Making an appearance at the daily noon CBS Evening News staff meeting today, CBS CEO Les Moonves said that despite what you've heard recently, Katie is their anchor today, tomorrow, next week, and long into the future.

Now, let's take that phrase word by word...

There was a special surprise guest on FOX News last night, talking about the Republican Presidential Debate from the Reagan Library in California.

At first I thought this person was there for some comic relief, but he actually talked seriously about how the American system of debates and political advertising differs from what happens in England. And there you go, I've just given you two clues as to who this celebrity is: he's a he and he's British! The video is after the jump. Most of the clip is of pollster Frank Luntz talking to a crowd of voters and getting their reaction to the debate (kind of interesting to see FOX News talking about a debate that was only seen on a competing station, CNN). The man in question shows up around the 2:45 mark.

• Drew Carey injured on the set of The Price Is Right!
• This woman on Craigslist wants to help Corey Haim.
• The staff of The CBS Evening News learns how to dance to "Thriller."
• We all have a Homer Simpson gene.
• TV Barn goes behind the scenes of The Early Show.
• Get ready for the first annual Jerichon (the Jericho convention).
• Who's your TV alter ego?

I used to dislike Shepard Smith. Not because he was on FOX News, but for the way he anchored the news. It was as if he was skipping whole words or something, making these short, declarative sentences, and it was hard to listen to him for a long period of time. But my view of him has softened the last couple of years (and will continue to if he keeps being this funny). He also doesn't seem to just automatically spew the network's line at the drop of a hat.

TV Guide's Stephen Battaglio has an interview with Smith about the new look and direction for his show. Among other topics, Smith talks about why CBS and Katie Couric quickly went back to a traditional newscast, why the news industry might be dying, and the possibility of hosting one of the presidential debates. He also says they're not going to do "more crap...we're not going to do more titillating [stories], Hollywood movie reviews and jokes."

[via TV Newser]

Lots of changes this week in the land of TV news:

• Liz Claman is leaving CNBC. She was going to renew her contract, but decided she wanted to go some place else. She has to wait 90 days, however, because of a non-compete clause in her contract. She's been with the financial network for almost 10 years. I remember Claman from her days on Channel 7 in Boston.

• Aaron Brown's contract with CNN ended last week, and now he can talk. Here's part one of his interview with TV Newser, and here's part two (parts three and four coming this week).
• Gordon Ramsay says the parents of fat kids should be hauled off to court and fined.
• A woman has filed a paternity suit against ER's Goran Visnjic.
• Fans are mounting a bring back The Black Donnellys campaign, a la Jericho fans.
• Catherine Crier might be gone from Court TV, but she's blogging over at The Huffington Post.
• In the middle of a summer of reruns, Martha Stewart suddenly has new shows starting July 16.
• What is The Dynamite Action Squad?

• Now both NBC and Barbara Walters have said no to a Paris Hilton interview.
• Nicole Richie might be going to jail too.
• It's a good thing Steve Carell has that day job over at The Office.
• A funny list of TV pilots that didn't make it.
• Here's a whole gallery of photos from Pamela Anderson's DirectTV commercial shoot.
• BuddyTV has an interview with Traveler's Matthew Bomer.
• Stephen Colbert has some thoughts on that condom ad rejected by CBS and FOX.

Ever since Don Imus made his little, um, faux pas a while back, viewers have been wondering who will eventually take over his morning slot on MSNBC. Right now they have a rotating group of hosts, including Joe Scarborough, David Gregory, and Jim Cramer, but several execs (including network GM Dan Abrams) have been impressed by Scarborough.

Right now Scarborough hosts a nightly show, Scarborough Country, at 9pm after Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Scarborough will again host the morning program next week, and a decision about a permanent host should be made very soon.

The latest from the land of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News:

1. Jeff Greenfield is leaving CNN. He's going over to CBS to become part of their Election 2008 (or whatever CBS is calling it) coverage. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz says that Greenfield hasn't been too happy with the way CNN has been using him lately.

2. Dan Abrams to lose his title at MSNBC. Last year he got a promotion from on-air host/analyst to general manager, but it looks like Abrams will lose that title when the cable network moves from New Jersey to 30 Rock in NYC. The move probably won't happen until the end of the year.

