Betty White is always a hoot when she makes her frequent stops to 'The Late Late Show' (Weeknights, 12:37AM ET on CBS). She usually spotlights some zany new job she has and passes sexual innuendos back and forth with Craig Ferguson, but this time she had some serious business to talk about.

White has decided to run for president, and she's doing it for a reason many Americans can relate to in these tough economic times. "I needed some cash," she said. "I'm flat broke."

Unfortunately, she didn't put as much thought into her campaign posters. She brought one to show Ferguson, which mimicked the color style of the Barack Obama 'Hope' posters. But her message might be misconstrued. The posters read 'White Power.'

Roseanne Barr chose 'The Tonight Show' (Weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC) to make her big announcement for one reason. "I decided since you're the one who got Arnold Schwarzenegger elected as governor of California, I wanted to make my announcement here on your show," she told Jay Leno.

Then she turned to the crowd. "My announcement is that I am running for president of the United States," and then she added, "I'm totally serious."

She said that Sarah Palin running for President is what made her think she could do it, but Leno was quick to remind her that Palin hasn't officially put her hat in the ring yet.

Is Donald Trump really running for President? Bill Maher thinks so, but on 'Late Show' (Weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS) he found himself arguing with David Letterman about the legitimacy of the whole thing.

"He's absolutely not running," Letterman said. To emphasize how much he believed it, he said he wished he could put money on it with somebody. Letterman said he knows people on the inside who say the whole thing's a massive joke.

That's not to say that Maher is taking Trump seriously as a candidate, though. He simply believes Trump is truly running.

While it probably wasn't the most impartial of groups, Donald Trump nevertheless decided to talk about his possible Presidential nod with the remaining contestants on 'Celebrity Apprentice' (Sun., 9PM ET on NBC). He asked the contestants if they would vote for him, and Meat Loaf took it one step further.

"I would vote for you," he said. "In fact, I'll help you with your campaign."

Trump even asked them point-blank which of them would not vote for him.

"A hot hint," Ivanka Trump said. "Don't raise your hand."

After viewing a television ad from SarahPac, Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee, the gang on 'Morning Joe' (weekdays, 6 AM ET on MSNBC) was unanimous in their opinion that the former Alaska governor will be running for president in 2012.

Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Mike Barnicle and Harold Ford Jr. all agreed that Palin will take a shot at the White House. Norah O'Donnell then added a twist:

"She will run as part of the Tea Party, not as a part of the Republican Party," O'Donnell predicted.

However, it might be wise to take such predictions with a grain of salt. Since the media -- especially the cable news talkers -- would be the greatest beneficiaries of the madness that would surround a Palin candidacy, talking heads could be engaging in a bit of wishful thinking when they suggest Palin will run.

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. We finish up the series by talking about some of the news events that defined the decade, and how TV covered them.

It seems odd to call the news events of the 00's a "best" list. As we started the 21st century, America seemed to have a different tragedy happening at every twist and turn. There was the Year 2000 bug followed by 9/11 followed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by Hurricane Katrina followed by the worst recession since the Great Depression. We've also had various celebrity deaths recently including the iconic and controversial Michael Jackson.

The tragedies of the decade were accompanied by revolutionary change. America elected its first African-American President. New forms of media such as social networking arose like a phoenix from the ashes of the old media.

The decade was filled with many ups and downs, possibly more downs. The full repercussions of the events won't likely be acknowledged or analyzed for years or decades to come. Wherever we end up, it will have been one hell of a ride.

Every once in a while, a show creeps up on the American public and really captures its imagination. Unfortunately, a lot of times that show is in a terrible timeslot on a tiny little network struggling to survive. Such was the case with Jack & Bobby.

I'd like to think people didn't just automatically assume that this was a biopic about the Kennedys, though it certainly was playing with that notion intentionally by choosing that name. At its core, the show was simply another teen drama; the kind The WB had built a network around by the fall of 2004.

But it was also something more than that. It was an in-depth examination of the genesis of an American hero. How can someone go from being an ordinary person with ordinary problems into the most powerful man on the planet? While Jack and Bobby were typical all-American brothers, it was one of their destiny to rise to the seat of President of the United States by the mid-21st Century. That's the destination. Jack & Bobby was the journey.

ABC president Steve McPherson just finished holding court at his network's executive session. Not much in the way of news came up, but when an astute critic -- namely me -- brought up Katherine Heigl's latest foot-in-mouth incident, McPherson didn't mince words.

He called the Grey's star's remarks -- where she complained on several talk shows about her 17-hour first day back on the set, a day that supposedly was created to accommodate her promotional schedule for The Ugly Truth -- "unfortunate." He continued: "It is what it is. People are going to choose to behave the way they behave." He felt especially bad for the show's behind-the-scenes crew, who also put in those long hours without complaint; "It's really hard for the people busting their tails every day to hear that (from Heigl)." He later said that "I'm not going to try to explain someone else's behavior," and repeated the word "unfortunate" once again.

