Matt Lauer

Conan (11 p.m., TBS) Louis C.K.; from the Beacon Theater in New York City. Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) Mark Harmon; Mike Judge; Matt Lauer; Eli Young Band performs. Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) Kristen Stewart; Dave Attell; Joe Jonas performs. Jimmy Kimmel Live (midnight, 6ABC) Eddie Murphy; Manny Pacquiao; Chickenfoot performs.

Whitney Houston fans have maligned Bobby Brown as a bad influence on his ex-wife. But the "My Prerogative" singer says he's not to blame for the late diva's death. "It's just unexplainable how one could, you know, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs," Brown tells Matt Lauer in a chat to air Wednesday on Today. "I'm not the reason she's gone. " Brown, 43, says it was Houston who introduced him to hard drugs such as crack. Brown says he was devastated to hear Houston was still on drugs.

Anna Nicole's pal charged with supplying her drugs California Attorney General Jerry Brown said yesterday that Anna Nicole Smith's friend Howard K. Stern led a conspiracy to supply the late Playboy model with an array of prescription drugs between July '04 and January '07. Stern, who turned himself in to authorities Thursday night, was charged with six felonies. Charges have also been filed against doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich, who allegedly conspired with Stern.

As host of Today, Matt Lauer is widely acknowledged as one of the most decent and dignified men on television. But you could kiss all that goodbye yesterday, when Lauer was the target of a celebrity roast. A large, eclectic crowd gathered in a Midtown Manhattan hotel for the annual charity event hosted by the Friars Club. The format has always been simple: Place honoree on spit and set the controls on "char. " You expect obscene insults from some of the attendees, regulars on the roast circuit like Bob Saget, Gilbert Gottfried, Pat Cooper, Jeffrey Ross and Richard Belzer ("Matt Lauer: born to a Jewish father and an inflatable mother")

Rosie aims poetic punch at Lauer for his Craig interview So, what exactly is the Queen of the Poisoned Haiku trying to say about hard-hitting journalist Matt Lauer? In a post on her blog (www.rosie.com) criticizing Matt's Today interview Tuesday with Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who was busted for allegedly being frisky toward another man (not that there's anything wrong with that) in a men's bathroom, Rosie writes that the sight of Matt "[grilling] senator craig / and his shell shocked wife / about their sexy gay secrets," makes her sick.

If Nielsen ratings are any indication, NBC's "Today" show didn't skip a beat with the departure of Bryant Gumbel and the succession of Matt Lauer. Indeed, the program generated its second-highest weekly average ever during Lauer's first official week alongside Katie Couric. Gumbel stepped down as host on Jan. 3 after 15 years. The following week, "Today" averaged a 5.5 rating (percentage of the nation's 97 million TV homes) and a 23 share (percentage of the sets in use), according to Nielsen statistics released Thursday.

LOS ANGELES - Word that Ryan Seacrest may be a candidate to succeed Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" has many in the industry debating whether the radio personality/"American Idol" host/reality-show mogul has the gravitas to anchor a morning news show. All the morning shows have become more entertainment than news, and the choice of anchors reflects that. "Today" has gone from Tom Brokaw to Bryant Gumbel to Matt Lauer, each having less journalistic credibility than his predecessor. Tapping Seacrest to succeed Lauer, whose contract is up at the end of next year, would just be the continuation of that trend.

Richard Bey, host of Channel 3's "People Are Talking," was fired today today after four years at the station. His last day on the air will be next Friday. Rumors had been going around for months that Bey was about to be replaced because of slipping ratings, but the station always denied it was looking for another host for the show. Today, Bey said he has "no immediate plans," but that "I'd like to stay here. I reallly like the people here. There are other cities where you can stay up all night or get six diffrent kinds of caviar, but the people here make me feel at home.

Well, NBC, replace in haste, repent at leisure.   You might have wanted to consider your options a little more carefully before you rushed ahead Friday and anointed Savannah Guthrie as Matt Lauer's new Today deskmate. Let's face it: The deposing of Ann Curry did not go well at all. Public sympathy for her was far greater than you had projected. Worse, many were casting Lauer, your morning monarch, as the heavy in all this, the egotistical divo who sabotaged his innocent coworker.

