Morning Briefing:
McCartney holds no grudge: Speaking to British radio over the weekend, Sir Paul McCartney says he doesn't have any lingering ill will toward his second wife, Heather Mills, in spite of the nasty turn their divorce has taken. (She alleges in court documents that he abused her during their four-year marriage.) "Life goes on, I do not hold grudges against anyone, I don't blame anyone for the sadnesses that have happened to me. I am sad about them because it would be stupid to be otherwise. I think life goes on, and it is what you make of it, so I am pretty optimistic." (Toronto Star)
"Borat" wins: Escaping the hype-and-crash cycle that made "Snakes on a Plane" such a box office disappointment, "Borat" dominated the weekend ticket sales, taking in $26.3 million for its debut. All the more impressive: The movie opened on just 837 screens nationwide. By comparison, "The Santa Clause 3" was the weekend's No. 2 movie with $20 million, but it was showing on 3,458 screens. As Variety writes, "Monday morning quarterbacks will wonder whether Fox could have captured even more B.O. dough had the studio rolled out 'Borat' more widely." (Variety)
What TV taught a generation: Newsweek writes in its Nov. 13 issue about what television taught baby boomers -- among other things, "what boomers ultimately took from early TV was a collective sense of irony." More compellingly, the article talks about how modern TV has lost the critical edge that shows like "All in the Family" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" once had: "The reality shows 'American Idol' and 'Dancing With the Stars' are so retro, they're practically 'The Lawrence Welk Show.' When 'The Unit' or '24' does dare to focus on something like the war on terror, their take is uncritically gung-ho -- no network today would risk satire on the level of 'M*A*S*H.'" (Newsweek)
Also:
UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie took a break from filming over the weekend to visit Afghan and Burmese refugee camps in New Delhi. (BBC News) ... Russell Crowe, in a "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday, blames the structure of the U.S. legal system for the hoopla over his 2005 phone-throwing incident: "Your legal system is very open to misuse. Where I come from, a confrontation like that, as basic and simple as that, would have been satisfied with a handshake and an apology." (E Online) ... On Friday, actor Neil Patrick Harris ("Doogie Howser," "How I Met Your Mother") came out to People magazine, saying, "Rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest." (People) ... Tony Blair has declared U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" to be his favorite song of all time. (ContactMusic)
Money Quote:
Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan's ambassador to Great Britain, on how the country will weather the "Borat" storm: "Having survived Stalin we will certainly survive Borat." (Editor & Publisher)
Turn On:
Monday brings country fans the "The 40th Annual CMA Awards" (ABC, 8 p.m. EST), HBO airs a marathon of back episodes of "Da Ali G Show" (starting at 9 p.m. EST), and IFC presents "The F Word" (9 p.m. EST), a docudrama about the GOP convention in New York in 2004.
On the Talk Shows:
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EST): Election special
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EST): Will Ferrell, Jack Hanna
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EST): Hugh Laurie, America Ferrara, the Cheetah Girls
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EST): Russell Crowe, Jorge Garcia
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EST): Val Kilmer, Rebecca Gayheart, Paolo Nutini
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EST): Lauren Graham, Ricardo Chavira, Anita Baker
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EST): Jerry Seinfeld
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EST): Mark Halperin
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