• Controversial right-wing columnist Robert Novak is dead at 78. [NYT]
• Sunday's hyped-up premiere of Mad Men attracted lots more viewers, as expected. Some 2.8 million people tuned in, up 33% from last year. [Reuters]
• Struggling studio MGM has dumped its CEO and hired a new one. [WSJ]
• Is Sam Zell going to walk away from Tribune? That's the rumor. [NYP]
• The president will speak at next month's Walter Cronkite memorial. [NYT]
• Steven Spielberg's new movie studio now has $825 million in the bank. The company says it plans to make 21 movies over the next four years. [WSJ]
• It looks like MySpace is buying the site iLike for "around $20 million." [DB]
• Newsday is under fire after rejecting an ad by the Tennis Channel that happened to be critical of the newspaper's parent company, Cablevision. [NYT]
• Irony alert: BusinessWeek, the struggling business mag desperately seeking a buyer, just launched a new website called "The Case for Optimism." [BW]

New York's epic article about Annie Leibovitz in this week's issue is well worth a read, particularly since it sheds a little light on how it is one of the world's highest-paid photographers now finds herself on the brink of financial ruin. (If the only person you'll allow to repair your air-conditioner has to travel to NYC from Vermont to do the work, that's probably not a good sign.) Leibovitz's financial fate will likely be sealed in September when the $24 million loan she secured from Art Capital Group last year is due. Interestingly, though, Leibovitz appears to be hinting that the terms of the loan— which required her to put up the rights to her photos and real estate holdings as collateral—only became apparent to her after the Times reported on Art Capital Group back in February. Friends of the photographer suggest that Leibovitz had no idea she was giving up so much when she took out the loan; they also seem to be shifting some of the blame to Ken Starr, the financial adviser who took the photographer on as a client in 2007 and who was also responsible for introducing Leibovitz to Art Capital Group. Pinning the blame on Starr, who boasts an insanely long list of celebrity clients, may be a hard argument to make.

"Spike Lee is organizing a block party-style celebration in Brooklyn to mark Michael Jackson's birthday. The filmmaker's bash in Kings County for the late King of Pop will be on Aug. 29, when Jackson would have turned 51." Naturally, Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn's useless borough president, plans to be fully involved with the planned celebration. He will proclaim that Aug. 29 is officially "Michael Jackson Day"—in Brooklyn, at least. [AP]

Reader's Digest reported yesterday that it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection any day now. The firm that Reader's Digest retained back in June to try and restructure the company's debt so it could prevent a bankruptcy filing? Miller Buckfire, the same financial advisory firm now counseling Harvey and Bob Weinstein on how to prevent their media company from going under. [Forbes]

Andre Balazs' quest to make the Standard the official hotel of visiting nudists seems to be paying off. (Either that or the hotel's adult-themed promo campaign continues.) A blogger spotted a naked man in the window over the weekend, and it didn't require much waiting around either: "It took less than 20 minutes into my first visit to the High Line, on Sunday, to capture it," he says. [Restlus via Curbed]

Bob Guccione once lived like a king. The founder of Penthouse magazine, Guccione was once enormously wealthy (he made the Forbes 400 list in the early '80s), and he resided in a massively ornate townhouse off Fifth Avenue decorated with neo-Classical female busts, Byzantine style fountains, and carved marble commodes (above). Then he got a little too ambitious and tried to expand his empire by building a nuclear power plant (no joke) and a casino (slightly more plausible, but no more successful), and by the early '00s—just as the Internet was making his flagship magazine increasingly irrelevant—Guccione's business went bust.

