Rumors were fueled early in the day when Comedy Central said that filming had been suspended for the rest of the week, then refused to specify why.

Now sources close to Colbert have told The Wall Street Journal that a family emergency demanded his attention, but did not specify the nature of that emergency.

Scarborough, a guest columist for the website and “Morning Joe” co-host, debuted the blog shortly after midnight on Monday. “Like Navin R. Johnson seeing his name in the phone book for the first time, I feel like this is the lucky break I’ve been waiting for all my life,” he wrote. (Navin R. Johnson is Steve Martin’s character in “The Jerk,” by the way.)

Set to air Thursday night during prime time, OWN will broadcast a two-hour special title, “Remembering Whitney: The Oprah Interview.” As the title indicates, the special will be a re-air of Oprah’s 2009 interview with Houston.

In what was widely believed to be the mark Houston’s comeback after years in an abusive marriage and excessive drug use, the superstar sat down with Oprah and gave one of the most candid interviews of her career. Houston opened up about her “drug of choice” and detailed how her mother, Cissy Houston, brought police to Houston’s home to stage an intervention.

It turns out that money does talk and if NBC is willing to pay a record amount of it, a speculated $30 million, Lauer may stay.

TMZ is reporting that while Lauer was done with “Today” and wanted out, he will now re-sign if NBC ponies up way more than the $17 million he’s currently making. Negotiations are ongoing, but if NBC agrees, Lauer could score as much as $30 MILLION a year.

What caused Lauer’s change of heart? Could it be jealousy over the network talking to Ryan Seacrest as Matt’s replacement or maybe Lauer wanted to re-sign all along and just played the “I’m leaving” card to score a bigger pay day.

Oprah’s special will differ from her notable “After-Oscar Party,” which she did yearly live from the Kodak Theatre on the Monday after the Academy Awards ceremony. Her Oscar specials were some of “The Oprah Winfrey Show’s” highest-rated programs. Oprah sat down with the night’s biggest winners, including the recipients of the Best Actor and Best Actress awards.

On OWN, Winfrey will interview nominees prior to the ceremony, including Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer from The Help. Moneyball’s Jonah Hill will also appear in the special, which will air February 15. Hill tweeted his excitement about the interview on Tuesday (when the interview was presumably taped).

“Normally I try not to pay attention to my haters,” DeGeneres told viewers. “But this time I’d like to talk about it because my haters are my motivators.”

This organization thinks I shouldn’t be a spokesperson because I’m gay. So, uh, for those of you who are just tuning in for the first time: It’s true; I’m gay. I hope you’re sitting down. I hate to break it to you this way. But anyway…

So, they wanted to get me fired, and I am proud and happy to say that JCPenney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson.

“I mean, if they have a problem with spokespeople,” DeGeneres continued, “what about the Pillsbury Doughboy? I mean, he runs around without any pants on and basically begging people to poke his belly. What kind of message is that?”

The comedian then shared a post from One Million Moms’ Facebook page:

Reports of tension surfaced at the end of December when Olbermann was noticeably absent from Current TV’s 2012 election coverage. The tension boiled over as Olbermann and network executives called each other out on his refusal to host. The feud was eventually resolved, and Olbermann anchored the network’s coverage of the South Carolina primary.

In a new piece for Newsweek, Rebecca Dana reveals new details about the tension between the two, and the rocky road ahead that Current faces in its quest to gain an increased television foothold.

Al Gore, who jointly owns the network, personally called Olbermann less than 24 hours after he left MSNBC in January to offer him a job. Executives gave the host the title of “chief news officer,” an equity stake in the company and $15 million show budget. However, trouble flared as the year went on.

Dana reports that that Olbermann’s relationship with the network took a bad turn months before the primaries began. She claims that the oft-prickly host was raising concerns about cheap sets, ignored emails, demanded more control over personnel decisions, and complained about his car service.

These conflicts spilled out into the open. One technical glitch, for example, had him broadcasting in the dark and lighting a candle to mock the blackout. Sources later cited his frustration with low technical and production values as central to the tensions in January.

Things got so bad that Gore found himself “begging” Olbermann not to leave Current, Dana writes. Eventually, both sides smoothed things over, and OIbermann is securely ensconced in place.

It’s a process that Gelman, the show’s executive producer, calls dating, and, as fans wait for the show to pop the question weeks or months from now, “Live!” is sowing its wild oats. (“Live! With Kelly,” which airs in syndication weekdays at 9 a.m. EST in many markets, this week will feature guest co-hosts Daniel Radcliffe, Howie Mandel, Peter Facinelli and D.L. Hughley).

“We’ve just scratched the surface of people out there,” executive produce Michael Gelman says, adding, “We have enjoyed a lot of people who have already co-hosted, and we’re bringing a bunch of them back for more ‘dates.’”

That first batch of callbacks will include Jerry O’Connell, Dana Carvey, Seth Meyers and Michael Strahan.

Vieira stepped down as co-host of “Today” last June to spend more time with her family. NBC News announced that she would start a new role at the network, and she was named a special correspondent for Brian Williams’ news magazine in September. She joins a roster of famous faces that includes Ted Koppel and Chelsea Clinton.

Vieira will sit down with Alford, who was a 19-year old White House intern when her affair with JFK began. Alford broke her silence about the relationship almost forty years after it happened. She had given a short statement about it for an oral history that was released with a biography of Kennedy, and the Daily News tracked her down to confirm the story.

Rossen and his team will also report investigative stories for “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and “Dateline.” An insider draws a parallel between Rossen’s unit and the work of ABC’s chief investigative correspondent: “You have not seen a unit like this since the glory days of Brian Ross.”

Middleton splashed onto the international scene in April 2011 when she served as the maid of honor to her sister, Kate, when she wed Prince William. Since then, she has been the subject of significant press attention for her style, love life, social life, and more.

Middleton, who works for her parents’ business as the blog editor of a party planning website, was named one of Barbara Walters’ ‘Most Fascinating’ people of 2011. She also sealed a book deal worth more than $500,000 to author a book about party planning. With a big book deal comes a big network television interview.

U.S. media heavyweights, including Walters and Oprah Winfrey, have reportedly offered six-figure sums to land Middleton’s first big interview. Oprah reportedly told her staff to “pull out all the stops.” NBC would like Today’s front man, Matt Lauer, to interview Middleton. Lauer covered the Royal Wedding live from London for NBC. He also interviewed Price William and Prince Harry in 2007 on the 10th anniversary of their mother’s death.

The MSNBC host will be joining House Democrats on a retreat in Cambridge, Maryland on Wednesday, according to the Roll Call. The focus of the retreat, which has the theme “Reignite the American Dream,” will be honing the group’s message about jobs and the economy going into the 2012 election.

Schultz will speak on a panel about Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s “Make it in America” plan. The retreat’s other discussions will largely focus on core policy issues, and also feature Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. speaking on the “History of the Democratic Party: the Struggle for Rights.”