What a mess the whole Jon & Kate Plus 8 Minus 1 debacle is. Apparently, after learning that TLC was moving forward with a revamped show named Kate Plus 8, Jon demanded through his lawyers that the show cease production immediately or face criminal charges.

A letter from his attorney noted, "In the event that anyone enters the marital property, Jon Gosselin will notify the local authorities to effectuate police action against any trespassers." Keep in mind that Jon seemed fine with the kids being on the show last week, when he was still a big part of the show and was, in fact, filming an episode with the kids.

Yesterday, we wrote about Chris Brown's appearance on Larry King Live, where he tried to ameliorate his image. As Jane pointed out, Chris didn't really say very much. On the other hand, in the new People magazine, Brown has opened up and put his foot directly in his mouth. Chris Brown is ticked off with Oprah Winfrey and thinks she owes him an apology. Or so it seems.

Brown was offended that Oprah did a show last March about domestic violence, based on Brown's public assault on his lover, the singer Rihanna. The incident took place in a car after they had both been to the Grammys. Brown was found guilty, ordered to stay away from Rihanna, sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service.

R&B singer Chris Brown stopped by Larry King's studio last night, and said ... well, nothing, really. Anyone tuning in to hear some juicy revelations about his actions concerning singer Rihanna didn't get much.

During the hour-long interview, Brown said several times that he didn't want to talk about his felony-assault conviction that resulted in five years probation and six months of community labor. The conversation went something like this:

Larry: "Do you love her?"
Chris: "Definitely."
Larry: "In love with her?"
Chris: "Definitely."

That's about as deep as it got, with Brown repeatedly telling Larry that he wasn't going to talk about the case "out of respect for her and myself." Ok, so why were you there then?

Sylvia Browne has been around forever. That's not to say she's immortal (although, hey, maybe she'll argue you on that one), but the self-proclaimed clairvoyant is a longtime fixture of the talk TV circuit, having appeared on many a Montel, Sally Jesse Raphael, and Larry King Live. As a skeptic might expect from someone who claims to see ghosts and spirits and all that celestial hooey (no offense, believers!), Browne is, indeed, quite a character.

The sheer volume of coverage surrounding Michael Jackson's untimely death has reached such a solid density that you can actually take a hammer to it (and believe me, I've tried).

The man's death was tragic and newsworthy, and the recent memorial was also deserving of some extreme attention, but some of the bits and pieces almost scream for the story to stick around. Mark my words, Michael Jackson will replace Jesus and the Virgin Mary as the holy face that some yahoo will see in their morning batch of French toast.

One of those stories reached such a fever pitch that the network that spawned it tried to put a stop to it. An overly vigilant CNN viewer spotted a shadowy figure walking across the camera during Larry King's visit to Neverland Ranch. The video found its way to YouTube where it garnered over 4 million hits and sparked a wave of news coverage not seen since, well, Michael Jackson's death.

The late eighties and early-to-mid nineties brought out some of the filthiest, bottom-feeding talk shows our country has ever seen. From Morton Downey Jr. and Sally Jesse Raphael to Jerry Springer and Maury Povich, it was the era when "trash TV" became a symbol of a country's swift spiral down one giant cultural toilet in opposition to people like Larry King and Oprah Winfrey, who effortlessly made interviews with, like, Fran Drescher come off looking like Masterpiece Theater.

Around the latter half of the "boom" came Ricki Lake, the formerly obese star of Hairspray (no, seriously, that was basically her résumé), with a show that combined the usual elements of trashy talk (read: "freaks") with something impossibly dumber yet: catchphrases. Unlike today, when it takes weeks to months for squawk-boxes to latch onto cultural buzzwords like "metrosexual" and "baby daddy," Ricki Lake was trotting out episode "subjects" like "You're not all that!" and "Dump that zero and get yourself a hero!"

Naturally, she was a smash.

When I heard that David Carradine was found hanging from a closet in his hotel room yesterday, one of the first things I thought was, "Huh. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would commit suicide." He just seemed like one of those full-of-life guys that wanted to experience all he could before he checked out. I even wondered aloud to my fiancee if he died doing something... else, using the rumored cause of death of INXS' Michael Hutchence as a reference.

I guess I wasn't far off. Now Thai police are speculating that Carradine may have accidentally died during a "sex game gone wrong," according to The Washington Post. This is after his manager, who was on Larry King Live last night, his friends and family, and his colleagues all agreed that there was no way Carradine was suicidal.

Anyone who's seen or heard Larry King over the last quarter-century or so (which includes just about everyone who has cable TV) knows that he's been known to tell tales of his life that are, to put it charitably, less than true. Big surprise from a guy who's been married seven times and pleaded no contest to passing bad checks in the early Seventies, right?

