Morning Briefing:
Suri Cruise debuts: Under the protection of armed guards, the new Vanity Fair issue bearing images of Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes seed Suri was delivered to a waiting world on Tuesday, the images making their first national appearance on "The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" (more on that below). The issue contains a 22-page family portfolio by Annie Leibovitz, shot at the Cruise estate in Telluride, Colo. Some of the other images from the shoot have already shown up elsewhere online. (Vanity Fair, Jossip, Oh No They Didn't)
Other big debuts:
Katie Couric: It was a banner day for unveilings, and chief among them (at least in the mind of the media) was Katie Couric's first newscast from the anchor chair at CBS. "CBS Evening News" executive producer Rome Hartman was thrilled with the premiere, modestly saying, "Imagine in six months what ass we will be kicking." The New York Times' review of the show was more measured, calling it a "subdued" beginning. The Washington Post objected to her wardrobe, deeming the white blazer a "poor choice," and Time TV critic James Poniewozik took issue with, among other things, the music selections: "Well, I'm pretty sure I've never heard Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes' introducing a segment on The PBS NewsHour. I hear the original idea -- to have it blaring from a boombox, held aloft by Walter Cronkite -- was rejected." MarketWatch's Jon Friedman, meanwhile, dubbed it "a journalistic nightmare." Salon's own TV critic, Heather Havrilesky, says "CBS's overly reimagineered newscast night seemed custom-made to undermine Couric's impressive cojones" -- you can read her full review here. (CBS, Time, MarketWatch, Salon)
Rosie O'Donnell on "The View": As for Rosie O'Donnell's less eagerly awaited debut on the "The View," the reviews were, uh, rosy. The Washington Post writes that "once all four co-hosts were seated -- and the studio audience's standing ovation and cheers finally quieted down -- the sassy, electrifying, show-stealing Rosie took over," and Access Hollywood says "the show went off without a hitch." As Lowdown writes, she didn't miss a beat with first guest Jessica Simpson: "'You're dating John Mayer ... I love him,' O'Donnell declared, leaning in close to her quarry. Simpson laughed and commented about Rosie, 'She just goes right there!' before adding, 'I'm not actually dating John Mayer.'" (ABC, Washington Post, Access Hollywood via MSNBC, Lowdown)
Radar magazine: Coming in a distant fourth in impact on the national consciousness, the apparently unkillable magazine Radar had its latest relaunch on Tuesday -- in this incarnation as a Web-only publication. While the Fix is always glad to add another good source to the roster, a story on the New York Observer's blog Media Mob has us a bit concerned: One of the biggest scoops on the site yesterday was a story about erstwhile CBS News producer Mary Mapes, who was fired in the wake of the Memogate scandal that also cost Dan Rather his job. Radar reported that Mapes has signed on with Mark Cuban's fledgling HDNet cable channel, where she'd rejoin Rather. Contacted by the Observer, though, Mapes said she hasn't even been offered the job, and never spoke to anyone at Radar. "They totally made it up," said Mapes. "It's hilarious." Should we worry about the veracity of today's Radar piece that says Anderson Cooper used to work for the CIA? (Radar, Gawker, New York Observer)
Also:
Announcing it to the world in a video on his MySpace page, Sean "Diddy" Combs revealed that his girlfriend, Kim Porter, is pregnant with twins: "Two more Combs. Two! World, you're in trouble now." (People) ... Viacom head Sumner Redstone, fresh from the thrill of dumping Tom Cruise from Paramount's rolls, axed Paramount CEO Tom Freston on Tuesday, replacing him with Viacom board member Philippe Dauman. (Deadline Hollywood Daily) ... Brit upstarts the Arctic Monkeys have won this year's Mercury Prize for their album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not." (BBC News) ... Ice-T, apparently no longer finding enough thrills in his role as detective Tutuola on "Law & Order: SVU," is musing about entering the ultraviolent world of Ultimate Fighting. "I've taken martial arts all my life and I box," he says. "I'm really into jujitsu so my moves would be submissions." (Starpulse) ... Emilio Estevez has announced he's engaged -- he popped the question to girlfriend Sonja Magdevski back in December, but only just mentioned it to the press this week at the Venice Film Festival. (E! Online) ... No surprise here: A new study by USC researchers shows that, yes, celebrities are more narcissistic than the average person. (PR Newswire)
Money Quote:
Mark Wahlberg reminisces about his pre-film-star days as Marky Mark, rapper and underwear model: "I miss being able to wake up when I want and go onstage when I want and pull down my pants when I want. Making movies is a highly regimented profession." (ContactMusic)
Turn On:
Katie Couric hosts a special look at how national security has changed since 9/11 in "Five Years Later: How Safe Are We?" (CBS, 10 p.m. EDT), the American Masters series presents "Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note" (PBS, check local listings), and it's the season premiere of Bob Costas' HBO show "Costas Now" (10 p.m. EDT).
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT): Suri Cruise's baby photos in Vanity Fair
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Newsweek editor Jon Meacham
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Colin Farrell, India.Arie (repeat)
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Jessica Simpson
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): David Duchovny, Ben Harper
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Steve Carell, the Subways (repeat)
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Anthony Michael Hall, James Carville, Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Martin Short (repeat)
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Janna Levin (repeat)
-- Scott Lamb
Get more of the Fix here.
To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.
Shares