3. Nancy Grace and John Gibson news. Both of their shows (Grace on CNN Headline News and Gibson over on FOX News) had "Breaking News" reports that Michael Jackson was really ill in the hospital, when he actually is just a little sick and not in the hospital at all. Yet more evidence that the "Breaking News" and "This Just In" and "Developing News" graphics are waaaaay overused. Don't the networks use judgment anymore?

[via TV Newser]

Both CNN and Fox News were fighting to get a seat in the front row of the new White House press briefing room, and CNN has won.

The White House Correspondents Association decided to give the front row seat to CNN "based on CNN's 27 years of covering The White House, as well as the resources it brings to the in-town and travel pool, and its daily prescence at the briefings."

CNN wasn't the only winner. Veteran journalist Helen Thomas, who was knocked back to the second row to make way for the cable news outlets recently, will get back her front row seat. The association has decided to honor a commitment they made to Thomas years ago. She has been covering The White House since the early 60s.

The new White House briefing room will be ready in June. (And if anyone isn't sure what that headline means, I'm referring to an old commercial with Bob Uecker.)

[via TV Newser]

• Hey, if Heather Mills can go on Dancing With The Stars with a fake leg, then how about Marlee Matlin or maybe the one-armed drummer from Def Leppard?
• Will Brothers & Sisters star Calista Flockhart star in the next Indiana Jones pic with boyfriend Harrison Ford?
• Katie Couric says she doesn't obsess over ratings (though I wonder if her CBS bosses do).
• MTV plans to build thousands of websites around the world, and all of them will feature video of The Real World/Road Rules Challenge playing nonstop.
• A man falls asleep in the Mary Tyler Moore Show house in Minneapolis.
• Are the American Idol judges clueless when it comes to music?
• And finally, video of Lucy Lawless as Stevie Nicks, promoting her fajita-themed restaurant.

I was kinda obsessed with CNBC in the mid to late 90s, when the stock and internet boom was in full throttle. The station was quite entertaining, even if I didn't really understand all the numbers. The personalities on the channel kept things lively and fun.

And one of my favorites was Maria Bartiromo, the really hot Wall Street babe financial expert who was dubbed the "Money Honey." I can't remember who dubbed her that, but it fit. And now you can still call her the "Money Honey," only this time it's official. Bartiromo has filed a trademark registration for the term, and it's been trademarked for many things, including coloring books, notepad, comic books, and coupon books.

Wow, a Maria Bartiromo coloring book. I would so buy that.

Bartiromo is in the news for other reasons lately as well.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has just signed a new contract with the cable network, and this one is estimated to be worth $4 million dollars a year, a raise from the $2 million dollars a year he is getting under his current contract.

The Broadcasting & Cable article linked above also says that because Cooper is no longer available, producers of The Early Show are going to have to look elsewhere for a new host for the morning show. Though I never heard definitive word that Cooper was in line for the gig, just that the show was undergoing major changes.

Cooper hosts the nightly news show Anderson Cooper 360 and has started to also contribute to CBS' 60 Minutes. The new contract is a multi-year deal.

So readers...is he worth it?

[via TV Newser]

Oh, I was afraid of this, and CNN made it official today: Rick Sanchez is going to replace Carol Lin as the weekend night anchor.

Rick "I Never Met a Tragic Situation I Didn't Want To Exploit" Sanchez has been showing up more and more on the network, as either a fill-in host or as a correspondent. He's the one who went out in the snow to try to "recreate" what happened to James Kim and his family. He's also the guy who got himself shot with a police taser gun, to the delight of people who don't like him (and fans of wacky videos in general). Not a big fan of his voice either. Grates on me like Rita Cosby's does.

Lin is leaving CNN after many years there, and she's having an interesting back and forth e-mail battle with Variety reporters over at TV Newser.

• Were Seth Myers and Amy Poehler stoned the other night on SNL? Dave Thomas has been investigating all weekend, and here's the evidence he's gathered.
• Over at Best Week Ever, a picture of Bill Maher dressed as Steve Irwin for Halloween.
• CBS' Early Show debuted new graphics this morning? And I missed it!
• Check out David LaChapelle's sexy Christmas commercial for a UK drugstore chain. Note: it includes a woman fisting a turkey (and I hope that's the last time I have to type the phrase "fisting a turkey.")
• Paul Davidson asks: is multiple personality disorder really a super power?