♦ It's not just creditors going after Donald Trump these days: An employee of Trump's golf course in LA says in a lawsuit that the club prohibited her from taking lunch and bathroom breaks. She's only asking for $15,000, though, so obviously she didn't learn much during her stint working for the real estate mogul. [TMZ]
♦ A lawyer for Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos says there's "not a shred of truth" to the rumors the couple is splitting up. [OK!]
♦ Britney Spears' birthday party didn't exactly go as planned. None of her close friends showed up and onlookers say she spent the whole time looking "vacant" and "empty." [R&M, P6]
♦ NBC is furious that news of David Gregory's Meet the Press promotion leaked earlier this week. The likely culprit? NBC political director Chuck Todd. [P6]

THR noticed something interesting in today's NBC, mid-season We're Canceling Everything New and Supersizing Anything Else That Isn't Nailed Down press release: The Knight Rider season finale was listed as airing on February 25th. Since when do super-duper, Ben Silverman-championed, beloved 1980s trash-TV remakes supposedly given full pickups end their seasons in winter, you ask?

Welcome to the most depressing paragraph you're likely to read today:

♦ Time Out New York is now up for sale for $40 million. [Times UK]
♦ A major reorganization at Random House was announced today by the company's new CEO, Markus Dohle. [NYO]
♦ Simon & Schuster is laying off 35 people. [Gawker]
♦ NBC appears to have settled on David Gregory as the new host of Meet the Press, but the network has yet to finalize the deal. [NYT]
♦ Tina Fey didn't get a $5 million book deal. It was $6.9 million. [NYP]
♦ Are you an unemployed writer? Get in touch with Tina Brown! [NYO]
♦ Miles O'Brien is departing CNN. [TVN]

Extremely tall man David Gregory will be your next host of Meet the Press. He's still famous mostly for dancing and for arguing with Bush press secretaries, which proves that he's a serious journalist, and it also served the press well to look like it was totally standing up to Bush just as it served the administration well to look like innocent victims of the liberal media. That is how the world works. Who knows how he'll perform on that show, because frankly the format itself is outdated and useless. The late Tim Russert was no prize either, friends. But Gregory is just... kind of annoying.

♦ No official confirmation yet, but media insiders say David Gregory has been tapped to take over as host of Meet the Press. [Politico]
♦ It's rumored Carine Roitfeld is replacing Anna Wintour at Vogue. [Gawker]
♦ A former employee of Charles Kushner is accusing him of funneling cash from his real estate empire to prop up Jared Kushner's Observer. [Daily Intel]
♦ Harvey Weinstein owes Cindy Adams $10,000. [NYP]
♦ Condé Nast has shuttered its social networking site Flip.com. [Gawker]
♦ CBS is producing a new hidden camera show with Ashton Kutcher. [NYT]
♦ Katie Couric has a new haircut, in case you haven't noticed. [HuffPo]
♦ Arianna Huffington's how-to book for aspiring bloggers. [Jossip]
♦ Ever fantasized about having lunch with Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel? You can—for $2,500. [NYO]

NBC's on-the-record response to the New York Times' David Barstow regarding his front-page story on their war-profiteering hack retired general Barry McCaffrey is pretty choice, as it's both filled with obvious factual inaccuracies and obtuse point-missing diversions. This is a letter from one major news outlet to another, remember, though it doesn't read like one. The whole thing, obtained by Salon's Glenn Greenwald, is below.

In April, the Times published a 7,600-word story on how major news networks presented as their own military "analysts" former officers who were on the payroll of major defense contractors and who had received talking points in special Pentagon briefings. The networks declined to cover the story and the scandal never caught fire. The newspaper's solution? Recast the story to focus on a single villain, retired General Barry McCaffrey, who NBC News' Brian Williams defended as a "passionate patriot" the last time around.

Happy Black Friday, everyone! We trust your yam-holes were well and truly stuffed yesterday, and today you partook of the wonderful sales being offered by retailers across the nation, without trampling any employees to death or causing miscarriages. While we've spent the last few days far away from a TV set, we understand NBC's Thanksgiving eve offering of Rosie Live—wherein Rosie O'Donnell attempted to revive the variety format by inviting some of her closest friends onto a Broadway stage to trade jokes, sing songs, and have a slice of a delicious roasted turkey dressed up in a dowdy pantsuit and wig to look like Barbara Walters—tanked in a major way. THR reports "a mere 5 million viewers tuned in...[matching] ABC's recently canceled Pushing Daisies as the night's lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network." Drudge Report linked that report, thereby summoning a geiser of profane anti-Rosie invective of the "LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER" variety in the comments. Then again, the critics actually paid to sit through it weren't much kinder, with the LAT wondering "what was she thinking?" and TV Guide calling it "dead on arrival...a ghastly ego trip." In case you missed it—and you probably did!—we've collected some lowlights after the jump, each excruciating in its own, special way. Enjoy!