WITH ITS animated series about a dead rapper's "spirit" who offers guidance to his children, no one can say Ossian Media isn't thinking out of the box. But that's the idea behind "House of Wallace," which will feature the children of the late Notorious B.I.G. - C.J. Wallace , 16, and T'yanna Wallace , 19 - trying to keep alive the hip-hop legend's Brooklyn recording studio. The show has not yet been picked up by a network, although a representative for Ossian says that "a few serious networks are in discussion.

Jennifer Lopez, have you no shame?! Steven Tyler, have you, um, no shame either? Having used American Idol to resurrect their careers, the pair have dumped the Fox talent show. With Simon Cowell long gone, does Idol have long to live? J-Lo, who was in Philly on Thursday, reportedly made $12 mil for her Idol-atrous service. She announced her treachery by phoning in to stalwart Idol host Ryan Seacrest's radio show Friday. "I really was dreading this phone call with you," she told him. "I honestly feel like the time has come that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I've put kind of on hold because I love Idol so much.

When Andy Griffith died this week, I went back to look at clips from his old show, just for nostalgia's sake. And what I discovered is that Mayberry's sheriff wasn't all that vigilant. Time after time, secondary characters like Gomer and Otis and Barney were blatantly stealing scenes right from under Andy's nose.   Andy Griffith may have been the star and had his name up on the marquee, but he was playing the straight man on his own comedy. Back in the early days of television, this wasn't an unusual situation.

Well, NBC, replace in haste, repent at leisure.   You might have wanted to consider your options a little more carefully before you rushed ahead Friday and anointed Savannah Guthrie as Matt Lauer's new Today deskmate. Let's face it: The deposing of Ann Curry did not go well at all. Public sympathy for her was far greater than you had projected. Worse, many were casting Lauer, your morning monarch, as the heavy in all this, the egotistical divo who sabotaged his innocent coworker.

Whitney Houston fans have maligned Bobby Brown as a bad influence on his ex-wife. But the "My Prerogative" singer says he's not to blame for the late diva's death. "It's just unexplainable how one could, you know, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs," Brown tells Matt Lauer in a chat to air Wednesday on Today. "I'm not the reason she's gone. " Brown, 43, says it was Houston who introduced him to hard drugs such as crack. Brown says he was devastated to hear Houston was still on drugs.

IT MAY NOT BE the biggest entertainment story of the day, but people who care . . . care a lot . HBO's "True Blood" returns June 10. New faces in the bloody mix include "Law & Order: SVU" star Christopher Meloni , Scott Foley , Kelly Overton and "General Hospital" star Carolyn Hennesy . The first episode of HBO's new Aaron Sorkin -penned series "The Newsroom," starring Jeff Daniels , Dev Patel , Jane Fonda...

LOS ANGELES - Word that Ryan Seacrest may be a candidate to succeed Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" has many in the industry debating whether the radio personality/"American Idol" host/reality-show mogul has the gravitas to anchor a morning news show. All the morning shows have become more entertainment than news, and the choice of anchors reflects that. "Today" has gone from Tom Brokaw to Bryant Gumbel to Matt Lauer, each having less journalistic credibility than his predecessor. Tapping Seacrest to succeed Lauer, whose contract is up at the end of next year, would just be the continuation of that trend.

Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) - Actor Mark Harmon; producer Mike Judge; Today show's Matt Lauer; Eli Young Band performs. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) - TV host Jimmy Fallon; football player Drew Brees; Gym Class Heroes perform with Estelle. Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05 a.m., 6ABC) - Ellen DeGeneres; Gabourey Sidibe; Chris Isaak performs.

It's time to pull your tuxedos and low-cut sequined dresses out of the mothballs. We are thiiiiis close to the start of everyone's favorite TV ballroom-dancing reality show, Dancing with the Stars ! How do we know we're thiiiiss close ? Why, not only because the 13th season steps off Monday - but also because chatter about the celebrity hoofers, particularly Chaz Bono , is moving faster than a quickstep. Bono, 42, who underwent a sex-change procedure after being born the daughter of the late singer Sonny Bono and his still-very-alive partner, Cher , now 65, appeared on Wednesday's Ellen DeGeneres talkfest to review his dance-capades in the early competition.