It looks like the subway masturbator who was arrested by the NYPD last week after a woman snapped his pic with her cell phone isn't the only one looking for kicks underground at the expense of innocent straphangers. Because there's a new report of another guy who did precisely the same thing—and just like last time, a woman unlucky enough to watch the action unfold managed to take his photo, which she's since turned over to the police. Hasn't it become abundantly clear by now that illicit subway masturbation really isn't viable any longer thanks to the advent of the camera phone? Guess we'll find out! [1010WINS via Gothamist, previously]

Meg Ryan hailing a cab on Houston Street ... Joan Rivers leaving lunch at Michael's with her new boyfriend, Perfect 10 magazine founder Norm Zada ... Whitney Port walking in the West Village ... Agyness Deyn leaving Souen on Sixth Avenue after having lunch with friends ... Taylor Momsen waving to fans on the set of Gossip Girl in Brooklyn ... Courtney Love walking in SoHo ... Sophia Bush and boyfriend Austin Nichols at LaGuardia ... Elle Macpherson leaning on a police car on the set of The Beautiful Life ... Hugh Grant leaving a photo shoot ... Diane Kruger getting out of a limo in Midtown, and later arriving at MTV in Times Square ... Tyra Banks talking on her phone during a break from taping her show in Union Square ... and Mischa Barton taking her dog for a walk .

Cityfile has partnered with Dr. Helen Fisher to bring you the latest insight into love and romantic attraction. A renowned biological anthropologist, Dr. Fisher has conducted extensive research in the fields of human sexuality, love and marriage. She serves as Chief Scientific Advisor for the internet dating site Chemistry.com.

Eric Butler, one of the two former Credit Suisse brokers accused of masterminding a $1 billion securities fraud scheme, was convicted by a federal jury yesterday. (His partner-in-crime, Julian Tzolov, decided to head off to sunny Spain rather than face charges, but has since been caught.) It took jurors just three hours to come down with a verdict for Butler. So quick? "Prosecutors introduced photos of the high-living chums partying in Miami and Europe." Oh, yes, that must have helped. [NYDN, previously]

• Billy Joel is looking for a buyer in Sagaponack. Now that he and wife Katie Lee Joel are splitting up, the singer is planning to sell the two oceanfront properties he bought for her in 2007. The four-bedroom mansion (No. 1) and smaller beach bungalow (No. 2) will be listed with Corcoran's Biana Stepanian for a combined $35 million. [NYP]
• Richard Bressler, the former CFO of Viacom and now a managing director at the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, went into contract to sell his duplex at 850 Park last month. Now he's picked up a new place. Bressler paid $7.15 million for a four-bedroom condo at 170 East End Avenue. [Cityfile]
• Mariann Florio, the widow of former Condé Nast CEO Steve Florio, has paid $1.65 million for a three-bedroom apartment at 235 East 73rd Street owned by former Bear Stearns exec Leo Tilman. She's still trying to sell her vacation home in Key Largo, Florida, which has been on the market for $8.9 million since last October. [Cityfile]

The Brooke Astor trial started sometime in late 2005, didn't it? Or does it just feel like it's been going on forever? The Times reports today that the society trial, which was supposed to take 8-10 weeks, is now grinding into its fourth month and probably won't conclude until after Labor Day, primarily because prosecutors seem intent on calling to the witness stand every person on the planet who encountered Brooke Astor during the last few years of her life. The lengthy proceedings haven't been easy on the man accused of bilking his mom, Anthony Marshall. Not only has the stress of the trial caused him to collapse every other day or so, his defense is costing him about $100,000 a week. The jurors, however, seem to have adjusted just fine: "Members have taken to rolling their eyes when a lawyer draws out his line of questioning, napped during the dullest testimony or chewed sunflower seeds to pass the time." [NYT]

Ed Norton is celebrating his 40th birthday today. Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg is turning 31. Robert Redford is 73. Patrick Swayze is turning 57. Comedian Denis Leary is 52. Christian Slater is turning 40. Nadine Strossen, the president of the ACLU, turns 59. Newsman Bob Woodruff is turning 48. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter turns 82 today. Jeremy Shockey of the New Orleans Saints is turning 29. Director Roman Polanski is 76. Actor Craig Bierko is turning 45. And Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, turns 17 today.

