New “Miss New Year’s Eve”: Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Out with the old: in with the new? New Fox & Friends co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck shakes things up again as she replaces long-time co-host Megyn Kelly of FNC’s All American New Year. Announcing the news today (as the final hour of F&F began), co-anchor Steve Doocy exclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss New Year’s Eve is sitting right next to us right here!” Meanwhile, a full-screen banner blared, “All American New Year w/ Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Bill Hemmer“: Chiming in, co-host Brian Kilmeade queried, “Are you excited? You’re going to be hosting with Bill Hemmer!” Taking it all in stride, the leggy lovely demurely responded, “I’m just going to be Bill Hemmer’s sidekick bringing in the New Year with everybody. We are thrilled! 11 p.m. December 31st, New Year’s Eve.”

[Author’s aside: Poor Bill Hemmer! First, Megyn left him on America’s Newsroom to host her own show daytime show America Live. Now, the eponymous host of FNC’s new prime-time hit The Kelly File has abandoned him yet again. With FNC’s brand new blond beauty by his side to start the new year, maybe, just maybe, Bill can bounce back.]

Fox & Friends – 12/16/13 (@ 7:01 a.m. ET)

Gretchen’s New Gig: The Real Story

Flowers for Carlson: Nerd Tears and Casey Close. Last week, Gretchen Carlson finally brought her own show, The Real Story, to her FNC fans. Slotted in what was once the final hour of America Live, Gretchen seems to have salvaged and revamped Megyn Kelly‘s sloping desk; to have “stolen” her all-femme “Power Panel,” and to have adopted the AL feel–perhaps, hoping that Megyn’s magic will rub off on her.

Fox News certainly hopes so. In the premiere of her program, Gretchen ceremoniously received the blessing of FNC fave The Donald who predicted that she would “have great success.”* (Adventitiously or not, Trump also trumpeted in her Fox & Friends successor Elisabeth Hasselbeck in her Fox & Friends debut.)

However, Gretch will have to do more than mimic Megyn and hobnob with the high and mighty to make her show a success: she will also have to prove that she learned well her Minnesota parents’ purported lessons of “core values and humility.”** She will have to eschew the solipsism that she too oft displayed on Fox & Friends, e.g., when she haughtily heralded her resume of being the high school valedictorian, the Stanford alum, and the first Miss America that was a classical violinist. Even though comedian Jon Stewart and her Connecticut blue blood friends may approve of such hubris, FNC’s much maligned “flyover” audience do not.

Gretchen’s Real Story needs to be about the Everyman/Everywoman who watches Fox News. Not Gretchen. If she remembers that simple truth, her intended audience will remember her and tune in—again and again.

[Author’s aside: Re the subtitle, Nerd Tears critic Kevin McCarthy gave Gretchen flowers on her last day on Fox & Friends and hubby Casey Close did likewise Friday on the last day (of her first week) on The Real Story.]

*The Real Story – 09/30/13 (@ 2:11 p.m. ET).

**Ibid at @ 2:01 p.m. ET.

New(s) Starts Monday

Sambolin and Berman; Camerota & Hemmer; and solo Carlson. Early Start gets even earlier as Zoraida Sambolin and John Berman‘s show starts 4:00 a.m. ET as it expands to two hours Monday (September 30).* Also, America’s News HQ gains a new hour slot at 1:00 p.m. ET with the end of Megyn Kelly‘s America Live: The abdicating queen of Fox & Friends Weekend Alisyn Camerota and her single “sidekick” Bill Hemmer host. Furthermore, the former diva of the weekday curvy couch debuts on her eponymous new show The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson at 2 p.m. ET.

[Author’s aside: FIVE hours of CNN morning news dawn; Aly AND Gretch rule Megyn’s former throne; and Bill FINALLY gets the girl.]

*Early Start – 09/27/13 (5:09 a.m. ET)

Mommy Megyn: Baby Thatcher ‘Totally Awesome’

Kelly’s blue-eyed baby boy arrives! Today, America Live anchor Megyn Kelly‘s stand-in Shannon Bream joyfully announced the birth of the third child of Megyn and her hubby Doug Brunt as the show concluded.* When the final America Live segment opened with a photo of Megyn and Doug’s sleeping, swaddled newborn, Shannon proclaimed, “Here is the picture! Say hello to Thatcher Bray Brunt….[He] was born at…eight pounds two ounces. He has brown hair [and] blue eyes. He is gorgeous!” And, if there were any doubt, Shannon added, “Mom said the best description of him–and this is the quote–‘Totally awesome!'”

