David Letterman

Talk-show host David Letterman said Thursday that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt related to his sexual relationships with staff members on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." During a taping for Thursday night's broadcast, Letterman told viewers that three weeks ago, he was approached by a person who claimed to have information about the host's affairs with female staff members. This person, Letterman said, threatened to expose the relationships unless payment of $2 million was received.

Cleared for takeoff "Not bad for a girl from Michigan, huh?" Those are the words with which Madonna left her homecoming party in Auburn Hills, Mich. Some 18,000 fans attended her concert Thursday at The Palace of Auburn Hills, near her hometown of Rochester Hills.Madonna dedicated her performance of "Why It's So Hard" to her Michigan dance teacher, Christopher Flynn, and other people with AIDS.Reno eyes Series, roots for PhilliesU.S. Attorney General Janet Reno never got to watch television when she was a child, but she is making up for lost time with the World Series.

Biff Henderson's evolution from stage manager to star began one morning in 1980, when David Letterman was in the midst of his own transformation from wise-cracking comic to talk show host. NBC had the gap-toothed guy, a favorite guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, working as host of a morning show, which was a strange place for Letterman's late-night sense of humor. (This was the show on which Letterman set fire to the stage.) Henderson was stage managing in the wings when Letterman, on his way to do the monologue, suddenly pushed the startled stage manager toward the spotlight.

Los Angeles -- NBC is expected to announce today that it will not match a CBS offer and will let talk show host David Letterman leave after 11 years with the network.Sources at NBC said this week that the network was going to stick with Jay Leno, and not match the contract CBS offered Letterman to do his talk show on their network at 11:30 weeknights.Today's New York Times reports that the contract, previously said to be for $28 million over two years, is instead about $42 million in salary and incentives over three years.

LOS ANGELES -- The president of NBC's affiliate board has made a dramatic proposal to keep both Jay Leno and David Letterman at the network by moving "The Tonight Show" to 10 p.m. and "Late Night" to 11:30 p.m."NBC's prime time is third, and it's not as if they would be replacing a winning schedule with something chancy," said Jim Waterbury, head of the affiliate board and the general manager of KWWL in Waterloo, Iowa. "Leno is decidedly mainstream, just like prime time. Larry King has shown on CNN that you can do this and it is the closest thing to a national town meeting."

Let's just cut to the chase.* "Nova" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22 and 67) -- This is a real-life chiller, thanks to a "Nova" film crew that spent four weeks in Zaire chronicling an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. PBS.* "Coach" (8:30 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Tim Conway guest-stars as an inept gardener. As long as he's not in character as Dorf. ABC.* "Frasier" (9 p.m.-9:30 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Niles finally gets his chance with Daphne? Must be more to this than meets the eye NBC.* "Home Improvement" (9 p.m.-9:30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2)

LOS ANGELES -- CBS Entertainment President Jeff Sagansky said yesterday that he is sure his network will get David Letterman."He's our guy," Sagansky said at a press conference here. "We want him desperately. We've been pursuing him for five months. We're going to get him."Although Sagansky has all the confidence in the world, it's still not official. NBC has until Friday to match the CBS offer, which includes an 11:30 p.m. time slot for Letterman and reportedly $14 million annually over two years.

SAN DIEGO -- To "er" is human.You may think you are articulate. You may see yourself as socially graceful. Even so, forget about trying to rid the "ums" from your patter.Each person uses several hundred filled pauses -- "um," "er" and "like" are prime examples -- every day and sometimes as many as 900 an hour, estimates psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld of the University of California at San Diego.Dr. Christenfeld studies the um phenomenon, which also includes "eh," "well" and "you know."

NEW YORK -- The last time I spoke to David Letterman, he mocked me.I had done a satellite interview with him and he concluded it by saying: "Listen, Roger, if you ever come to New York City . . . "Yes? I said. Yes?"If you ever come to New York City," Letterman said, "just keep it to yourself."Ha-ha. Funny man.So I took it as a challenge: I would get a ticket to the David Letterman show, the most difficult ticket in the world to get.And I would not send in a postcard and wait for months and months like you are supposed to.No, I would show Letterman who he was mocking: I would get a ticket through raw clout.

In a year of record viewing for political coverage, the biggest night of all could be tonight's vice presidential debate in St. Louis between Republican candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Democratic opponent, Sen. Joe Biden. Friday's debate between Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and his opponent, Sen. John McCain, drew 52 million viewers, I would expect this one to be seen by more than 60 million. PBS anchorwoman Gwen Ifill will moderate the debate being held at Washington University.