For all of you anxiously awaiting Ann Coulter’s sit-down with Matt and Mer to promote her new book, Guilty, the blond bombshell of the GOP will not be kickin’ it with Al on the “Today” show after all. NBC canned the segment after near-suffocation from an avalanche of liberal scorn prompting the comment, “I guess this ends the ‘they just want to get ratings’ argument about liberal media bias,” following an announcement of the cancellation on her website. Fear not, real America; CBS’s “Early Show” picked her up for Tuesday morning. Phew!

This year’s Miss America Pageant will feature all the bedazzles, push-up bras and sequins galore of year’s past, but one contestant’s evening gown will put a smile on Mother Earth’s face (that is, if Mother Earth is a pushy, pill-popping pageant mom). Miss Vermont plans on donning an environmentally friendly gown made from hemp, organic cotton and silk, and recycled lace and beads. Ashley Ruth Wheeler hopes the dress will serve as a conversation starter–although, there might not be much of a convo to start considering Vermont has never nabbed the big prize and is the only state to never have a contestant advance to the semi-finals.

The son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, 16-year-old Jett, died Friday in the Bahamas after reportedly slipping and hitting his head on the bathtub. The Travolta family was vacationing on the Grand Bahama Island when the accident happened around 10 a.m. PST. An employee at the Old Bahama Bay hotel, where the deadly incident occurred, refused to comment, saying she was “not allowed to talk about [the event].” Travolta and Preston tied the knot in 1991 and also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu. Update: A lawyer for the Travolta family has told CBS Radio that Jett suffered a seizure.

Fox’s pricey and massive “Murnau, Borzage and Fox” box set tops the blog DVD Spin Doctor’s list of 2008’s top 20 DVDs. Other titles making the cut: Criterion’s “Vampyr,” “The Godfather” on Blu-ray,” three from Hitchcock and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in high def.

A University of New Mexico professor claims rap battles (think Eminem’s 8 Mile) originated in medieval Scotland where performers traded elaborate and vulgar barbs in a practice dubbed “flyting.” The verbal jousting supposedly hopped across the pond via Scottish slave owners with slaves adopting and adjusting the practice. Insert Lil’ Wayne-bagpipe joke here.

The Associated Press has lured Hulu under the mistletoe and went to town with smooches. Ok, not exactly, but the visual will stay with you. The AP selected the NBC-News Corp. joint venture as 2008’s Website of the Year for being “a trailblazing answer to how professional content can thrive on the Web.” Hulu launched March 12 and hosts over 1,000 shows, including the immensely popular election season Saturday Night Live clips and Joss Whedon’s quirky musical “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog.” Hulu’s plans for 2009 include world domination…or at least expanding internationally.

…just like that creepy feeling you get going to investigate a strange noise in the dark wearing only your underwear. If you’ve found yourself sucked into episode after episode of Ghosthunters, you’re not alone, and that’s not a reference to the paranormal. The rising ratings for the Sci Fi Channel have placed it in the top ten cable channels for everyone from Gen Y to the young baby boomers. Even chicks are getting in on the action, with a 14% rise in female viewership in the age group of 18-49 in 2008 alone. So come clean on your Facebook page and fess up to a sci-fi fascination; you may not be watching alone in the dark for much longer!

Although any sports fan will tell you that a good defense is invaluable, the fact remains that it just isn’t very glamorous, and after eight years of desperate attempts to save face, conservativetalk radio is ready to turn the dial to a new era as noted by the New York Times. Despite the declining popularity of the medium, more stations are filling their time slots with talk radio whose popularity bypassed country music for the first time in 2008. Limbaugh and Hannity hold steady at the top of the pile (of what will not be specified), but the airwaves will soon welcome what appears to be the entire Republican primary ticket including the likes Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee in addition to well-known MSNBC media maven, Joe Scarborough. Might be time to throw a few more bucks NPR’s way.

