DavidLettermanExtortion

If there's one thing David Letterman gets right, it's that he thanks the folks who help him out. Remember when he brought out all the health care pros who cared for him during his heart issues?

On last night's 'Late Show With David Letterman' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS), he took the time to thank all the officials who handled his extortion case, which was resolved yesterday. He even mentioned them all by name, which is a very stand-up thing to do. Way to go, Dave.

Watch the video after the jump.

The latest news in the David Letterman extortion scandal hit the airwaves today. Robert "Joe" Halderman, the guy who grabbed headlines for trying to extort money from the 'Late Show With David Letterman' host, pled guilty to grand larceny in exchange for six months in prison and five years probation.

With good behavior, Halderman could spend as little as four months in prison -- a much lighter sentence than he might have faced had the case gone to trial, reports 'News Central' (weekdays, 4PM ET on Kcal).

Any thoughts on this? Too little prison time for the crime?

Watch the video after the jump.

It's time to look back to a simpler, less vicious time in late night television when the alleged extortion of a major talk show host and his office flings was all the rage in the daily news rags.

Robert Halderman, the 48 Hours producer accused of extorting Late Show host David Letterman, lost his recent bid to have a judge throw out his grand larceny charges. His defense claimed that what Letterman and the FBI call his actions blackmail, he called it simply an offer to buy a screenplay about the talk show host's life.

Call me crazy, but offers to do artistic work don't usually involve threats of dragging people through the mud for personal gain and profit. Then again, I've never worked for NBC.

Just when thought you had already heard the whole world's take on the Tiger Woods saga, out comes the last person you want to see on a date.

Professional soul patch wearer and Cheaters host Joey Greco talked to the Los Angeles Times about Woods' philandering ways.

He describes his take on the reaction, the coverage and even Tiger's handling of the event. He even likens it to David Letterman's recent scandal and says that Letterman handled his public reaction to the event much better and Tiger should have done the same. So does he mean that Tiger Woods also should have released his own Top Ten list?

[via TVTattle]

It looks like we've got the makings of a fight on our hands.

Robert Halderman, the man accused of extorting David Letterman and turning the always funny Late Show into a storm of innuendo and gossip, wants his case to go to trial and most likely won't accept a plea deal or make some sort of arrangement with prosecutors.

So far, he's got two things going for him: a whirlwind of press surrounding his case and the fallout of his arrest and money. The New York Observer reports he's raised almost $100,000 in legal funds for his case.

I hope this doesn't happen, but is it just me or is it starting to look like Halderman's trial could actually hurt Letterman and company more than it helps him?

It's official, "pulling a Letterman" means sleeping with a co-worker. Why? Because I said so.

It seems that ABC's late night host Jimmy Kimmel has been in a relationship with a member of his staff as well. This time, the host has been dating the show's head writer Molly McNeary for "several months."

This forced Fox News to pose the question if Kimmel is "pulling a Letterman" and ask if he should be forced to apologize on the air to Ben Affleck. That normally would be hilarious if Fox News didn't handle all of their news with the same level of integrity and tact.

And yes, I'm jealous they came up with that line first.

That bastion of journalistic excellence, Entertainment Weekly, unveiled their new cover and (surprise!) Letterman made the cover. It features the Late Show host without pants, which in any other context would be the lowest selling issue of EW since Ernest Borgnine forgot to put on underpants.

My problem isn't with the picture, although it seems it probably should be. It's the headline. Is "Oh, Dave" the best they could do? Hell, "Where the Wild Things Are" would be ten times better and save a fifth of the print space. Write a better headline in the comments section below and we'll feature the best ones in a future post.