It was an episode full of corporate synergy! Sort of reminiscent of when Project Runway designers had to create an outfit for Today Show contributor Tiki Barber, last night's episode of Top Chef had contestants develop a dish they could demonstrate on TV for the Today Show. Plus there were reminders that the chefs are using...GE Monogram appliances in the kitchen! First, they had to deal with a "breakfast amuse-bouche" quickfire challenge, judged by......

In what has become an annual tradition, the Today show hosts (and newsreader--of all four hours!) dressed in elaborate Halloween costumes. This year, the theme was a storybook Halloween: Matt Lauer was Humpty Dumpty, Al Roker was the Gingerbread Man (with a suggestively placed... decoration), Meredith Vieira was Pinocchio (she said was "high" from the glue on her nose prosthetic), Ann Curry was Cinderella ("an ethnic J-Lo Cinderella"), Kathie Lee Gifford was the Big Bad......

Matt Lauer proved himself once again to have one of the best senses of humor of any TV journalist during his friar's club roast yesterday to benefit arts education and a new journalism scholarship in memory of Tim Russert. But all of the headlines today were swept up by the visit Lauer got from the man on the other end of one of his tensest on-air moments, Tom Cruise. Cruise, who has needed opportunities......

Sam the Cooking Guy -- who boasts on his website that "with no fancy equipment and by speaking English instead of ‘chef-speak,'" he's "sort of the everyman of television cooking" -- may want to tone down the "regular guy" routine next time he's on The Today Show. Which isn't going to happen anytime soon. Eater points out that his most recent appearance did not go well. Well, it's about time somebody said something. Watch the......

Forget about Missed Connections on the Craigslist, the only way to find love this Valentine's Day is by hailing Ahmed Ibrahim's cab. The Daily News reports on the cabbie with cupid tendencies, saying he's spent years playing matchmaker to his patrons. His record is pretty impressive, he's organized 70 "real dates," 19 of which turned into relationships that lasted over a year. The numbers could be higher but Ibrahim is selective on who he sets......

Photographs outside Broome Street The NYC Medical Examiner's office says Heath Ledger's autopsy is inconclusive, citing the need to more tests. Spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said, "The autopsy is inconclusive and we have to do further testing which includes toxicology and tissue testing. We expect to have results in about 10 days to two weeks." Initial reports suggested pills were found scattered around the actor's body, prompting speculation that Ledger could have committed suicide. Ledger's......

An AP report that Mayor Bloomberg has been "conducting extensive polling and voter analysis in all 50 states" continues to fan the flames of a possible Bloomberg '08 bid. We can just imagine it: People in Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, all getting phone calls and asked, "How would you feel if a billionaire who happened to also be a mayor of a certain urban area decided to run for President - as an independent?" So far,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured firefighter at Ave Y and Knapp St. in Brooklyn, serious trauma at the Bryant Park ice rink in Manhattan, and a stabbing at 169th St. and Linden Blvd. in Queens. The New Yorker collects quotes from striking writers and their supporters regarding the strike beard phenomena. Conan O'Brien, on perhaps the only physical feature that will ever help him resemble a lumberjack: "I’m the only guy chopping......

An off-duty firefighter was charged with misdemeanor assault after he beat up a Brooklyn motorist in front of the driver's wife and two sons. Michael Crespo, who is a 28-year-old copier technician, says that he was driving in Brooklyn when Stephen Spagnola jaywalked in front of his car. Spagnola, who is with FDNY Engine Co. 28 and also posed as Mr. September in the 2005 edition of the FDNY's racy Calendar of Heroes, objected to......

Members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike today after talks between the WGA and Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers collapsed last night. WGA East members are striking outside of NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Plaza on 49th Street today - 30 Rock's Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, and the Daily Show's John Oliver were on the line, as were many other writers for other productions - and other......

We have lots of videos to get you in a Halloween state of mind while you undoubtedly are suffering from a sugar crash after too much office candy. First up, IntoTheBox has a scary New York story with a real estate twist (after all, what's scarier than Manhattan real estate?!) -- travel to Confucius Plaza on Bowery and Canal, here. The Today Show turns Rockefeller Center into 1313 Mockingbird Heights and really outdoes their previous......

We recently visited Fox News Channel’s morning show Fox & Friends. Unlike most of the other morning shows it is a freewheeling kind of crazy romp that definitely has “Fox attitude”. We don’t know if that “Fox attitude” is what gives a different on-set vibe compared to other news sets, but it did seem like less of a precision military operation than their competition at the Today Show. It could be that the show......

The cutest mustachioed baby in this town is definitely the new walrus at the New York Aquarium. The baby walrus, who was born on June 12 and weighed in at 115 pounds, is ready for his public, as he made his first appearance yesterday. But he needs a name, and people can vote on the Today Show's website for one of four names: Utvak (Means ice made from snow or ice cube), Ukiivak (Means......

Live at Five is Gone! Starting on September 10th, WNBC will be making a seismic shift on the local television landscape. Live at Five is gone, with infotainment show Extra taking its place at 5 p.m. with News 4 You remaining at 5:30 p.m. However, there will be not net loss of newscasts, since WNBC will be starting a new 7 p.m. newscast, but it is not as new an idea as it would seem,......

Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo made a repeat appearance on the Today Show this morning to share her "racy" photographs with Matt Lauer. This is how the Today Show website describes the photographs, which are apparently the ones someone took from Polumbo's Facebook profile and mailed to pageant officials:The photos really aren’t that bad, by contemporary standards, but they aren’t necessarily good for the 22-year-old theater major’s public image, either. One shows a smiling......