Anyway, with the release of King's new book, which is full of stories from his past, it seems like it's again time for journalists to point out that -- gasp! -- King makes some of his stories up. Jack Shafer in Slate, for instance, has decided to bring up King's claims that he knew Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax when the two of them were growing up in Brooklyn, a story that even Shafer acknowledges was refuted by Koufax himself... way back in 1991.

Well, Andy Warhol said everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, but has Susan Boyle's quarter-hour already expired? That's the opinion of New York columnist Michael Musto, but I think his Rolex knock-off is running fast. Musto thinks Boyle is done, but, you watch, Susan will be around for at least another week or two.

She was on Larry King Live on Friday. There's rumors that she's going to appear on Oprah, and I wouldn't put it past American Idol and Simon Cowell to spring her on us, giving 20 million Americans a chance to be amazed by her sweet voice and reviled by her hairy eyebrows.

There's a famous scene in The Godfather: Part III -- the only really memorable one -- where Michael Corleone says, "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in." I thought of that when I read that Oprah Winfrey may not be ending her talk show in 2011 after all. What? I thought it was a done deal, but no. Every time I think she's done, she's back again.

When asked by Access Hollywood about The Oprah Winfrey Show ending in 2011, Ms. W said, "I'm not done." Well, you sure could have knocked me over with a feather. I mean, really, I understand that it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, but I really thought Oprah had other worlds to conquer, other fish to fry.

In the latest of a long line of celebrities to appear on 30 Rock this season, you can add CNN host Larry King. He joins a parade of celebrities with the same accomplishment including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin and some of the cast of Night Court.

Granted, he's a celebrity that everyone has heard of, but isn't Larry King getting a little past his prime? It seems the the celebrity guest-stars are getting more obscure as the season progresses. By the end of the season, it'll be Kathy Griffin and the guy who used to play "Screech". Tina Fey herself is now a bigger star than most of the guests.

The storyline involves Larry interviewing Tracy Morgan's character on his show. It would be funny if he then proposes marriage to Liz Lemon.

Fortunately, the writing on 30 Rock is so top-notch that I think they could have Carrot Top as a guest and still make it a good show. Bring it on, Larry!

Like a large number of Americans, I watched last night's vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden with great interest. And, like most Americans, I was interested in the debate for reasons other than finding out about each ticket's policy views. I wanted to see Palin and Biden screw up. Big time.

Unfortunately (heh), both did fine. Palin spoke in complete sentences that more or less made sense, even if they didn't answer any of Gwen Ifill's questions; Biden didn't ramble on or say that FDR was the president during the stock market crash of 1929. But I don't know if you can attribute this debate's gaffelessness on the poise of the candidates alone. The format of the debate was so restrictive, it didn't give either of them time to go off on screwy tangents.

Wouldn't it have been better if both could just sit in a couple of chairs and speak freely? You know, like on a talk show?

"Indecision 2008": In an incredibly awkward blunder, one of John McCain's top advisers, Charlie Black, told Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack on America would be "a big advantage" to McCain. Also, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto apparently saved McCain's struggling campaign back in December. Dude. There is no way to fix the sense that your campaign thrives on death and destruction, apart from some panicked back-pedaling and angry refusal by the candidate himself. Jon Stewart broke down the situation in simple mathematic terms and -- Ahh, nevermind.

Somebody give Ed McMahon a job, please! There are more stories emerging about the famous TV sidekick's financial woes, and it's just sad that he's in such dire straits.

Granted, he's not alone in these tough times -- and, yes, he has had millions in his time -- but the revelations that the former Tonight Show star and Star Search host is in money trouble strikes me as really unfortunate. And apparently that help from Jay Leno is slow in materializing. Why isn't Publisher's Clearinghouse giving him a gig?

The latest news is that Citibank is suing McMahon for $200,000, a loan they extended to Ed. In a lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior court on June 9, the bank is seeking $179,687 in damages, plus legal fees. This is on top of the potential foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home.

Lately, the only Katie Couric most people have been seeing is the one that's depicted in the picture to the right: serious, sober, possessing whatever gravitas she can muster in her role as anchor of the CBS Evening News. But where can you see the goofy Katie, the one that people came to know -- and some got sick of -- for fifteen years on the Today show?

Why, on YouTube, of course! In fact, Katie has her very own page on the leading video sharing site, where she posts extended Evening News interviews and behind-the-scene footage. The behind-the-scenes stuff is where you see Katie at her most impish, doing things like snapping Larry King's suspenders as he leads her to the set of his show, singing with Bette Midler, and meeting with mommy bloggers in her office (check out the huge Warhol-esque portrait of herself she has hanging near her desk!).