Russian TV censors have cut a scene from a broadcast of the show South Park in their country, claiming it portrays former President Vladimir Putin as a greedy and desperate leader (the episode first aired in 2005, when Putin was still in the president's office).

Sometimes comedy just doesn't translate overseas. Upon watching the segment, it doesn't feel like they're so much making fun of Putin as simply doing some situational humor involving the economic crisis in Russia at the time (and the only difference nowadays is that it has spread to pretty much every country).

This incident about the episode seems to speak more about the current situation in Russia than about in South Park. Compared to other segments of the show (Mickey Mouse, anyone?), this one is kind of tame.

I leave it for your judgment. The video of the offending segment is after the jump. Feel free to watch the segment and determine if the Russian government should be offended. Unless you're from Russia, of course.

If Jay Leno isn't the answer for NBC prime time, perhaps the network should think about booking President Obama. NBC News devoted two hours, on Tuesday and Wednesday night, for Inside the Obama White House and the ratings were strong. Better than the insipid I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, which acted as a lead-in. Of course the season finale of Law & Order: SVU on Tuesday didn't hurt the news production.

Having watched the two hours, NBC should sign the president ASAP. There's always the curiosity factor when a viewer is being given access behind the scenes, and that's what Inside the Obama White House did. It was a look at the real West Wing, which reminded me a lot of the fictional, Aaron Sorkin West Wing creation, and that was quite cool. President Obama still fascinates me, and it's well past 100 days.

The Tonight Show is the top-rated nightly talk show, which is why NBC got creative to keep Jay Leno on the air. What it is not, though, is a show to tune into for good interviews. At best Jay is a giggling buffoon. At worst Jay is ... a giggling buffoon. So it should allow for pretty free reign to talk about whatever he wants when President Obama appears on The Tonight Show this Thursday.

MSNBC says he'll talk about the economy. I know, right: That's some impressive journalism there. I was leaning toward comparing the tastes of the new Multi-Grain Big Rice Krispies and Marshmallow Rice Krispies. Personally, I think the former could use some of those marshmallows to soften the taste, but I'd really like the President's take on that.

When is an exclusive not an exclusive? No, it's not a riddle. The answer is simple -- when everybody has the very same story or image or film. ABC had acquired the exclusive broadcast of President Barack Obama's first dance with Michelle at the Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration, which was the first ball that the new First Couple attended.

With Grammy-winner Beyonce singing "At Last" just for them, the two danced alone together on stage. However, ABC's first dance exclusive ended up on other networks.

If you want to watch the star-studded inaugural ceremonies for the President-elect Obama, you have exactly one choice for the channel to watch it on: HBO. Don't worry, HBO is allowing anyone with a cable box to watch, even if they don't subscribe.

I recognize that someone has to pay for such an event without burdening the taxpayers (although the taxpayers do pay for the actual swearing in and security), but doesn't this contradict the Obama's campaign pledge of no corporate sponsorship? After all, HBO is part of a larger corporation, Time Warner.

On the other hand, for a star-studded event, I'd rather have an entertainment company sponsor it. Since it will probably be watched by many people (Obama lovers and haters alike), it's a good advertising opportunity for HBO. Also, HBO can make money on anyone who re-broadcasts even a portion of the event. And if it's an entertainment company that finances the event, better HBO than MTV. It would be quite tasteless if the event had any wardrobe malfunctions.

At least in terms of geography. Oprah has recently been named the most powerful woman in entertainment. And now, she's going to prove it by heading to Washington D.C. to be near President-elect Obama when he takes the oath of office on January 20th. She'll be taping a live episode of her show on January 19th, the day before.

I can never prove this, but I'm fairly certain that it was the Oprah endorsement that drove Democratic primary voters away from Hillary Clinton and towards Obama (and if that isn't a display of power, I don't know what is). I don't know how difficult the choice was for her, considering her audience is a female majority. It does beg the question of whether society would benefit more from a victory of race or one of gender.

Mind you, I don't think there was a wrong decision in this instance, but she made her choice and backed a particular horse and is now reaping the benefits. Good for her.

It's about 12 hours later and as I look back on MSNBC's Election Plaza broadcast, I can see things a bit more clearly now. Overall, the "place for politics" did a fine job covering the most historic presidential election in my lifetime. It wasn't the most dramatic, but it was living history.

History was in the making because we knew going in whether the Dems or the Reps won, an African-American or a woman would be in the White House by the end of the night. MSNBC captured that political reality with images and by letting the camera run long after Obama's speech just to watch the faces of the people -- including Oprah and Jesse Jackson, both in tears -- celebrate in joy.

The prognosticators and pollsters were all on target by choosing Obama/Biden as the winners, so that means nobody's at Gallup or Fivethirtyeight.com is losing his/her job.