It's been reported that Ryan Seacrest is in talks to replace 'Today' anchor Matt Lauer if he steps down from the NBC morning show next year. 'The Wall Street Journal' first reported that Seacrest met network executives for preliminary talks earlier this week to discuss him joining the show.

That report has since been confirmed by 'The Hollywood Reporter,' which spoke to multiple sources who said that the meeting did indeed take place, but that it was part of ongoing discussions with Seacrest.

Executives who reportedly attended the meeting included 'Today' executive producer Jim Bell, NBC News President Steve Capus and senior vice president for marketing and communications Lauren Kapp.

'Criminal Minds' has had more than its fair share of drama off-screen in the last year or so. Cast members have been demoted, or promoted then axed, or fired and then rehired. Now comes news that star Thomas Gibson is still between contracts.

According to Deadline.com negotiations have stalled between Gibson and CBS with only one month to go before production gets underway on the upcoming Season 7. While he is expected to sign a new deal to stay with the show the uncertainty is making life hard for the writers.

They have already started to map out next season and write scripts. Gibson's character, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, has been key to the show's storylines, so it would be hard to plot the season without knowing if he will be back.

Marg Helgenberger, the actress who plays forensic scientist Catherine Willows on 'CSI', told TV Squad today that her contract on the show is up after 10 years and that she hasn't yet been asked back for next season.

"My contract is up actually," Helgenberger said, when asked if she would be returning for 'CSI's' 11th season. "That's a good question. I haven't been asked back, so we'll see."

This is a good way to waste an hour at work today.

TMZ has a new game at their site, The TMZ Contract Game with Conan O'Brien. It's actually a pretty simple game. You're Conan O'Brien, and you have to keep trying to grab the NBC contract before Jay Leno's head hits you (if you get hit, the game's over). Be careful. It's not just one Leno head that is gunning for you, they keep growing in number the more contracts you manage to get.

My top score so far is 1134.

This news actually made my day. Apparently, in order to appear as "celebrities" on the television show The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the housewives themselves were not paid and in some cases owed the producers some of their non-television related income.

This is brilliant! This solves the issue of declining profits for television. Want your own reality show? Then pay for the privilege. It's like buying commercial time without anything definitive to promote. If any of them start their own business as a result of their undeserved fame (like a line of clothing or something), will they owe that income to the producers as well?

No matter how much I loathe reality television, I loathe The Real Housewives of New Jersey just a little bit more. I applaud any opportunity to stick them with a fine for having the viewer subjected to them. The punchline to this joke would be if they all signed the same contract for their upcoming second season.

And I can hear every Law and Order: SVU fan screaming at the same time, "Noooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Michael Ausiello is reporting that stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay are asking for more money (they currently get $7 million a year), and sources say that the network might replace them if the stars keep asking for that money. The show was recently renewed for an 11th season.

I'm not too sure they couldn't be replaced. I mean, it would, of course, depend on who they go to replace them, but haven't they replaced the cast of the original Law and Order quite a bit? Characters left, characters died, some actors died in real life, and they brought in new people. Though I wonder if Meloni and Hargitay, since they have been on the show for so long, are the show and just can't be replaced. Or maybe they can just have it be John Munch: Private Eye.

You think the recession hasn't hit the TV industry yet? Here's some proof it has: the stars of How I Met Your Mother received pay raises...but not the kind of big money you've heard about in years gone by. The ensemble of five, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan renegotiated with the producers (20th Century Fox TV) to boost their salaries to $90,000-$120,000 per episode. That's still a lot of money in today's economic strife, but compared to Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen's $825,000 per ep, it's downright modest.

Animation domination will continue with The Simpsons anchoring the Fox toon programming for at least three more years. Al Jean, Simpsons' exective producer, confirmed that since the actors are signed up till 2011, he's pretty much banking on the fact that the award-winning comedy series will stay on the air.

Considering the fact that The Simpsons continues to be so successful -- last year's movie, for instance, grossed a staggering $526 million worldwide -- and remains hilarious and relevant, Fox would be nuts to let the show go. And one of the best things about this family sitcom is that the characters never age. Bart and Lisa only age in the episodes that fantasize about the future.

The Simpsons, paired with the Seth MacFarlane shows -- Family Guy and American Dad -- plus King of the Hill, gives Fox the most competitive and alternative programming for Sunday nights.

Doesn't it seem like Larry King is aging at about five times the normal rate? I keep thinking he must be in his 90s, but in reality, he's only 74. And it looks like he'll be around a while.

According to a TVNewser report, CNN and King have agreed on a contract that will keep the suspender-clad one with the network through June 2011. For the record, he'll be 77 -- but he'll probably seem like he's 153.

A recent New York Times story speculated that ratings-challenged CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric might be eyeing King's CNN slot. "Couric discussed several things she might do if she left the anchor post, according to the executives, including a daily talk show to be syndicated by CBS, or replacing Larry King in a prime-time position on CNN," notes the Times story. Not so, a CNN spokesperson told TVNewser. "Larry is the best there is. He'll be here for a long time."

One of the big reasons why Gilmore Girls is not returning for an eighth season is because Warner Brothers and the CW reportedly could not come to terms on new contracts for both Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. So, it's not a big surprise to hear that Graham is not sorry to see the show go gently into that good night.

In fact, she told Newsweek as much in this week's issue. "I think it's the best decision for the show," she told the magazine. "One of the things Alexis and I wished could be different was the schedule, and it really can't be." (Update: Graham also spoke to TVGuide.com's Mike Ausiello about the show's end.)