As Shannon segued to Studio B host Shepard Smith, Shep exclaimed, “And, everyone in Studio B: this is the best news of the day! How is she?” In answer, Shannon declared, “[Megyn] is doing great. We’re told she is doing fabulous. Everyone is well.”

The “Iron Baby” joins his three-year-old big brother Edward Yates and their two-year-old sis Yardley Evans in the burgeoning Kelly/ Brunt brood.

Congratulations, Megyn and Doug!

* Vid via J$P.

Game Day Over: Aly’s “B Team” Back!

No news is good news for Fox & Friends Weekend co-hosts Clayton Morris and Tucker Carlson. Yesterday, FNC’s “A Team” took the field after the capture of the last of the Boston Marathon bomber brothers: From an early edition F&F First to America Live, FNC’s regular programming (save for Happening Now) and their co-hosts returned to the day’s fare. Nevertheless, F&FW co-host Alisyn Camerota maintained her pivotal position on F&F‘s curvy couch as she was joined by FNC’s week-day alpha dogs, Brian Kilmeade (F&F co-anchor) and Jon Scott (Happening Now co-host). Notably, F&FW “B Team” boys, Clayton and Tucker were sent to the sidelines without a mere mention to their F&FW fans.

But, today was a new day. As the news returned to normal, Aly still reigned supreme on her curvy couch. And, joining her again were her courtiers, Clayton and Tucker, comfortably ensconced as her bookends: The alpha males had gone away and the beta boys were back in town.

Today, all was right again–at least, in F&FW‘s world.

Terse Gretch Explains Absence

“I’m glad to be back here today.” Fox & Friends co-anchor Gretchen Carlson seemed rather defensive this morning about her absence yesterday from F&F‘s Boston Marathon tragedy special edition. Appearing eager to explain America Live‘s Megyn Kelly‘s appearance on the curvy couch in her place, Gretchen got straight to the point as soon as the show started.

After the obligatory opening teases for the program, Gretchen solemnly said, “Welcome, everyone. Good to be back.” As her co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy looked at her with stone faces, a seemingly agitated Gretchen declared, “Unfortunately, I was on an airplane when all of this happened in Boston and could not get from the West Coast. I’m glad to be back here today.” In response, Steve stayed strangely silent and Brian simply said, “Yeah.”

Yeah. Sounds like someone may have heard the scuttlebutt. Or, read Carpe Diem yesterday.

Kelly “Confesses”: I Cohabitated, Lived in Sin

“Before my first marriage and it ended in divorce.” America Live anchor Megyn Kelly revealed to her fans Thursday that she lived with her first hubby Dr. Dan Kendall before they tied the knot but she stressed that she had changed her ways when she later met her second and current husband Doug Brunt.

In a segment subtitled “The New Normal: Study Finds Cohabitation Is on the Rise,” Megyn introduced the story, disclosing, “I cast no judgment by calling it ‘living in sin’ because I have done it.”* After an entertaining discussion with her panel (Kirsten Powers and Monica Crowley) about the merits of not “giving the milk away for free,” Megyn further revealed, “I will say this for the record: I, I cohabitated, lived in sin, before my first marriage and it ended in divorce.”

Summing up her own life’s lesson for the AL audience, Megyn continued, “And, then I married Doug, and we did not live together at, at all until we got married. And, we’re very happily married with two kids and one more on the way.” For any who might be offended with her conclusion, she laughed, “So, you know, for what it’s worth!”

*America Live – 04/04/13 (@ 1:36 p.m. ET)

Megyn & Janice: Brunt Snuggle Bunnies?

FOXes and friends: “You should have seen the two of us this morning with our coffee in our little queen-sized bed.” Fox News gal pals, America Live anchor Megyn Kelly and FNC meteorologist Janice Dean, saucily shared a few details of their earlier night together with their AL audience yesterday. But, don’t try to read too much into it unless Megyn’s hubby, New York Times best-selling author Douglas Brunt (“Ghosts of Manhattan”), includes more about his “GQ Intelligence…Hot” wife and fun, frisky Janice “I Was at a Strip Club” Dean in his second novel.