Though Ricky Gervais's version of The Office folded up shop after two six-episode runs, that wouldn't amount to even half of a current season of the Steve Carell-toplined Office, which is continually pressed into service for hourlong episodes, spinoffs, and expanded seasons by NBC. Though the moves have pumped up ratings for the sitcom, the results are not always well-regarded by critics — or by a burnt-out cast, says Rainn Wilson:

Ted Koppel, the impressively-haired former ABC newsman, is parting ways with the Discovery network six months before his contract is up. You may or may not have been aware that he's been working with them since 2006. Not the greatest tragedy in history, but it does point to the sad plight of the former big-time news anchor. There's nowhere to go but down from the heights of the network news desk. Where are all those famous former anchors today?

♦ Alan Colmes, the "liberal" who supposedly serves as co-host of Hannity & Colmes with Sean Hannity, is leaving the Fox News program at the end of the year. [HuffPo]
♦ A daily news program hosted by Christiane Amanpour is in the works at CNN. [NYT]
♦ Despite screwing up nearly everything he touches, NBC golden boy Ben Silverman may see his contract renewed in the next few weeks. [NYM]
♦ USA Today has announced plans to cut staff. [E&P]
♦ Twilight was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, raking in $70.5 mil. [LAT]
♦ Forbes is not being sold to a shady Russian billionaire. [SAI]

Adults don't have Sesame Street, they just have Suze Orman and James Cramer and other financial wizards to turn to for life advice. We're forced to look in other places for common-sense tips during tough economic times, like magazines, prositutes, and of course sitcoms. The most recent episode of The Office presented an instructive example: Dunder Mifflin salesman Jim Halpert bought a house for his new bride-to-be Pam Beasley. Did he make the right call in investing in the Scranton real estate market, and what did he probably pay to make his parents' former residence stay in the Halpert family? Plus, deleted scenes from this week's episode.Fresh off the disappointment of not being able to learn Flash, let alone PHP or Drupal, Scranton's Pam Beasley passively aggressively expressed her general displeasure with life by writing a mean note from "Disappointed" to whoever left a disgusting mess in the microwave. We feel for you, Pam. Jim couldn't sense Pam's unhappiness. He was more worried about how she'd react to the awesome big decision he made without ever telling his partner. Males not named Tony Soprano would risk having their balls severed for the gesture, but in this moving clip Jenna Fischer was totally walled off, implying either a subtle shout-out to Monica Bellucci's famous scene in Irreversible, or that she just can't act: Click to view

Well, that depends on how you define "undo." Ratings-wise, it's down a tenth from Jennifer Aniston's episode last week, which itself was down from Oprah's the week previous. (THR suggests that's not so much a bad sign for the sitcom as it is a natural settling after the season premiere bump it enjoyed following Feylinmania.) But if you define it as a return to form, then yes, something about Martin's presence—playing Gavin Volure, an agoraphobic Ted Turner type you later find out is actually under house arrest for embezzlement and racketeering—clicked the show back into all cylinders after a subpar third season start. Among its gems: the introduction of the term "away-toilet situation" into the popular lexicon, hand-puppet voodoo, and a description of Toronto as being "just like New York, but without all the stuff." Then there's the first date sequence above, in which Volure unwittingly presents himself as Lemon's sexless, TV show-goofing dream man. [30 Rock Full Episodes]

♦ Roger Ailes (left) has renewed his contract with News Corp., which will keep him by Rupert Murdoch's side for at least five more years (and keep him running the show at Fox News for at least one more presidential election). [NYT]
♦ New York has fired longtime restaurant critic Gael Greene. [Feedbag]
♦ The Runway battle continues: Lifetime has sued NBC over claims it is blocking the cable channel from airing future episodes of the reality TV show. [NYP]

We consider ourselves connoisseurs of beleaguered (but enthusiastic!) NBC chief Ben Silverman, so we were a little surprised when we heard that Kim Masters had published a rumor roundup on The Daily Beast today that included three whole paragraphs tracking speculation that Silverman might be gay. Had our gaydar been scrambled by distinctly unfabulous shows like My Own Worst Enemy and Project Lipstick, we wondered? Then we read the article, in which Masters (citing Defamer as her primary source) appears to lay out her entire same-sex case by mistaking some of our "funny ha-has" for actual, industry-pervading rumors:

That whole Project Runway lawsuit, between the Weinstein Company and the television conglomerate they dissed, NBC/Universal, is never going to end. Well, not if Harvey Weinstein and NBC head brass Jeff Zucker can't play nice. The New York Times did a little status update for the lawsuit this morning (basically everything is the same: jilted ex-lover doesn't want to let the fashion design show go to its new middle-aged girlfriend Lifetime, because of first refusal contracts, allegedly) that brings up some bitchy new details about their relationship. Basically, Zucker thought the two honchos were besties that he'd never screw NBC over, but Weinstein says nuh-uh:

There's something surreal/delightful about a swishy dressmaking contest provoking such a momentous battle between a couple of bald, middle-aged, Jewish heterosexuals. Yes, Harvey Weinstein and NBC's Jeff Zucker are still squabbling about Project Runway, and, to the chagrin of the show's many devoted fans, seem no closer to kissing and making up. For those of us who haven't managed to quite grasp the intricacies of this particular catfight, today's Times breaks it down: Weinstein, whose company produces the series, tried to move it from NBC-owned Bravo to Lifetime, because he hates Bravo's president Lauren Zalaznick. But Zucker said, hold on, NBC has the right of first refusal to keep the show on one of its channels, and filed suit.

· CBS's Monday night sitcom lineup won the night, with How I Met Your Mother earning a season high. NBC saw modest gains, too, except for Heroes, which matched last week's series low of 7.6 million. Bring back the slovenly puppeteer! His powers to enact drama-class exercises were kick ass! [THR] · The King of Kong and Four Christmases director Seth Gordon is attached to Universal's Suicide Squad, about a Kentucky Derby heist. [THR] · Cosby brought him here, now it's time for Obama to do some TV landscape changing of his own: NBC is developing a sitcom based on the book Making Friends With Black People. "It seemed like a good opportunity to strike while the iron is hot," said author Nick Adams. Sounds like a great idea. [Variety] After the jump: Whoa. Whooaa.· Warners is producing Control-Alt-Delete, a high-concept spec described as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure meets The Matrix. [THR] · Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is stepping down from his post. Farewell, Jerry Yang. We hardly knew ye. [Variety]

We honestly wish there was some way we could dress up NBC rock star Ben Silverman's appearance on Charlie Rose last night as something more than two talking heads—albeit enviably bone-structured heads—covering the nuts and bolts of programming strategy in a 21st century, multi-platform TV jungle. Unfortunately, there isn't. So we're instead going to do the next best thing: Write some Ben on Charlie fanfic. It's after the jump!When Ben Met Charlie Chapter One: First Impressions Charlie sat in his dressing room, staring into his mirror with a paper-towel bib tucked into his shirt collar, as Joy the makeup girl dabbed concealer beneath his eyes. "No point, Joy," he said. "Couldn't hide those puffy things with cement and a trowel." "Oh Charlie," she laughed. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You're as handsome as ever." Why was he so self-conscious? He was a broadcast icon. He had interviewed heads of state, captains of industry, sports heroes and movie stars. Yet none of them disarmed him the way today's guest did—a young, handsome and charismatic network TV president whose swift rise to power he had admired from afar. A knock at the door shook Charlie back into the moment. "Come in," he said. The first thing he saw were the brows—strong and angular, and peaked towards the ends. Then he wandered slightly downward, to the nose. It was a powerful nose—a hit-sniffing nose if he had ever seen one. For a split second, he migrated up to the eyes—mesmerizing!—but quickly landed on his visitor's full, cranberry lips. They opened to speak. "Charlie—" "Ben!" Charlie said leaping up, pulling his bib out of his shirt as he threw out a hand. Ben took it in his. It felt strong, Charlie thought, and large. New, yet familiar. It was comforting. Suddenly feeling extraneous, Joy used the moment to slink out of the room. "I just wanted to say hello before the interview." "Of course, of course—please, come in. Have a—" he looked around nervously for a chair, and spotted one leaning against a shelf filled with hardcover books, most only barely thumbed through. "Have a seat! Are you a scotch man?" "Tequila, usually, but scotch will do in a pinch," Ben replied, smiling. A knock at the door alerted both men they were needed on set. Next: Chapter 2: A Game of Wits And Footsie