So we assume you saw Undercover Boss last night, CBS' big new reality show that got the plum post-Super Bowl spot? Amazing, was it not? Televised entertainment has now completed its long, winding journey into becoming 100% corporate propaganda.

In Undercover Boss, a CEO goes undercover in his own company to get the real scoop on how hard it is...to work for his own company. Last night's premiere featured Larry O'Donnell, COO of the thoroughly unglamorous, dirty, occasionally union-busting multibillion-dollar trash company Waste Management. Larry met many hardworking employees in heartstring-tugging situations, and was able to help them, by vowing to form a committee to address their concerns about their shitty jobs!

CONSIDER: In the olden days of television, companies would sponsor an entire block of programming—The Colgate Variety Hour, or whatever. In return for their name on the show and some in-show plugs, the audience got about an hour of entertainment content. THEN, the 30-second commercial reigned. In return for minutes-long blocks of commercial content, consumers got (more) minutes-long blocks of uninterrupted entertainment. THEN, Tivo came along. Many advertisers moved towards product placement—they paid to have their products and branding messages integrated into the shows themselves. The 30-second ads remained! So, in return for the same lengthy advertising breaks, consumers got a bit of advertorial-type entertainment content.

AND NOW, with the advent of Undercover Boss, we find we have come to a new stage in television: An entire prime-time show that is, in effect, an hour-long corporate public relations message, broadcast to a far larger audience than the corporation could ever hope to reach itself, courtesy of one of our nation's premiere television networks. Can you even begin to imagine the amount of money that an unsexy company like Waste Management, for chrissake, would have had to spend to buy an amount of media exposure equal to a full hour of prime time directly after the Super Bowl? It quite literally could not have been purchased with all the money in Waste Management's coffers! But, in exchange for what was no doubt hand-and-foot service from Waste Management's PR team in setting up logistics and tracking down appropriately engaging employees for the boss to interact with, CBS gives the company an advertainment opportunity unparalleled anywhere else on television. SO, The deal for you, the television viewer is now this: in return for sitting through lengthy blocks of ads, you are treated to one hour of a trash company's employee morale-boosting video, writ large.

Waste Management played it well: they had the boss admit some mistakes and act humble. Future participants should take notes. This is the best deal corporate America's gotten on CBS since the network dropped that 60 Minutes tobacco story. Don't fuck this up, guys.

Just-in Nielsen numbers confirm that last night's broadcast of the Indianapolis Colts vs. the (winning) Nawlins Saints was the highest-rated television broadcast in US history, with 106.5 million viewers tuning in. This edges out the M*A*S*H series finale's 27-year record.

What a year! First Avatar ascends to the top of the box office pile, and now we have a shiny and enormous new television record. The presence of a golden Manning brother on the Colts and the Saints' feel-good, post-Katrina, first-Super-Bowl-ever backstory are surely responsible for the huuuge numbers, not to mention that a bunch of people on the East Coast were snowbound and stuck at home, and pretty much everything else on was a repeat. Because of these special factors, these numbers likely won't be duplicated or topped next year. Mostly all this means for the future is that Tim Tebow's mom is now really, really famous.

Just-in Nielsen numbers confirm that last night's broadcast of the Indianapolis Colts vs. the (winning) Nawlins Saints was the highest-rated television broadcast in US history, with 106.5 million viewers tuning in. This edges out the M*A*S*H series finale's 27-year record.

What a year! First Avatar ascends to the top of the box office pile, and now we have a shiny and enormous new television record. The presence of a golden Manning brother on the Colts and the Saints' feel-good, post-Katrina, first-Super-Bowl-ever backstory are surely responsible for the huuuge numbers, not to mention that a bunch of people on the East Coast were snowbound and stuck at home, and pretty much everything else on was a repeat. Because of these special factors, these numbers likely won't be duplicated or topped next year. Mostly all this means for the future is that Tim Tebow's mom is now really, really famous.

HBO is developing a comedy about "a powerful female online showbiz journalist with a no-holds-barred style." We called our pal Nikki to ask if it's about her. It was, as always, a delightful conversation.

"Why are you so fucking fascinated with me?" Finke said. "Get a life." Our conversation with Finke was a rare on the record one, at our insistence. So we were delighted when she acknowledged, fully aware that she would be quoted, that in our last off the record conversation she threatened to sue your blogger personally and Gawker corporately for "unfair business practices" related to our coverage of her. When we explained that the lawsuit threat was the reason we refused to speak off the record, she said, "How do you know I won't? I'd love to own your house and your kids."