When Janice concluded her weather report yesterday about Hurricane Sandy’s lingering effect (at the bottom of the first hour), Megyn remarked, “Well, there’s…some silver linings to a big storm like this….This kind of thing [does] have a way of bringing people together–including the two people you see on your screen right now.”*

As a chuckling Janice reddened, Megyn mischievously recounted, “Janice and I doubled up in a hotel room last night ’cause they were scarce and few and far between here in New York.” Giggling, she racily continued, “And, we had a little, you know, sleepover, a girl’s sleepover: The first time in twenty years I had…a sleepover.”

Before responding, Janice lauded their respective hubbies for tending the children in their absence: then, she sweetly answered, “I love you, Megyn! You’re the best roommate a girl could ever have.”

Laughing, Megyn replied, “J. D., right back at ya!” As Janice blew her a kiss, Megyn teased, “You should’ve seen the two of us this morning with our coffee in our little queen-sized bed!” Spicing up their tale, Janice exclaimed, “Oh! Snuggling!”

Grinning, Megyn concluded, “Alright, see ya, Hon!”

Another Brunt bestseller in the making?

*America Live – 10/31/12 (@ 10:28 a.m. ET)

F&F’s “Sexy” Nauert: Distant But in Control

Waking up with Heather on the weekend. Leggy Fox & Friends First co-host Heather Nauert seized the F&F Weekend helm for Alisyn Camerota with gusto Sunday. But, instead of flaunting her gorgeous gams a la F&FF, the blond beauty seemed somewhat demure: Dressed in a short black dress and an “M&M” green jacket, Heather hid herself behind her open laptop for the day (as her co-hosts Clayton Morris and Dave Briggs provided her cover as they anomalously kept theirs studiously open as well).

Sexy or not, the girl still ruled the roost almost like a young E.D. Hill. Playing the needed F&FW “alpha bitch,” Heather had her boys going through their paces. Rarely stopping for breath, she was subtly hushing Dave with her hand at one moment and conspicuously instructing Clayton to elaborate at another.

Heather may have performed well today as a substitute with her co-hosts, Clayton and Dave: But, she could learn from Aly, the master, on how to awaken F&FW‘s fans. For FNC weekend viewers who are struggling mightily to escape the embrace of Morpheus, a softer, gentler greeting from a gorgeous gal is preferable to one from a Red-Bull-infused chatty Cathy. To boot, she may want to close the cloaking laptop as a general rule in the future: as Megyn Kelly aptly declared (about her America Live leg-displaying glass desk), “It’s a visual business. People want to see the anchor.”

“Ghosts” of Megyn Kelly: Doug Brunt Blunt?

“That’s all I’ll admit to.” America Live anchor Megyn Kelly welcomed “a very special guest,” hubby Doug Brunt, to her show Friday to promote his first novel, Ghosts of Manhattan.* In the segment, Brunt teased his racy read of a Wall Street bond trader caught up in an all-consuming culture of “high-priced entertainment” involving “lap dances at Scores…[and]…$5000 bottles of champagne.” But, the whilom Internet security CEO assured Megyn’s audience that the bawdy book was entirely fictitious–as to him and Megyn. At least, on AL air.

Introducing the interview, Megyn proudly proclaimed that Brunt’s book has been compared to the works of Charles Dickens and Tom Wolfe (Steve Forbe’s review).** When he began to discuss his wanton work in detail, Megyn playfully remarked, “Now, you write in the book a lot about these…life-style choices, prostitutes, strippers, drugs. How do we know these people?” As Brunt began to chuckle, Megyn queried, “Are these people that we know?…Have they been to our house?”

Laughing, Brunt replied, “Everything is one degree removed from us, uh, Honey.”

Subsequently, after he explained that he had obtained much of the background material from people and friends, Megyn persisted, “Now, there is something else in the book that people need to know about: And, that is a naughty blond reporter.”  Leading her witness, the erstwhile legal eagle exclaimed, “And, we need to get this on the record right now! This person bears no relation to anyone you may know?”

With a twinkle in his eye, Brunt dutifully declared, “No. None.”

Of course, Brunt was not under oath. Perhaps, he was telling the truth about Megyn not being THE “naughty blond reporter” in his book. But, it is almost certain that his sexy GQ pin-up girl with the “killer bees,” who Slate dubbed “a post-feminist news babe,” lies somewhere within waiting to be laid bare.