• Remember how Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn said they were divorcing a few months ago, but then changed their minds and announced they were getting back together? Yea, well, they're divorcing again. [P6, People]
• ESPN's Erin Andrews, the reporter who was filmed in the nude without her consent a few weeks back, can be seen in a new set of "dirty" photos. This time it was intentional, though. [NYDN]
• Celine Dion and the man she calls her husband (but who we always confuse with her grandfather for some reason) are expecting their second child. [OK]
• Leighton Meester was shouting and carrying on with her friends at Philippe in East Hampton last weekend, much to the annoyance of other diners present like NBC chief Jeff Zucker and billionaire Steve Schwarzman. [P6]

Who should feel more embarrassed about the story on the front page of the Daily News today? Bernie Madoff, who will have to go through life knowing that not only do people despise him for carrying out the biggest fraud in history, they all now know he has a small penis, too? Or Sheryl Weinstein, the author of the new tell-all, who squeezes in the fact that he "was not well-endowed," but says sex with him left her "on fire" nonetheless, and he was a pretty good kisser to boot? Maybe it's Weinstein's husband, Ronald, who lost all his money to Madoff and now gets to spend his penniless golden years with the woman who will be forever known as the one who dished about the size of Madoff's member? It's hard to say, isn't it? [NYDN]

• Marc Jacobs' wedding to Lorenzo Martone, which the designer says will happen "soon," is going to have a ridiculously exclusive guest list. Not a single friend or family member will be getting an invite, since it's just going to be the two of them. [Cut]
• Project Runway finally returns to the air on Thursday evening. So will the Lifetime iteration be the same show you remember from its run on Bravo? Not so much, it seems. [NYDN]
• Meanwhile, Nina Garcia will be making an appearance this fall on the new CW series, The Beautiful Life. [FWD]
• The website and schedule for Fashion's Night Out is now online. The retail pep rally, which goes down on Sept. 10, will include Anna Wintour and Michael Kors signing t-shirts at a Macy's in Queens, believe it or not.

• A TGI Friday's and Tim Hortons in Union Square? The Riese Organization, which just acquired the building that once housed Zen Palate, says it will bring the chains to the 'hood if it can't find a higher-paying tenant. Uh oh. [Crain's]
• The Beatrice Inn isn't expected to reopen, but co-owner Paul Sevigny has another venue in the works. He's opening a club/restaurant in SoHo, and this time around it will be located "away from residential areas." [NYT]
• Billy Gilroy (Employees Only, Macao Trading Co.) and photographer Patrick McMullan plan to open East Side Social Club in Midtown in late October. [SB]

So much for all those economists who announced last week that the recession was over. After a month of consecutive weekly gains, stocks were once again pounded today with the Dow dropping 186 points, or 2%, as "fear spread around the globe that an economic rebound may be further off than previously thought." But it was fun while it lasted, right? [WSJ, NYT]

Remember those cheap plastic chairs that had been set up along the Broadway pedestrian plaza? The ones that managed to injure a number of misguided tourists who naively assumed you could actually sit on them? Well, they've been replaced. The Times Square Alliance turned them over to an sculptor yesterday who fashioned them into a temporary art installation (above). And today the group installed 400 metal chairs in their place. The old plastic chairs won't be trashed. The Times Square Alliance says it will send 'em out—along with a certificate of authenticity—to anyone who requests one. [Gothamist]

More Madoff-related indictments may be on the way, reports Lucinda Franks, who's been covering the case for The Daily Beast (and who happens to be the wife of Manhattan District Attorney Bob Morgenthau). Prosecutors, she says, "are poised to make multiple indictments in the weeks after Labor Day," and "investigators have compiled additional evidence against members of Bernie Madoff's family, specifically his brother Peter Madoff, and his sons Andrew and Mark Madoff." So perhaps the Madoff boys won't get off after all. But it's awfully thoughtful of prosecutors to wait until after Labor Day to bring down an indictment, so the boys can enjoy the rest of their summer vacation, isn't it? [TDB]