The show, from director Bill Condon and Tell Me You Love Me creator Cynthia Mort, will be a half-hour sitcom called Tilda. There's only one powerful online showbiz journalist with a no-holds-barred style that we can think of, and it's Nikki. Did she have anything to do with this show? Life rights? Consulting? Finke said she'll be posting to Deadline.com shortly explaining what relationship, if any, she has to the show. We'd be surprised if she didn't at least have some foreknowledge of it, since she reported yesterday that Condon has "some series business with HBO."

In the meantime, let's get to work on casting, shall we? We're thinking Gena Rowlands, or maybe Kathleen Turner, in the title role. Add your suggestions to comments. As for the rest of the cast—what cast? They just need a cat, a computer, and some voice actors to represent the outside world with which Finke is said to interact almost exclusively be telephone and e-mail. We've heard rumors that she's never actually met Jay Penske, the minimogul who is paying her $15 million some mythically large sum of money to terrorize Hollywood. When we asked Finke she'd ever been in the same room with Penske, this is what she had to say: "I'm not going to talk about my boss. You've got to be kidding me." IndieWire's Anne Thompson claims Finke hasn't met Michael Fleming, the Variety reporter she recently hired to be her New York bureau, but Finke says that's not true.

Oh, Nikki. What a charmer.

AfterElton put together a sadly hopeful little roundup of "gay" TV pilots currently in various stages of development today. It got us thinking about the current slate of gay folks on TV, and wishing for some new variations.

Though some annoying whiners might complain that there aren't enough gays on the TV these days, we're actually not doing that bad. Just new this season we've got the two dudes on Modern Family, Christine Baranski's character on The Good Wife *might* be a member of the Pink Ladies, and we're pretty sure that the Lost premiere revealed the Smoke Monster to be at least bisexual. But a lot of the characters tend to be sort of stale archetypes. Here are a few ideas for how to shake things up a bit.

The Lesbian Who Won't Kill You
Lesbians on TV are always such ball-busters aren't they? There was Michelle Forbes' flinty and fatally strict starship captain on Battlestar Galactica. Baranski's character is one of those tough old babes who's mostly just imperious and scary, not lovable. Elisabeth Rohm's ADA Southerlyn was mostly stern and no-nonsense on Law & Order, plus she only got to come out in her last episode (on getting fired: "Is this because I'm a lesbian?" The audience at home: "Whaaaa??"). So it'd be nice to see a nice lesbian, one who isn't just hardened and mean (so we understand that she's One Of The Boys). We're thinking we need something in the vein of the well-reviewed Sundance hit The Kids Are All Right. Not fakey sexed-up types like what were on The L Word. Just real, welcoming people. Who happen to be lesbians.

The Anti-Justin & The Anti-Jack
Justin Suarez on Ugly Betty is a cute little kid. He's all sway and sashay and self-denial-ay, with his love of fashion and divas and whatnot and his hatred of coming out. But it's all a little much sometimes. On the other end of the spectrum are characters like Jack McPhee from PBS' masterful Great Performances series Dawson's Creek. He was gay, but he acted like a Dude and played football and you wouldn't know he was gay unless you caught him suckin' mug with someone in a rowboat down by the crick. A more recent example would be Calvin and his fratbro boyfriend on Greek. It's cute, but in trying to buck a stereotype they're kind of just creating a new one. Palatable young gay males on TV are either gayer than Switzerland or golden-boy sportos. And some gays are like that in real life too. Yay diversity. But what if on TV we also got someone with a little more blend, who exists somewhere in the murky middle of the personality spectrum. The Marshall character on United States of Tara comes pretty close — the series is admirably blunt and unapologetic and unexploitative about his gayness, with nary a Coming Out episode to be found - but we'd like to see more of it. Really we're just asking for nuance.

Gay Adventurers!
Gay folks on the telly are usually relegated to supportive friend characters or outfrabulous recurring comedy acts. Usually they're featured on soft-touch family type series like Brothers & Sisters or on big breezy comedies. Which is great, good good good get 'em all on the air. But wouldn't it also be cool to see some filthy bugger brandishing a gun and kicking down Arab terror doors alongside Jack from The 24? Or solving crimes with the growing tundra of Christian Slater's forehead? Britain's had their dashing John Barrowman on Dr. Who/Torchwood for a few years now, and we think it's time the States had at least one of our own. We don't watch all the TV, so there could be one out there already, but if he or she exists, we haven't heard much about them. As for adding more, it's unlikely that they'll just suddenly make Mark Harmon a big old 'mo on NCIS or anything, so it'd likely have to be a new character or a new show. How about a sexy spy series with this British import? We'd all watch that.

