harrysmith

What's a sure-fire TV winner? Having a baby. Remember when Lucy had Little Ricky on I Love Lucy? Even the reruns that have been running for 50 years are still favorites. So, with that in mind, don't you think America will be overjoyed that Maggie Rodriguez on The Early Show is having a baby?

I do. I expect there to be a spike in the Nielsens as people tune in each morning to watch Maggie's tummy grow and check out her maternity fashions. On today's broadcast of CBS's morning show, Maggie broke the news to co-host Harry Smith, weather forecaster Dave Price and newsman Russ Mitchell. She told them they would all soon be uncles!

Celebrities on the red carpet, take note: Joan Rivers is back on E!.

The entertainment network has enlisted the outspoken comedienne with her own touch of crass to host a couple of awards-themed "Fashion Police" prime-time specials next month. First up: the Golden Globes on January 18, followed by the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 24. No word yet on whether the Oscars will be added to that list.

Joining Rivers on the one-hour program will be Khloe Kardashian, Giuliana Rancic and Jay Manuel (of 'America's Next Top Model' fame), with daughter Melissa Rivers producing behind-the-scenes.

Hey guys, remember when you were a kid and you really wanted to see a boobie but your parents had Cinemax blocked and your house did not yet have the ability to magically access the bottomless reservoir of nudity on the Internet? Your mind would do whatever it could to see a boobie. It would trick you into thinking two conveniently placed melons were boobies. It would make you think that the Calgon commercial accidentally showed a boobie. It would get you to watch every episode of Benny Hill with the hope of seeing a boobie.

That's how I feel of this recent news post at Newsbusters that claims 2012 star John Cusack uttered a rather nasty word on a recent episode of The Early Show. And no, it wasn't boobie.

Maybe it's just my hearing. Can you hear the word? It's supposed be towards the end of the video after host Harry Smith asks Cusack "Does it seems like 20 years ago already?" in reference to the 20 year anniversary of his classic film Say Anything.

One notably close figurehead in David Letterman-gate seems to have gone overlooked, a shiny bald one.

Letterman's longtime sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer has just released a new memoir called We'll Be Here the Rest of Our Lives about his rise to late night music infamy. He talked more than a few ears off about his own life in music, but he's kept very hush-hush on the whole Letterman brewhaha.

"You know, I just can't talk about it," Shaffer told a Time reporter in a recent interview. "There is a legal proceeding going on. I've been advised that I can't comment on that stuff."

He couldn't even tell Harry Smith on CBS' Early Show on his own network just what the mood is like around Late Show central. However, the rest of both interviews offer a very interesting peak into a life in music that has spanned just about every end of the TV dial and a very funny diversion from Smith's persistent reporter powers to get something out of him about the whole scandal. Something tells me Shaffer would have made one hell of a good press secretary.

After Hannah Storm said she was leaving last week, and after I pulled myself out of the bathroom where I'd been weeping and wailing "Why, God? Why?" over and over again, speculation began as to who would replace her. Rosie O'Donnell came immediately to mind so I went to see if she'd blogged about it.

On The Early Show
They have to get up early
That's f****** b*******

Guess, she's not doing it. The Hollywood Reporter put my mind to rest today, reporting that Maggie Rodriguez, current host on The Saturday Early Show is moving up to the daily edition to co-host alongside Harry Smith and Julie Chen. CBS said they were thrilled to have her because she's good looking (okay, not in so many words but I'm reading between the lines).

So much controversy about Katie Couric taking over The CBS Evening News. And now here it is a year later (she started on September 5, 2006), so I have to ask: how do you think she's doing?

I'll admit I had my doubts and might have even expressed them here, but in reality, I think she's doing fine. She can't do anything about the ratings, and the show was in third place long before Couric took over. As Bill Maher said when he was asked at the time how Couric was going to do, "I think she'll read the teleprompter fine." And she's done a fine job. Sure, there were some odd growing pains, like addressing the audience by saying "Hi everyone," the "Picture of the Week" and "First Person" segments that were dropped, and it looked a while there like they were going to end each episode by showing her legs, but the show has gotten a lot better.