TVSquad

Have you been wondering where Joe Scarborough has been on Morning Joe the past few weeks? The titular star of the show has been off the air, missing all the doings with Senator Hillary Clinton suspending her campaign for president and Senator Obama Barack becoming the presumptive Democratic candidate.

For months and months of the primaries, Joe and the Morning Joe team were in the thick of it every morning ... and then Joe was gone.

Well, the reason for Scarborough's absence is due to a family illness. In May, Joe's wife Susan gave birth to their son Jack. Unfortunately, Jack wasn't due to arrive until August. He was severely premature, weighing just 2 lbs., 3 oz. He had to be kept at the hospital in an incubator and fattened up. As of this Monday, his weight was up to 4 lbs., 10 oz. and the doctors declared he was ready to go home.

Morning Joe regulars Willie Geist and Mika Brzezinski went on the air Tuesday with the story and assured viewers that Joe will be back on camera soon. I wish the Scarboroughs well and hope baby Jack continues to thrive.

I knew that Chris Matthews hadn't been on Hardball for a couple of weeks, but I didn't know the reason: he was hospitalized due to complications from diabetes.

Matthews will be back on the MSNBC show tonight at 7pm, where he will interview former Vice President candidate and probable future Presidential candidate John Edwards at one of those "College Tour" stops, this one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Various hosts have been filling in for Matthews while he was in the hospital. Andrea Mitchell went in his spot during a panel discussion at the Castle at the Smithsonian at the end of November, and then Campbell Brown filled in on the college tour. For the past several days, columnist Mike Barnicle has filled in for Matthews on Hardball.