If you're still reading the paper version of The New York Times, get ready to spend a little more. Cover prices will go up to $1.25 from $1 starting July 16th. Sunday prices will increase on July 15th, going from $3.50 to $4.00. The last increase for The Times in the New York area was in 1999. The increased prices are projected to add $7-8 million in revenue this year and $14-16 million in......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a water rescue at Liberty Island between Manhattan and NJ, a pedestrian was struck on 13th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, and there was a check cashing robbery on Francis Lewis and Jamaica Aves. in Queens. NYC Snapshot: Daily historic photos of NYC from someone who knows what we like. A drunk driver in Rockland County ran into an off-duty NYPD cop, whose injuries include bleeding in the......

Last week we sat down with Maurice DuBois, anchor of CBS 2 News This Morning and fill in weekend anchor for The Saturday Early Show and The CBS Evening News. DuBois joined WCBS and CBS in 2004 after seven years with WNBC and NBC where he anchored Today in New York, reported for Dateline NBC and filled in on the Today Show. Unlike a lot of the talent in the market you are a local,......

Spider-Man Week is coming to an end. What happened out there while we weren't looking? In one of the more interesting spider events this week, Tobey Maguire got a big creature placed on his arm at AMNH by entymologist and curator Norm Platnick: Through Sunday you can check out that very same spider at AMNH, as part of their Spiders Alive! exhibit. Did you see any signs of Spider-Man this week? Here he is in......

Name a new commissioner for the Department of Transportation (it's Janette Sadik-Khan - check out Streetsblog's suggestions for her) Cancel an appearance at a big GOP fund-raiser, which the Post's Fred Dicker thinks fuels further "speculation that he'll run for president" Continue to be mad at a Kansas TV station for not airing one of his anti-illegal gun ads Field more suggestions about congestion pricing from City Council members, including more mass transit options......

Radio shock jock Don Imus was suspended for two weeks by CBS, which owns WFAN and Westwood One (the radio outlets his show is broadcast and syndicated on) and MSNBC, which broadcasts a televised simulcast of the radio show, over remarks he made towards the Rutgers women's basketball team. MSNBC announced that Imus would be suspended first, then CBS announced a similar suspension. The suspension will begin on Monday, as Imus has a series......

You know what's awesome in high definition TV? Seeing images of huge, fat rats run around a fast food restaurant in the Village! WABC, WCBS, and WNBC descended on a Taco Bell-KFC location on Sixth Avenue at 4th Street. The restaurant had been open until 11PM last night, and someone called in a tip when they saw rats running around. While people have seen rats in restaurants, they probably haven't seen something that looked......

The Rink at Rockefeller Center is 70 years old today. The rink, in the heart of Midtown and unrivaled for many years (until the Bryant Park's Pond opened), first opened on Christmas Day in 1936. Being located right by the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and the Today Show studios has helped its popularity. It seems to be open today - here are more details. There are also skating options nearby - there's Bryant Park's Pond......

This year, the Today Show's tradition of testing its hosts' fortitude by giving them nutty Halloween costumes did not disappoint. Matt Lauer and Al Roker were Jack Sparrow and Captain Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, that is Al as Captain Davy Jones - he is squidalicious! In years past, Matt and Al have dressed as famous pairs, like Siegfried and Roy, Batman and Robin, and J.Lo and Puffy. We're surprised......

Yesterday morning, Mayor Bloomberg was on the Today Show, chatting with Meredith Vieira about the 40th anniversary of the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting and puffing his chest about NYC's role in the film and TV community. Then he scooted back to City Hall to announce new leglisation to penalize movie piracy. The press conference was full of factoids:The MPAA estimates that New York City theaters are the origin of 43% of camcorder-source pirated......

-- If you prefer the graffiti of yesteryear to the shit on the streets today, check out these clips from the 1983 documentary Forbidden Rebels. -- Sure, the dog has goggles, but where is his helmet? -- StreetsBlog has a map of the "bicycle fatality clusters" . Note to self: avoid biking in Park Slope at all costs. -- A Bronx mother-of-five was fatally stabbed at 6:30AM on State Street in Lower Manhattan: "The......

Today, much of the media is concentrating on September 11 coverage. On our local channels, there's extended TV coverage of memorial events in the city and WABC, WNBC and WCBS has taken over from the national broadcasts (NY1 has live audio and live video). MSNBC is repeating the Today Show from September 11, 2001. And the newspapers have a fair amount of coverage - the NY Times runs a banner headline and devote all......

Some start the day with CNN or the Today Show. However, there is a whole cult of parents who start the day with "Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away..." For us parents who spend every morning between 7 and 8am with Sesame Street, the coming a brand new character was something to which we could really look forward. After weeks of television, radio and print promotion Abby Cadabby , the first new female muppet in......

- $36 million in funds have been announced to clean up Bush Terminal Piers in Broolyn - Tangling with jerky smokers and maybe hookers is all part of a day's work for New York Hack - Interesting corner of Park Slope history - Sterling and 7th Avenue - Opie & Anthony may come back to NYC radio to replace David Lee Roth - Hee hee - we cannot get enough of lawsuits against Lenny......

NBC will officially announce that Meredith Vieira will be the new Today Show co-anchor, filling Katie Couric's 7AM to somewhere in the 9-10AM area shoes, later this afternoon, though Vieira announced the move during The View this morning. Newsday's Verne Gay says that Meredith Vieira might be the most perfect replacement for Couric ever, which could be good or bad. But the biggest fun is asking people what they think of the move. Should Katie......