Off air, Brunt may have been more candid. In a “Q & A” on his Ghosts of Manhattan web site, he revealed, “Had I continued to work in sales and trading as a career, I may have resembled Nick [Wall Street bond trader protagonist] in some way. That’s all I’ll admit to.”

[Author’s aside: Ironically, last October, Megyn had her former husband Daniel Kendall on America Live as a guest.]

*America Live – 10/05/12 (@ 1:39 a.m. ET).

**Ibid at @ 1: 43 a.m. ET.

MacCallum & Hemmer: “Bride & Groom”?

America’s Newsroom’s beauty in black and her bad boy in tux. Single America’s Newsroom co-anchor Bill Hemmer and his recently “ringless” co-host Martha MacCallum a hot item? Intentionally or not, Bill may have stoked the rumor fires this morning when he mentioned his “big night” with Megyn last night and gave a “personal shout-out” to his FNC colleague Geraldo Rivera (who was the guest of honor at a NYC Open Gate fundraiser/cruise last night) and his wife Erica as AN concluded.* Subsequently, after producers had aired a photo of Geraldo and Erica together at the New York harbor dinner charity cruise (hosted by FNC head honcho Roger Ailes and his wife Beth for them and other FNC luminaries), they then showed an al fresco pic of Martha in her beautiful black dress and Bill in his black-tie tux posing together with the NY harbor in the background. When Bill saw the photo of the two of them beaming side-by-side, he chuckled and exclaimed, “Oh, my gosh! There’s the bride and groom!”

Perhaps, in an attempt to tamp down any resultant rumors, Martha immediately remarked, “I thought it was James Bond. It’s you, though, in a self-tied bow tie…. You took that great picture of Erica and Geraldo. And, I think you should, maybe, be available for weddings because that’s a beautiful shot of them.”

Martha, be careful for what you wish. Bill might just be available for a wedding. After all, he did once opine to his former AM co-host Megyn Kelly (as a guest on her America Live show in a pertinent discussion) that he did not see anything wrong with office romance if it did not interfere with the lovers’ work.

Bill, see what you have started!

*America’s Newsroom – 04/26/12 (@ 10:59 a.m. ET)

Megyn Kelly: Jon Stewart “Mean and Unfair”

“What? Was that out loud?” Apparently, America Live anchor Megyn Kelly is no big fan of Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who has taken several acidic shots at her (e.g., her maternity leave and contraception coverage positions). In fact, Megyn dubbed the Comedy Central comedian “mean and unfair.”

In an AL panel discussion on the wisdom of President Obama’s appearing on comedy talk shows, Megyn questioned whether Jimmy Fallon would aggressively challenge the President on the issues in his appearance tonight on Fallon’s Late Night show. One of the panelists, humorist  Scott Blakeman responded, “I don’t know, but…Jon Stewart–who took my comedy class actually and he’s…a great guy…and Jon is a liberal like myself–gave…the hardest interview [that] President Obama has ever had….So, comedians can ask even better questions that even journalists sometimes.”*

With a sardonic smile, Megyn stammered, “I think, just FYI, I think, I think Jon Stewart needs to go back to your class and needs a refresher on how to do comedy, on how to do comedy–as opposed to being mean and unfair.”

In response to Megyn’s acerbic remarks, Blakeman insisted, “No, no, he’s great. He’s great. He’s very funny.” Continuing, he maintained, “No, no, he’s very funny. He’s a nice Jewish guy like me.”

Sensing that Blakeman’s adamant defense with unassailable by her distaff suasion, Megyn sweetly smiled and coyly chuckled, “What? Was that out loud? Huh? What? Sour grapes, anyone?”

Grapes or not, Stewart’s disses have seemingly left a sour taste in Megyn’s mouth.

*America Live – 04/24/12 (@ 2:38 p.m. ET)

Huck: McCain, Thompson “Not Smart Enough”?

FNC host Mike Huckabee: “Being called a liar by both John McCain and Fred Thompson…not good.” In his appearance on America Live this afternoon, anchor Megyn Kelly offered the former Arkansas governor and 2008 GOP Presidential candidate the chance to respond to the denials by both his former rivals John McCain and Fred Thompson to his claim that McCain had asked Thompson to stay in the race to help split the conservative vote to boost McCain’s chances.* Before doing so, Huckabee declared, “Being called a liar by both John McCain and Fred Thompson…is not good but, heck, I’ve been called worse by a lot of people, Megyn.”

