Jim Lehrer announced on Thursday morning he's leaving the anchor desk of PBS' nightly 'NewsHour' program after a record 36 years at the helm, according to the show's blog and The Washington Post.

The 76-year-old journalist said June 6 would be his last day, but that he would continue returning to the show on Fridays to host a news panel. He is the longest-serving news anchor in TV history.

"I have been laboring in the glories of daily journalism for 52 years ... 36 of them here at the NewsHour and its earlier incarnations," he told his staff. "There comes a time to step aside from the daily process, and that time has arrived."

Lehrer teamed up with Robert MacNeil in 1975 to create 'The MacNeil/Lehrer Report,' a half-hour news program that eight years later became 'The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.' In 1995, MacNeil departed and it became Lehrer's show to run.

John McCain wanted ten town hall style debates with Barack Obama, but after 22 Democratic debates, Barack said, "Thanks, but no thanks." So now the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates will meet three times: two traditional, one-on-one debates with a single moderator for each, and one townhall-style session with questions from the crowd.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that NBC's Tom Brokaw, PBS's Jim Lehrer, and CBS's Bob Schieffer will be the moderators, with Gwen Ifill, the host of PBS's Washington Week handling the chores for the one vice presidential debate.

What's interesting here is that of the big three, ABC is not represented. Among the cable news crowd, Fox News and MSNBC were equally snubbed as was CNN.

I can't say why ABC was left out of the loop. However, George
Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson were both roundly criticized for their work on the Democratic debate they helmed.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• So how did Jesse L. Martin leave Law and Order the other night?
• I reviewed the Stingray DVD recently, and Jaime Weinman has some interesting facts about the show.
• Former NBC reporter Arthur Kent is suing Universal Pictures and the makers of Charlie Wilson's War.
• Cablevision might be buying The Sundance Channel.
• PBS' Jim Lehrer is recovering from heart surgery.
• Gary Coleman is going to appear on another daytime court show, this time with his wife.
• What were the best seasons of ER?

Way back in August, I listed my choices for the three worst anchors on television. I said in that post that "later this week" I was going to name the best news anchors on television. Apparently, "later this week" meant seven months later. Sorry about that!

Here are my choices for the six best news anchors currently on television. Feel free to disagree and argue with me in the comments section (as if you need any suggestion from me for that).