In your foreboding Thursday media column: Jared Kushner has a bright idea, Howard Zinn's reputation impugned, David Letterman plays a funny joke, and Janice Min somehow survives being rich as fuck.

Look what dashing young man-about-town and charitable New York Observer owner Jared Kushner is doing now: he's starting a free newspaper in Las Vegas! Because he already has New York in his pocket. (No idea.)


NPR's memorial report on dearly departed lefty historian Howard Zinn included a quote from conservadork David Horowitz saying "There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn's intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect." People complained that he should not have been quoted! But as much as he is wrong, we are in favor of dissenters being included in obits, because otherwise obits get so mawkish, god.


News of the Weird: David Letterman's television show has hired its very first lady, to write jokes? So I guess it's either just a stunt for some kind of " bit," or another, more powerful joke about ladies aren't funny? David Letterman, you're America's favorite cad!


Former US Weekly editor Janice Min reveals for the first time: It was totally stressful how she earned so much fucking money that one of her paychecks dwarfed her emasculated husband's entire tiny, unsatisfying yearly salary. How did she survive this nightmare situation? She will tell you in the New York Post.

Ever wonder what going on the The Daily Show is like? Here's a rundown from recent guest Ethan Watters, author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche. This post was first published on The Rumpus.

1. Don't expect any warm up. Jon Stewart comes into the green room before the show and chats with you for about 3 minutes. The conversation in my case focused exclusively on the contents of my Daily Show gift bag.*

2. You'll have about an hour to hang out and get nervous before you go on. A staff member on the show is there to distract you. In my case she told me the story of one former interviewee who sweated so profusely that he nearly shorted out the lavalier microphone. (To be fair to the staffer, the context of the story was - "that rarely happens.")

3. You will only see the set 30 seconds before you walk on. When they need you, a production assistant will lead you down a series of grim hallways past groups of hipsters (writers perhaps?) hanging out in the break room. You'll be thinking, "this is not very glamorous." Your eyes will be drawn to all "Exit" signs.

4. Do not look at the audience as you walk out onto the set. Look only at the familiar face of Jon Stewart. Know that he will get you through this. Trust in him.

5. Do not think any of the following thoughts: "Everyone I know is watching this." "Whatever happens in the next 5 minutes will live forever on the web." "Better not screw this up."

6. Don't try to be funny unless you ARE funny. If you are not sure if you are funny, assume that you are not and if you try to be in this situation you will look like an incredible jackass because you are sitting next to someone who is preternaturally, almost freakishly,  hilarious.

7. When you start to speak large images of your face will appear on monitors around the set. If you look at these images of yourself your mind will freeze up and then explode. Look only at Jon. You'll only have to say a sentence and a half before he jumps in with a zinger.

8. Do not laugh too hard at his zingers. They are for people watching at home. If you start giggling the interview is going to grind to a halt.

9. Bask in the post interview handshake. This is the moment when they are cutting away to commercial and the host leans in to shake your hand and say something just between the two of you. I can't tell you what Jon said to me during those five seconds except to say that it was of a highly personal nature.

10. Try not to open the copious amounts of liquor in the gift bag* until you are out of the building and safely in the Town Car on your way back to your hotel.

* What is in that Daily Show gift bag? Glad you asked:

• Monopoly Board game.
  
• One huge bottle of Cherry Flavored Vodka - in case you want to go get some high school kids hammered after the show.
  
• One bottle of 1800 Tequila
  
• A package of those Nespresso packets but no machine by which to actually make an espresso
  
• One Daily Show Hat
  
• One Daily Show T-shirt
  
• One gift certificate to get a professional photographic portrait of your pet - in case you are ever traveling through NY with your dog.

Here is the video of Ethan's segment:

Ignoring plenty of reporting here about quackery and profiteering, the Today Show ran an absolute blowjob today on Scientologists in Haiti. They're "often doing the work no one else wants to do." Like recruiting new Scientologists? Ugh. Full clip below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Oprah is quitting her show next year to build her cable network, but have no fear: that network will feature a reality show about the final season of Oprah's show. And a show called "Miracle Detectives." Oprah Oprah Oprah. [NYT]

Oprah is quitting her show next year to build her cable network, but have no fear: that network will feature a reality show about the final season of Oprah's show. And a show called "Miracle Detectives." Oprah Oprah Oprah. [NYT]