Then, Huckabee explained, “I heard that news from my campaign chairman Ed Rollins who heard it from three different sources inside the [McCain] camp.” Deftly, he continued, “I thought it was a compliment in that it was a brilliant political move if they did it.” Then, with a sly smile, he snarked, “Now…if they weren’t smart enough to do it, then I apologize for giving them the benefit of being that smart.”

Ouch. Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Forgotten?

America Live – 01/13/12 (@ 1:19 p.m. ET)

[Author’s aside: For video of Thompson’s denial today on Fox & Friends, link here.]

Kelly’s Kmart Caper: Busted 4 Shoplifting!

Megyn: “Sorry, Kmart: But, thanks for not throwing me in the slammer!” For Halloween, America Live co-host Megyn Kelly pulled a Lindsay Lohan. I.e., she just had to have that special necklace–whether she paid for it or not.

During a shoplifting story today on AL, FNC reporter Trace Gallagher reported on a young couple who had their two-year-old daughter taken from them (after, apparently, forgetting to pay for two sandwiches eaten as they shopped).* When he had concluded his story, a smiling Megyn asked him if he had ever sampled candy that he had not declared at checkout. When he admitted, “Yeah, all the time but I have kids…[and] they pick stuff up and they eat [it]. So, you grab the wrappers and you try to throw them on the counter and sometimes…they don’t always make it on the counter,” With a jaundiced eye, Megyn chuckled, Do you? Do you? Or, do you just slide ’em in your pocket and say, ‘I’m sorry. They’re like five cents.’”

With a gleam in her eye, Megyn remarked, “I [have] to tell you: when I was twelve-years-old, I, I shoplifted. I got caught shoplifting–at a Kmart!” Feigning outrage, Trace animatedly answered, “What!” Smiling, Megyn explained, “It was really my then best friend who made me do it.” Unconvinced, a grinning Trace retorted, “Sure!”

Elaborating, Megyn revealed, “We completely got busted by her mother who said, ‘Where, where did you get those huge star earrings and those huge star plastic necklaces–because it was Halloween?’ And, my friend said, ‘Megyn’s mother bought them for us,’ and she said, ‘Alright, I’m going to call Mrs. Kelly, and you two girls better go down to the basement and pray to God that Mrs. Kelly says [that] she had not one but two pairs of huge star plastic earrings and huge star plastic necklaces.’ So we did: we went down in the basement and prayed to God that she would lie for us–which, of course, she did not.”

Continuing her account, Megyn remarked, “So, she came back down into the basement, my friend’s mother, and we said, ‘What’d she say?’ And…she said, ‘Your father will be over to take you back to Kmart so you can confess after he finishes his meatloaf. And we did!”

Animatedly, she exclaimed, “We had to go down to the Kmart and confess out crime to the manager of the Kmart. And he told us that we could have been arrested: It was terrifying! And, I tell you what, [I] never stole another thing again. That was my life of crime!”

When a beaming Trace replied, “Your dad was well justified in doing that: he’s a good dad,” Megyn responded, “I’m reformed now….Unlike Lindsay Lohan, I did my penance–and I learned. That’s it!” As a chuckling Megyn buried her head in her hands, Trace riposted, “You did. Criminal!”

Laughing, Megyn concluded, “See you, Trace! That’s it: now, I want be able to run for President or become a Supreme Court Justice because I confessed…my crime on national television. Sorry, Kmart: But, thanks for not throwing me in the slammer!”

Fear not, Megyn! You can still rule your country: if you follow Lindsay’s latest lead, you could still go from “mere” Maxim model (or, rather GQ pinup) to an American Playboy princess. Doubtlessly, your AL acolytes will not be disappointed.

*America Live – 11/02/11 (@ 2:26 p.m. ET)

Megyn Kelly: Kendall Crazy?

“I confess the judge has a conflict of interest.” Wow! If America Live anchor Megyn Kelly did not convince her fans that she is a free spirit with her racy GQ spread and her subsequent bawdy Howard Stern interview, the sexy married mother of two may have succeeded today. Less than two months after returning from maternity leave to America Live, Megyn invited as a guest to her show her husband–no, not Doug Brunt–but her former hubby, Dr. Daniel R. Kendall.

