TVSquad

Hey guys, remember when you were a kid and you really wanted to see a boobie but your parents had Cinemax blocked and your house did not yet have the ability to magically access the bottomless reservoir of nudity on the Internet? Your mind would do whatever it could to see a boobie. It would trick you into thinking two conveniently placed melons were boobies. It would make you think that the Calgon commercial accidentally showed a boobie. It would get you to watch every episode of Benny Hill with the hope of seeing a boobie.

That's how I feel of this recent news post at Newsbusters that claims 2012 star John Cusack uttered a rather nasty word on a recent episode of The Early Show. And no, it wasn't boobie.

Maybe it's just my hearing. Can you hear the word? It's supposed be towards the end of the video after host Harry Smith asks Cusack "Does it seems like 20 years ago already?" in reference to the 20 year anniversary of his classic film Say Anything.

One notably close figurehead in David Letterman-gate seems to have gone overlooked, a shiny bald one.

Letterman's longtime sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer has just released a new memoir called We'll Be Here the Rest of Our Lives about his rise to late night music infamy. He talked more than a few ears off about his own life in music, but he's kept very hush-hush on the whole Letterman brewhaha.

"You know, I just can't talk about it," Shaffer told a Time reporter in a recent interview. "There is a legal proceeding going on. I've been advised that I can't comment on that stuff."

He couldn't even tell Harry Smith on CBS' Early Show on his own network just what the mood is like around Late Show central. However, the rest of both interviews offer a very interesting peak into a life in music that has spanned just about every end of the TV dial and a very funny diversion from Smith's persistent reporter powers to get something out of him about the whole scandal. Something tells me Shaffer would have made one hell of a good press secretary.

Harry Smith wasn't on The CBS Early Show this morning. Well, he was, but via webcam from his house. Why? He may have H1N1! But he got to appear on the show and wear a comfy t-shirt!

By the way, H1N1 & Harry is a new show this fall on CBS.

[via TV Newser]

Prepare to be dazzled. Okay, that's probably not the right word to use when Harry Smith is involved. CBS is re-launching The Early Show tomorrow morning, complete with new set, new role for Harry Smith, new faces, and (most importantly) a new, aggressive attitude. The Early Show and other morning programs on CBS have consistently placed third behind NBC's powerhouse Today and ABC's Good Morning America. It's been so bad that 43 CBS affiliates have opted not to run The Early Show and have instead provided their own morning content.

Starting tomorrow, Harry Smith will be the main anchor of The Early Show and pretty much at the helm of the broadcast.

After Hannah Storm said she was leaving last week, and after I pulled myself out of the bathroom where I'd been weeping and wailing "Why, God? Why?" over and over again, speculation began as to who would replace her. Rosie O'Donnell came immediately to mind so I went to see if she'd blogged about it.

On The Early Show
They have to get up early
That's f****** b*******

Guess, she's not doing it. The Hollywood Reporter put my mind to rest today, reporting that Maggie Rodriguez, current host on The Saturday Early Show is moving up to the daily edition to co-host alongside Harry Smith and Julie Chen. CBS said they were thrilled to have her because she's good looking (okay, not in so many words but I'm reading between the lines).

So much controversy about Katie Couric taking over The CBS Evening News. And now here it is a year later (she started on September 5, 2006), so I have to ask: how do you think she's doing?

I'll admit I had my doubts and might have even expressed them here, but in reality, I think she's doing fine. She can't do anything about the ratings, and the show was in third place long before Couric took over. As Bill Maher said when he was asked at the time how Couric was going to do, "I think she'll read the teleprompter fine." And she's done a fine job. Sure, there were some odd growing pains, like addressing the audience by saying "Hi everyone," the "Picture of the Week" and "First Person" segments that were dropped, and it looked a while there like they were going to end each episode by showing her legs, but the show has gotten a lot better.

On the heels of news that Rene Syler will be leaving CBS' The Early Show on December 22 (it has since been reported that Syler will also undergo surgery in January) comes news that Russ Mitchell will be joining the show as the newsanchor. The show hasn't had a real newsanchor for a while now. The news duties are usually split between the hosts (Harry Smith, Syler, Hannah Storm, and Julie Chen). Mitchell will continue as anchor of The CBS Evening News on Sundays.

Looks like they're really starting to change things up at the show. It's my guess that in January or February we'll see a major overhaul to the show, meaning new hosts and a tweaked format. Rumors continue to swirl that everyone from Anderson Cooper to Campbell Brown might be the new hosts.

I didn't even know that Syler was a host of The Early Show. How could he be the host of a daily morning talk show on CBS and go around the country, cutting open people's heads and stealing their superpowers?

Actually, it's Rene Syler, one of the 34 co-hosts they have over at The Early Show (last time checked it was Syler, Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, and Julie Chen) is leaving the show to pursue other projects, including a book that will be released this spring. Her last day on the show will be December 22.

That's the buzz from "insiders" at CBS News. FOX News is reporting that CNN's Anderson Cooper could become the new host of the morning show, along with NBC's Campbell Brown, who is unhappy that she didn't get the Today gig when Katie Couric went to host The CBS Evening News.

It's not such a crazy idea, since Cooper is already working on 60 Minutes. But what would happen to Anderson Cooper 360? He'd have to give that up. Maybe Harry Smith can take that job if Cooper goes to CBS. Nah, Harry Smith 360 just doesn't have the same ring to it.

What do you think? I think Anderson Cooper is good, but would he want to give up the harder news that he does at CNN to host a morning show again, especially after early morning gigs on World News Tonight and American Morning? I'm not convinced, though I think it would finally give CBS' morning program the personality it needs.