Hibble bibble, Michael Steele!

I'm with Dennis Leary on this - The muppet The Daily Show has of Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele is one of the funniest bits they do. If you're otherwise unawares, you can check out it out on Comedy Central's website right here. The muppet pops up about three minutes in, if you want to skip ahead.

The best part is when Wyatt Cenac, who voices the muppet and writes for the show and serves as a correspondent, starts spitting out other non-agenda stuff as Muppet Steele. "Oh, look at that, someone must have smelled my Boca burgers. Keep an eye on the grill, Mr. Bill!" "Hey, I'm just keepin' it real, Tatum O'Neal." "You want cheese on your Boca burger?"

His previous appearance on the show was also hilarious. You can see that here.

Around The Dial: Quick bursts on some random TV news

Just surfing on Google for some random television news...

- I once had a subscription to Time magazine, mostly by accident. I had signed up for some card at Electronics Boutique, and as part of joining their club, I *had* to take a free magazine trial. I forgot to cancel the subscription after a month, but hey, Time was pretty decent, even if it was costing me about $50 a year.

Articles like this one, on the proliferation of reality television by James Poniewozik, are why I kept my subscription going. Also of note are the two sidebars, featuring the Top 10 reality shows and the Top 10 skankiest reality shows.

- CBS had a good fourth quarter, as their advertising revenue increased by 8 percent and they met earnings estimates set by Wall Street. The New York Times story on it is here.

- The Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for a showdown on healthcare at some sort of summit Feb. 25. This Examiner article, while slanted to the left a bit, gives a decent summary of the issues and what not faced by both sides. (So ends my short, yearly political commentary!)

The Burgundy photo is from this site.