Every so often, you hear about a study whose results are so obvious, you just have to smack yourself in the head and wonder how the researchers were able to ask for funding with a straight face.

Today, Miller-McCune.com published the results of one such study, conducted by two researchers at Indiana University. The researchers found that men, when they watch a newscast with an attractive, provocatively-dressed female anchor, are more likely to remember the image of the person reading the news than the news the person was reading.

Well, of course they are.

That's what the networks count on.

During a debate on 'The Factor' (weekdays, 8 PM ET on Fox News) about whether or not politicians are heeding Barack Obama's call for civility, Bill O'Reilly managed to slam both of Fox News's cable news rivals.

"MSNBC makes a living out of making personal attacks," O'Reilly opined. "That's what the network does ... that's why it beats CNN."

"CNN is so boring, when they open their mouths dust comes out," he continued. "So (MSNBC) said 'you know, we can beat them. We're not as good at covering the news' -- MSNBC will never be as good as CNN at covering the news -- 'so we'll attack people. We'll be the World Wrestling Federation.' So that's what they did."

Allow us to tweak that anology, Bill. The way we see it, Fox News is the WWF, whereas MSNBC is more like an upstart wrestling federation -- say the WCW -- trying to match the WWF's superior ratings by ratcheting up their own outrageousness. Clearly, the only way this can end is some sort of intra-network steel-cage match.

It's been reported that Fox News canceled a scheduled interview with Joan Rivers after she called Sarah Palin "stupid and a threat" and blamed her for the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

According to The Guardian, nixing Rivers has reinforced the growing perception in some quarters that Fox News is promoting Palin -- a Fox host -- and protecting her from criticism.

Comedienne Rivers made her comments in an interview with TMZ, during which she was asked if Palin should be US President. She replied: "I think Sarah Palin is an amazing woman. I think she represents everything strong a woman can be, and I think she should go someplace -- to another planet -- to show them, and get out of our face."

'Million Dollar Money Drop' is having the most controversial debut of any game show, ever. The show seemed fun, at first. Watching tons of money being dumped down a chute had a certain visceral charm, in a gross sort of way.

But now, things are getting weirder. On tonight's episode (Wed., 9PM ET on Fox), a couple won $240,000, while debating the relative merits of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Which is nice, but ...

... But most people are distracted by the scandal that took place on the show's first episode. During the premiere, Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayi lost $800,000 after they answered a trivia question "incorrectly." There was only one problem. ... They weren't really wrong. But now, a Fox executive is denying that show made any mistake, and is insisting that the netwok is not at fault.

Having people leave the room while you're talking is generally considered to be a bad thing. But Bill O'Reilly always tries to look on the bright side. Two months ago, back in October, O'Reilly got into an infamous yelling match during a live filming of 'The View,' which culminated in co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walking away in protest.

On 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS), David Letterman had this question for O'Reilly: "What the hell happened over there on 'The View'? What was going on?"

Bill said he knew Behar didn't like him, and that Whoopi's opinion of him varied. He added that he was just trying to "sell a book" during his time on the show. And he found a positive aspect to the fiasco, joking that it was the "greatest thing ever." "You know what I was thinking? ... 'I hope they all leave! Then I'll take the whole show. I'll have 45 minutes of ABC airtime.'" Well, that's one way to sell a book.

Last night, the Republican Party swept back into power, reclaiming at least 60 seats in the House of Representatives. It was one of the most radical political transformations in seven decades. But Jon Stewart saw something weird about the Fox News coverage of the election.

On 'The Daily Show' (weeknights, 11PM ET on Comedy Central), Stewart watched as Fox covered the event. Oddly enough, many Fox News pundits -- including Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin -- used the same metaphor for the victory. The GOP triumph was described as a "tidal wave," an "earthquake" and a "tsunami."

Mike Huckabee compared the win to one of the more powerful natural disasters in American history: a 19th century earthquake which sent shockwaves across half the country, causing the Mississippi River to run backwards. Jon pointed out a common theme here: "You do realize all your metaphors for Republican victory ... killed thousands of people."

After voting for their favorite candidates in the midterm elections yesterday, Americans made another choice: their preferred news network.

Ratings from last night's midterm election coverage are in, and America chose Fox News as its preferred election night viewing. According to Daily Intel, almost 7 million people tuned into the network for election results. That's more than twice as much as CNN's viewership and MSNBC's viewership combined.

More than 2.4 million viewers watched CNN, while MSNBC drew more than 1.9 million.

In other TV news ...

