After Gay Slur, Isaiah Washington Gets a New 'Bionic' Lease on Life

And how about Thompson episodes sold into syndication on broadcast TV stations? On this one, Wolf grew dodgy:

We have been anticipating Mr. Thompson's decision and have taken appropriate steps consistent with FCC regulations.

No one asked him to explain. Instead, they wanted to know whether, given that he's cast Sisto and Roache, that means he was a fan of "Kidnapped."

* * *

MSNBC on-air talent Keith Olbermann's love for Fox News Channel on-air talent Bill O'Reilly is like "a virus feels about the host."

O'Reilly, who has the most watched show on any cable news network, and Olbermann, who does not, have been locked in a clash of the titans that some have credited with growing Olbermann's "Countdown" ratings.

"My gratitude to him has increased with every passing week," Olbermann told TV critics here. He'd come to the tour to announce he will moderate the AFL-CIO's Democratic presidential forum on Aug. 7, telecast live from Chicago on MSNBC. "I used to say I owed him a percentage of my salary. Actually I started with 'I need to send him a fruit basket.' Then I went up to a percentage of the salary. And now it's just, you know, good ol' Bill -- writes half my material for me."

Later, their kerfuffle erupted again when someone from O'Reilly's fan base left a little "dropping" -- in the press room at the Beverly Hilton -- in the form of a small stack of fliers featuring four racing horses, representing the four cable news nets at 8 p.m.

One was being ridden by O'Reilly, one by CNN's Paula Zahn, one by CNN Headline News's Nancy Grace. The fourth had Olbermann's face on its butt. And underneath, the words: "Olbermann has placed 4th in the 25-54 demo 24 percent of the time since the beginning of June."

FYI, the 25-to-54 age bracket is the target demographic of news programming. This claim seems to hold true for "same day" viewing, but these days the currency of television is "live plus seven days" of viewing, and in those parameters, Olbermann's show slipped to No. 4 just once in that period of time.

An MSNBC rep noted Olbermann's numbers in the age bracket are up 54 percent year to year, while FNC's are flat.