If you’re trying to secure insurance and they ask if you have a Wii, it might be advisable to fudge the truth or ditch the game. British doctors are reporting at least ten Wii-related injuries a week, which most often consist of extremely painful sensations in the shoulder or knee thanks to the tennis, running and fitness games. Some doctors are even saying that frequent play could result in rheumatism or arthritis later in life and strongly suggest stretching before playing the popular game system. How about getting off the couch to do something other than play Wii? It’s called sunlight people, find some.

Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski had a scary encounter outside a Washington D.C. hotel when a man mugged the feisty co-host, but only got away with $6. Brzezinski shied away from discussing the mugging on the show, but co-host Joe Scarborough had no problem spilling the details with a national audience and the mayor of D.C., Adrian Fenty, who happened to be a guest on the talk-fest this morning. Scarborough complained about the bell desk not paying attention and took a jab at the mugger, claiming he said something like “Give me money and nothing will happen.”

Children’s television network Nickelodeon plans to make the trek to D.C. with hordes of other folks for the station’s first coverage of a presidential inauguration. Teen reporters Lily Collins, daughter of rocker Phil Collins, and J.J. (like Cher and Madonna, he has no last name) will cover the historic festivities from a pint-sized perspective, although hopefully the camera crew is a bit older or Nick’s coverage could include a lot of Obama supporter butt shots. Word has it that secret service denied the station’s request to slime outgoing President George W. Bush.

Both versions of Richard Kelly’s cult-fave “Donnie Darko” finally are headed for Blu-ray. Fox’s release of Feb. 10 will include the original theatrical film of 2001 and the director’s cut of 2004, which added 20 minutes and shuffled the deck. The commentary with director Kelly and “Clerks” director Kevin Smith is a real hoot. Also due: “South Pacific” on March 31 …

January and February are pretty dreary months in the areas graced with winter weather, but giving the gift of the Time Warner Cable Calendar kicks the year off right with yummy pictures of hot cable guys. Be forewarned, not all the pictures provoke naughty fantasies of the “sometime between 8:30 and 5:00″ visit, but each month does feature real employees, though not any that have ever installed my cable, nor that of anyone I know. My question is, “Where is the UPS beefcake calendar?!” Now there’s a fine-lookin’ work force.

Guys now have a great new reason to skip the latest romantic comedy: “Honey, I love you too much to destroy our relationship.” One study conducted by Edinburgh researchers shows that even watching one sappy movie laden with perfect sex, telepathic communication of one’s deepest desires and a surprisingly happy ending is enough to do serious relationship damage. The key is in the unrealistic expectations that lighthearted romp through the crazy land of love set up for the viewer. So skip the chick flick for the latest Seth Rogan or Will Farrell movie, either of which will be guaranteed to do nothing but lower your expectations.

John Cleese apparently doesn’t follow the social networking scene, asking via Twitter “who the hell is Mashable?” Nope, no one told the Monty Python star he should consider sprouting a little Pete Cashmore scruff, Cleese was a bit peeved when Cashmore’s Mashable scored a higher spot on a new ranking of Twitterers by country. Luckily, enough people complained about Scotland’s lumping in with the UK on the list, moving Mashable to number one in the land of kilts and Cleese to the second spot for the UK.

Forget watching Steve Jobs stroll across the stage in his mock turtleneck, yammering on about gadget, yadda, desktop, yadda because the must-see event of the MacWorld Expo will be the debut of MacHeads. Producers for the Mac and Apple culture documentary announced that the flick will premiere January 7, 2009 at Moscone Center’s North Hall. MacHeads features appearances from Apple legends like Guy Kawasaki, Daniel Kottke and Steve Wozniak.

Fleece-loving Harvard drop-out starts billion dollar company–does that sound like a big screen flick worthy of your 10 bucks? Well, with the pen of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, best know for his work on The West Wing and penchant for cocaine, the flick could boast a bit more pizazz than two hours documenting one of the business world’s most reserved CEOs. A book about the Facebook empire by author Ben Mezrich will hit shelves in late 2009 and Sorkin has already agreed to adapt the book into a movie that could land in theaters by 2010. So, the obvious question remains, who should don the Adidas flip-flops and play Mark Zuckerberg?