• Cybill Shepherd will guest star on '$#*! My Dad Says.' The actress will play a life coach in the show's Nov. 18 episode. [TV Guide]

• 'The Chicago Code,' previously known as 'Ride Along,' will premiere on Mon., Feb 7 at 9PM on Fox. The drama follows Chicago's most well-respected policemen and women who work to expose political corruption in their city. [Hollywood Insider]

This weekend, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held their 'Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear' (Sat., 12PM ET on Comedy Central). The rally was a counterpart to Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' march, held a few months back.

The goal was to share political views in an inoffensive manner. Moderation was the ideal; Stewart showed video clips of media figures (such as Mr. Beck) who supposedly used polarizing speech.

Since the event was hosted by comedians, the whole thing was a joke -- or was it? A bunch of celebs attended, including Ozzy Osbourne, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow. But Stewart stopped the music and jokes to deliver this message: "I thought we might have a moment ... for some sincerity. ... I can't control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions."

'Family Guy' creator Seth MacFarlane is well-known as being a fairly liberal guy. Still, let no one say that he doesn't give equal time to opposing views. On the newest installment of the animated sitcom (Sun., 9PM ET on Fox), Rush Limbaugh shows up to voice the character of, um, "Rush Limbaugh." Surprisingly, the radio host and sworn enemy of the Democrats is given a hero's welcome by 'Family Guy.'

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Ultra-liberal family dog Brian Griffin is the character who most represents the show's political voice. So it comes as no shocker when Brian decides to protest a Rush Limbaugh book-signing at the local mall. But on his way to the event, Brian is attacked by a multi-ethnic "politically correct" mob. The surprising part takes place when Brian gets rescued by a shadowy figure. And this mysterious savior turns out to be ... Mr. Limbaugh.

Well, it's time for Round Two of Stephen Colbert vs. Christine O'Donnell. Previously, as you may remember, Stephen unleashed the 'CHRISTINE O'DONNELL CLIP PREDICTOR 3000,' as part of an effort to determine what would be the next bizarre story involving the Republican candidate from Delaware.

He also threatened to keep on predicting weird stories about Ms. O'Donnell -- unless she gave up and made an appearance on his show. (This, by the way, was a parody of host Bill Maher, who has said he will keep showing video clips of Christine until she returns to his show 'Politically Incorrect.')

But sadly, Stephen's last ploy failed ... and failed badly, because O'Donnell wants nothing to do with him. So on the latest 'Colbert Report,' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central), he resorts to a different tactic.

Two weeks ago, Fox News host Glenn Beck held a "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington D.C. It's hard to say how well the event went. At one point, Beck claimed that 1.7 million people showed up; other estimates put the crowd at around 87,000 people. (Which is a pretty big disparity.)

But no matter how well or how poorly the rally went, one thing is clear: Stephen Colbert likes attention just as much as Glenn Beck does. Now, the question is -- will Colbert stage a rally of his own?

Former Army Ranger captain Nate Self is a highly-decorated war hero. He has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo. But even the knowledge of his own heroism wasn't enough to prevent Nate from wanting to kill himself. On 'The Huckabee Show' (weekends, 8PM ET on Fox News), Self described a mission in Afghanistan which traumatized him such an extent that he wanted to die.

Captain Self was sent to rescue a missing-in-action Navy SEAL. In the course of this operation, Nate ended up fighting against enemy soldiers from before dawn until after dusk. Eventually, he located the SEAL -- but the man was already dead. Still, Ranger Self brought the SEAL's body back. However, Nate lost six of his own men in the course of the operation.

Some people think that Glenn Beck is a bit ... egotistical. But Stephen Colbert is not one of these people. Or rather, as a satirical blowhard talk show host, Stephen is a big fan of egotism in all its forms.

On the latest 'Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central), Stephen notices that Glenn Beck has recently linked himself to Gandhi, Jesus Christ, and prophetic newscaster Howard Beale. All of this is occurring as Beck is about to give a speech on the exact anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech -- and he'll be doing it at the same location where Martin Luther King, Jr. made that historic address to the nation. Wow.

Oh, man. There's nothing worse than learning a dreadful secret about yourself. On the latest 'Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central), Stephen Colbert discovers the worst thing of all. Yes, apparently the satirical super-patriotic news host ... is actually a secret terrorist. Uh-oh. That can't be good. And sadly, the whole thing is Jon Stewart's fault.

Yesterday on 'The Daily Show,' Jon Stewart uncovered a startling revelation. One of the men giving money to the "Ground Zero Mosque" in New York City is also a major Fox News shareholder. This man's name is Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. He owns 7% of the Fox News parent corporation, and he's also supporting the so-called 9/11 "terror mosque." Thus, there's a link between Fox News and the supposedly "dangerous" Islamic center. But then it gets worse.