When her “Kelly’s Court” segment began, Megyn asked her legal panel (former prosecutor Jonna Spilbor and FNC legal analyst Mercedes Colwin) whether prosecutors could prove that Michael Jackson’s doctor caused the death of the King of Pop. Subsequently, Megyn explained to her audience that prosecutors claimed that the doctor was “guilty of gross negligence…because he used propofol to treat insomnia and [that] he administered it outside of the operating room…[and] that no reasonable doctor would do that.” Then, with a slight smile, she continued, “So, joining us now is an expert witness…an anesthesiologist by the name of Dr. Dan Kendall from our D.C. bureau.*

Somewhat surreally, Megyn continued, “[w]ho I confess the judge has a conflict of interest since the judge used to be married to Dr. Kendall.” As her legal guests chuckled uncomfortably, Megyn remarked, “But, Dr. Kendall is now happily married to another person as am I. So, there is no conflict of interest.” Subsequently, after giving her handsome former fellow less than two minutes to explain that the doctor should have continuously monitored Jackson and that his actions were, in short, “pretty nuts,” Megyn moved on.

“Pretty nuts,” indeed. Or, was Megyn Kelly Kendall crazy?

*America Live – 09/28/11 (@ 2:47 p.m. ET)

Aly Back In: Juliet Out?

Camerota: “Let’s make it a surprise.” A “Shine” surprise? After abdicating her Fox & Friends Weekend throne for five months, co-host Alisyn Camerota announced her long-awaited return to F&FW tomorrow. Early this morning as she hosted F&F weekday, Aly Tweeted, “FOX News Alert — I’ll be back on F+F this Saturday! …don’t tell Dave and Clayton. let’s make it a surprise. I may wear a disguise.”

Five months to the very day: Aly’s return just in the nick of time? Last week FNC aired a new F&FW promo for its Labor Day weekend that featured her recent sole sub Juliet Huddy with F&FW co-anchors Clayton Morris and Dave Briggs as “One Morning Team” and “the Friends You Trust.” The message seemed pellucidly clear: FNC had dubbed Juliet queen again of the F&FW curvy couch. After all, Aly had been strangely absent from her F&FW post for almost five months (approximately one month longer than the purported “maternity shuffle” for Megyn Kelly): Furthermore, in the interim, Aly had repeated anchored other FNC shows, including, America’s Newsroom, Happening Now, America Live, and even Fox & Friends weekday without returning to her own F&FW.

Perhaps, Aly realized that she needed to move now if she were to reclaim her F&FW throne from Juliet before it was too late: i.e., before her co-hosts, Clayton and Dave, and her viewers switched their allegiance to Juliet. Even though it may appear less likely, FNC Senior VP of Programming Bill Shine himself may have prompted the move to oust Juliet, at least, for now, after her questionable comments two days ago on the O’Reilly Factor: Juliet called GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul a “yellow belly” who would not appear on O’Reilly and that O’Reilly should have “just slapped him down” – verbally or literally. Coincidently or not, just yesterday, the author wrote, “Unless Alisyn Camerota returns to her long “abandoned” center seat this weekend, F&FW viewers should not be surprised by a ‘contrite’ apology posthaste from jaunty Juliet to Paul and his Praetorian Guard.” (Apparently, Juliet’s apology will have to wait.)

Welcome back, Aly! Hopefully, you will stay. But, whatever you do, do not banish F&FW‘s beloved Juliet from your F&FW realm for good.

Megyn Kelly Disappears

With her show without a word. Apparently, even America Live anchor Megyn Kelly’s lead-in, Happening Now guest host Greg Jarrett, was caught off guard this afternoon: as Jarrett confidently segued from HN to the next Fox News program at 1:00 pm. ET, Jarrett remarked, “America Live begins right now.” Apparently, getting a quick word from his producer, Jarrett quickly glanced at his computer screen and corrected himself, saying, “America’s News Headquarters.”

Subsequently, the screen switched to ANHQ and Kelly Wright began with a “News Alert”: Then, after finishing it, he remarked, “This is America’s News Headquarters. I’m Kelly Wright.” Thereafter, his comely blonde co-host chimed, “Great to see you, Kelly….I’m Jamie Colby.”

Oddly, neither Kelly nor Jamie mentioned that, at least, for the day, they were replacing Megyn Kelly and America’s News HQ was supplanting America Live. Furthermore, to the author’s knowledge, Megyn did not mention yesterday that she or her program would be absent today (Friday). Moreover, Megyn failed to alert her Twitter followers to any AL changes either. Not to mention, when the author consulted FNC’s on-air schedule at FNC’s foxnews.com/fnctv web site (at 1:55 p.m. ET), the “Now” tab showed no program for the 1:00pm slot but rather started with the 3:00 pm one (Studio B w/ Shepard Smith).