A “Rock of Love: Charm School” reunion show taping got all Jerry Springer when Sharon Osbourne attacked Megan Hauserman, the leggy blonde infamous for her win on “Beauty and the Geek” and mentally-handicapped Chihuahua. No word if the poor pooch went flying further than Hauserman’s weave, but witnesses say Mrs. Ozzy threw down after the reality show villian insulted the Osbourne clan. Hauserman ended up in the hospital (although, she probably just went to pick up rich doctors) and pressed charges against the f-bomb loving Brit. The LAPD has yet to make any arrests in the case.

What could be more fun than running over pedestrians or killing people virtually? Perhaps selling make-believe drugs on your street corner and making sure you’re giving and getting the best deal in the neighborhood! The game “Underworld” — once known as “Drug Lord” but changed to skim under the radar of company censors — has become the target of the mother of a heroin addict who doesn’t think it’s just about fun and games: “My daughter’s life has been ruined by drugs. If this game is allowed to come out, impressionable kids will play it and Amy’s mistake will be repeated over and over again. Youngsters like Amy are exactly the people who download and play games like this on their mobiles. I just want to help other families avoid the nightmare that’s wrecked mine.” But this is all about improving their eye-hand coordination, right? Or is it a primer for the young entrepreneur? Does it come with some kind of nifty mechanism to show the suburban kids what fun it is to have your family and friends gunned down on that corner? Just wondering.

Okay, so maybe Jesus was born in June, and it would be pretty steamy in a Middle Eastern manger in the summer, but one doubts that historical accuracy was the motivation behind the picture of the BVM gracing the cover of this month’s issue. Set to be released the day before Mexico’s celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe’s appearance, model Maria Florencia Onori graces the cover wearing only a “virginal” white cloth above the caption, “We adore you, Mary.” This has Protestant conspiracy written all over it.

With all the hijinks in Congress as of late, perhaps the talents of “the flashy girl from Flushing” is just what the doctor ordered. Yes, Fran Drescher has thrown her name into the mix with the likes of Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo for the seat to be vacated by future Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Her experience as an advocate for women’s health and public diplomacy envoy for the State Department (seriously?!) have been cited as justification for the appointment, and — let’s face it — in a country where California has a Governator, the Senate sure could use a nanny. Can anyone sing, “Watch out McC”?

Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly have a few things in common: both made it big with hit cable shows, both make people laugh–Stewart on purpose, Papa Bear not so much–and both want people to buy their respective books. So, the two hosts from different sides of the political aisle joined forces with the Association of American Publishers to push book sales. The association created a two-minute video featuring both Stewart and O’Reilly with “The Daily Show” host boosting books as “an amazing way to kill time while your Web site is buffering” and the Fox News pundit going the more O’Reilly-esque route by saying, “Books make great gifts because you can prove your point with them. Give opinions!”

Stevie Wonder could soon take a spin on the dance floor with Karina Smirnoff or Cheryl Burke as the legendary performer told a Los Angeles DJ that he would consider appearing on “Dancing with the Stars.” If Wonder did agree to don a bedazzled outfit and show off his moves on national television, it would mark the first time a blind contestant competed on the hit show.

Macaulay Culkin’s 29-year-old sister Dakota Culkin died yesterday in Los Angeles after being struck by a car. LAPD say Dakota was taking a stroll on the west side of the city when she stepped off a curb and was hit by a passing car. Paramedics rushed her to UCLA Medical Center where she later died. Macaulay Culkin’s rep has also released a statement: “We can officially confirm that the victim is Dakota Culkin. This is a terrible tragic accident. We have no further comment at this time.” So sad.

Miley Cyrus took a spin around Los Angeles behind the wheel of her mom’s SUV this week as the “Hannah Montana” star showed off her learner’s permit. The 16-year-old starlet took time between switching lanes and observing stop signs to make plenty of faces for the hordes of paparazzi swarming Cyrus at every stop. Do you think Miley will have a special addition to her driving test that will involve avoiding running over photo-snapping paps?