Trade Round-Up: Rather Steps Down At CBS
· News hotter than a narcoleptic possum that fell asleep inside a wood-burning stove: Dan Rather will "step down" as CBS' chief anchor in March. He'll take his mildly brain-damaged, countrified sayings to a full-time correspondent gig with the network. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Desperate to plug the hole left by the end of Sex and the City, HBO gives SATC's Michael Patrick King's Lisa Kudrow vehicle Comeback a quick 13 episode order. HBO usually knows what it's doing, but does the phrase "Lisa Kudrow vehicle" scare you as much as it does us? It's not quite "David Schwimmer directs," but still. [THR]
· Hollywood's most beloved showrunners, Will & Grace's David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, are close to getting their pilot Kings of New York set up at NBC—the same network they're fighting in court. Will the lawsuits mysteriously disappear following a pick-up? Will the show suck as much as Good Morning, Miami? Only time will tell. [THR]
· The recent tidal wave of useless swag pouring forth from Hollywood's promotion departments indicates that the industry is back to its classic, money-burning ways. [Variety]
· Congress OKs the creation of a copyright enforcement czar, establishing a Supreme Pirate Hunter at the federal level. Arrrrrrr and whatnot. [THR]