Hilarious Roland Hedley, on Larry King

This post was intended to go up on Tuesday, but due to a jammin' schedule on the homefront, it fell by the wayside.

We posted him back in April, that being Roland Hedley, Star Journalist



The intrepid reporter stepped out of the pages of Garry Trudeau's 'Doonesbury and opened a Twitter account, that is, frequently, hysterically funny stuff.

Howie Kurtz, of the WaPo, talked with Trudeau;

"It became a creative challenge unlike any I've ever set for myself," Trudeau says. "Kind of a comedy haiku. It's ridiculously short. The trick is to make it seem tossed-off. Roland rarely thinks about what he writes."

Kurtz also interviewed Hedley, in a gimmicky segment on his CNN Reliable Sources, via Tweets, saved only by the voice reading Hedley's Tweets was none other that Sam Donaldson (a very pointed comic irony, I would say).

Hedley later tweeted;

Headbutted w/ @howardkurtz on CNN. Made him cry like little girl, but still buds. Both pros

Now, Trudeau has put out a book, 'My Shorts R Bunching. Thoughts?: The Tweets of Roland Hedley', so, naturally, there's a barnstorming media tour.

And, Hedley tweeted about being on Larry King;

Larry King now played by elderly actress using motion-capture suit, voice synthesizer. Fascinating. O, this Modern Age!

Taping LKL. Didn't know Larry is just an avatar, that real Larry retired in '02, living quietly in Scottsdale. Hunh.

It made my day.

Katie Couric Deathwatch Update

The ticks are getting louder and louder ...

There was a meeting ...

Things were discussed ... Denials of things discussed ...

A wide-ranging discussion in February about Katie Couric’s future as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” threatened on Thursday to turn her into a virtual lame duck in the job.

“She’s not a definite lame duck,” a senior executive who has been close to the situation said. “Nothing is decided.”

But the audience levels have been, by any measure, disappointing. For the season the CBS newscast, already a distant third, has lost about 11 percent of its viewers.

The executives involved in the discussions about Ms. Couric’s future emphasized that she would not be leaving the job in the short term. But one of her close associates said, “If you ask me, will she fulfill her contract with CBS, that I doubt.”

There's finger pointing;

So who killed her? Because don't think for one second that the person who leaked the news of the meeting didn't know that that was exactly what he or she was doing.

Odds are, it was one of the two CBS execs, probably Sean (McManus). CBS doesn't want to acknowledge that one of the main problems with the CBS Evening News is that "evening news" shows are obsolete, so it has to blame Katie (who, it is true, was more beloved in her morning slot). CBS also, however, doesn't want to be seen as cutting and running on the nation's first solo woman anchor, especially after it paid so much to get her there.

So how best for CBS to ditch Katie? Make it look like they had no choice. Or, rather, make it look like leaving the anchor slot might have been Katie's choice. ("We tried to talk her out of it, but she decided that [INSERT NEW JOB HERE] was a better fit"). Odds are this is what happened: CBS just killed Katie.

With the network evening news being touted as going the way of the rotary telephone, does a bigger stigma get itself attached to Katie?

Does Katie Couric end up with being the one that kills the legendary, vaunted CBS Evening News?

Holy rickety rabbit ears, Batman! ... Will we ever get a clear picture on this?

Stay tuned ...

Start Your Katie Deathwatches!

Boy, a whole bunch of celebrity blogs and websites must be busy little bees today.

There's so much to do.

Whole new slates of graphics ... The Death Clocks and Counters have to be put together ... Compiling all the old links of every little piece of gossip, sleaze, faux pas and just plain goofy news they can find.

All must be ready to go at a moments notice, at the drop-of-a-hat, PDQ, etc ...

All must be ready to be fired up, the moment that ear-shattering "THUD" hits her on the derrière, as she is ushered out of the building.

What's all the hub-bub?

From the WSJ - CBS News, Katie Couric Are Likely to Part Ways

After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the "CBS Evening News" anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011 -- possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year.

Her departure would cap a difficult episode for CBS, which brought Ms. Couric to the network with considerable fanfare in a bid to catapult "Evening News" back into first place. Excluding several weeks of her tenure, Ms. Couric never bested the ratings of interim anchor Bob Schieffer, who was named to host the broadcast temporarily after "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather left the newscast in the wake of a discredited report on George W. Bush's National Guard service.

One possible new job for Ms. Couric: succeeding Larry King at CNN. Mr. King, who is 74 years old, has a contract with the network into 2009. CNN President Jon Klein, a CBS veteran with close ties to some at the network, has expressed admiration for Ms. Couric's work, and the two are friends. They had lunch in late January, and the anchor attended Mr. Klein's birthday party in March. Time Warner Inc.'s CNN said, "Larry King is a great talent who consistently delivers the highest profile guests, and we have no plans to make a change." Through a publicist, Mr. King declined to comment.

Katie in suspenders, barking "Hello Ohio! ... What's on your mind!"?

Oh my!

New York Magazine has a better idea;

But we think that's a waste of everything that Couric is good at: spontaneity, humor, and legginess. What about a reality show? We can see it now — America's Next Top Evening News Anchor. And just like on Tyra's version, nobody would ever lay eyes on the winner again!

But would that be enough?

From Howard Kurtz, in the WaPo;

Couric admitted last week that the constricted nature of the 22-minute format had left little room for the humor and freewheeling approach that once defined her style. "It's really hard to show that side of my personality on the evening news, and that's a frustration for me," she said.

This has me wondering if Ms. Perky ever watched an evening news show, be it CBS's or any other - before she took the job?

"It's really hard to that side of my personality"? ... "Frustrated"?

What the hell did she expect?

Segments with Mr. Gadget? ... Cooking casseroles with Martha Stewart?

It's a fucking hard news program, you idiot!

A real piece of twisted irony looms.

What if CBS does dump the perky newswoman, only to replace her with the former CBS alum, Meredeth Viera?

Oh, how wicked that would be ...


Bonus Perky Riffs

James Joyner/OTB: Katie Couric - CBS News Divorce Imminent

Gawker: The Rise And Fall Of Katie Couric

Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman/CommonDreams: Katie Couric Versus Amy Goodman

Top Ten Cloves: Things To Look Forward To When Katie Couric Takes Over As CBS News Anchor

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Katie Couric Could Have Made The Edwards Interview Better

Katie ... Now, Just Click Your Heels Together Three Times ...

More Cheneypalooza! 'A Different Understanding With the President'

You can go off and watch Larry King fawn all over Paris Hilton, but the fun and festivities continue with our Cheneypalooza, as the Washington Post begins a series today, "Angler - The Cheney Vice Presidency"

Over the next four days, The Washington Post will present an in-depth investigation of the vice presidency of Dick Cheney, the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office. The stories will examine Cheney's largely hidden and little-understood role in crafting policies for the War on Terror, the economy and the environment.

Today's Installment: 'A Different Understanding With the President'

It appears that contretemps of the Darth Vader man are far from their final throes.

Links

Rahm Emanuel To Cheney: Please Get The Heck Out Of The White House

"I Am Spartacus" ... The Bush Grindhouse and Cheneypalooza

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Dickie Right Over ... Its' A Cheneypalooza!

Update

A New Cheney-Gonzales Mystery

Update No.2

Yes, well done, indeed, Juan Williams

Kristol Defends Cheney, Williams Says He’s Creating A ‘Secured Undisclosed Bunker Of His Mind’

A Vice President Without Borders, Bordering on Lunacy