, best known for writing Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," died in Los Angeles on Friday. He was 84. (E! Online)
Money Quote:
Johnny Knoxville says you just don't turn Willie Nelson down when it comes to pot: "I'm not a weed person, but when Willie Nelson passes you a joint, you don't say no. That's like Angie Dickinson passing you her [sexual organ] and you saying, 'No, no, no.'" (Playboy via Rush & Molloy)
Turn On:
Comic/actor/nutcase Jack Black hosts "The Video Music Awards" (MTV, 8 p.m. EDT), while crime fighters Fat Momma and Feedback face off on the season finale of "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" (Sci Fi, 9 p.m. EDT). On PBS, Glenn Close and Will Smith narrate a documentary examining the global AIDS crisis, "A Closer Walk" (check local listings).
On the Talk Shows:
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, rebroadcast of the White Stripes
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Julianne Moore, Opie and Anthony
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Hugh Laurie, Richard Engel, We Are Family
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Stephen Colbert, Rick Moranis, Sarah Vowell (repeat)
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Carlos Mencia, Natasha Bedingfield (repeat)
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Jonathan Winters, Kenan Thompson, Against Me! (repeat)
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Matt Dillon (repeat)
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Neil Young (repeat)
-- Scott Lamb
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