Strange indeed. Wherefore art thou, Megyn? Fox News flub-up or Shine “shakeup”?

[Author’s aside: Even at the start of the second hour and at the end of show, both Jamie and Kelly failed to acknowledge the obvious–the absence of Megyn Kelly and her show America Live.]

Update: On Labor Day itself, Megyn answered: She and America Live reappeared. Perhaps, it had been merely a Fox News flub-up. Or, was it Shine’s inadvertent portent?

Juliet, Dave, & Clay: “The Friends You Trust!”

Is the Labor Day weekend the official end of Alisyn Camerota as a Fox & Friends Weekend co-host? If Fox News’ Fox & Friends brand new ten-second Labor Day weekend ad is any indication, it certainly seems so. Replacing the usual F&FW promo with co-hosts Alisyn Camerota, Dave Briggs, and Clayton Morris was one of Juliet and the boys on the curvy couch.

As the very brief commercial opens, Juliet playfully slaps Clayton on the shoulder while Dave smiles.* Meanwhile, the announcer proclaims, This Labor Day weekend, one morning team helps kick off your day,” and a chyron choruses, “ONE MORNING TEAM HELPS KICK OFF YOUR DAY!” As the voice over continues, “Get the news you need from the friends you trust,” the “new trinity” reappears with a banner resounding, “GET THE NEWS FROM THE FRIENDS YOU TRUST!

Even though a doubting Thomas may protest that it is only a Labor Day weekend ad, the proverbial writing appears on the wall. According to Clayton, Aly was doing the “maternity shuffle” for the four months that America Live anchor Megyn Kelly was on maternity leave: However, this weekend will mark Aly’s  absence of four weeks beyond Megyn’s maternity leave. Furthermore, when Dave was asked only three days ago when Aly would return, he replied, “I really don’t know? [sic]”

“I really don’t know?” may not be fully decipherable but it certainly suggests that Aly is not, at least, scheduled to return any time soon. After three years of her second stint at F&FW, perhaps, Aly’s tutelage of the boys is now complete. If so, maybe, they’re now prepared to play with a possibly new F&FW two-timer Juliet Huddy–a proud cougar.

Probably not. Rowrr! But, it should be fun to watch.

*America’s Newsroom – 09/01/11 (@ 9:23 a.m. ET)

Megyn: Yardley’s Mom

Back in the saddle again: from GQ pinup to Fox(y) flapper. Yesterday America Live anchor Megyn Kelly returned from maternity leave to her FNC show looking as hot as ever. And, she hopes to stay that way.

Just about nine months ago (December 2010), Megyn graced the pages of GQ Men of the Year (December 2010) in a plucky, provocative pictorial for her fans: Then, around five months later (April 7),  she left for maternity leave. Perhaps, Megyn was merely holding her randy devotees over while she had the “impertinence” to have her second child, Yardley Evans (April 14). After all, they would have quite a wait for her to return, i.e., not, the usual three months but four long ones.

When Megyn finally returned to her AL admirers yesterday, she did not disappoint. After leaving them as a sexy, long-tressed Stacy’s Mom, she returned to them as wanton, short-bobbed flapper ready to rev her boys in a whole new way. Or, rather, in a retro way.

Welcome back, Megyn!

Juliet Huddy: “See You Next Weekend”

Where’s Aly: lost in Shine’s “shuffle”? The purported “maternity shuffle” ends Monday with Megyn Kelly’s return to her show America Live. However, if Fox & Friends Weekend guest co-host Juliet Huddy’s adieu today is true, it appears that things may not be quite what F&F‘s official co-anchors Clayton Morris (Aly’s “maternity shuffle”), Dave Briggs (Aly “WILL be back”), and Alisyn Camerota (“I’ll be back”) would have their F&FW fans believe: I.e., Aly will finally return to F&FW when Megyn’s maternity leave ends. At the end of F&FW today, Juliet was thanked by Dave “once again for filling in,” she smiling replied, “My pleasure, my pleasure. See you again next weekend.”

Do tell, Juliet. Megyn will be back on her own show next week but Aly won’t. Aly’s “shuffle”: Bill Shine’s “shakeup”?