B&C Week

The cable-news smackdown over who'll own the “situation” franchise is underway! At 3 p.m. (ET), CNN unveils The Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer's three-hour news, er, blitz, finally answering MSNBC's first strike, the June launch of The Situation With Tucker Carlson. An unfortunate bit of timing is making it look like MSNBC has lost its stomach for the fight: They insist that this was the plan all along, but tonight the channel shunts Tucker C's Situation from 9 to 11 and plants Rita Cosby: Live and Direct in the vacant time slot. On Comedy Central, The Daily Show's wisecracks about the news will now be followed by more wisecracks about the news on Too Late With Adam Carolla (premiere, 11:30 p.m. ET). Soliciting questions online from viewers that might prompt an on-air phone call from the ex-Man Show co-host, Too Late's suggested topics include illegal immigration, global warming, gun laws and “cheerleader spotters.” In other Comedy Central news: This is day 70 of Dave Chappelle Holds Himself Hostage.

While ABC and CBS both scramble to put together competing miniseries about the life of Pope John Paul II, those smooth operators at Hallmark Channel have snapped up A Man Who Became Pope, an international production with Piotr Adamczyk in the lead role. The movie is going to be screened at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington this afternoon; Hallmark will show it on Aug. 15 @ 8 p.m. ET.

Dog days of summer? Ha! This is what they dream about in Nebraska in mid January. The corn is as high as a Big Red defensive lineman's eye, and the weather forecast this week in Lincoln relies heavily on “sun” and “90s.” What better time for a bit of … conferencing? The three-day Nebraska Broadcasters Association convention starts today at The Cornhusker hotel in Lincoln (actually, the NBA members convene first at the Wilderness Ridge golf course this morning, but that's another matter), and the Native American Journalists Association's four-day affair begins tomorrow at the Embassy Suites hotel. The vans begin loading for the Highlands golf course at 6:30 a.m.

“The WB is currently seeking...” goes the casting call, “beautiful, sexy, social-savvy women who can turn a geek into a stud” and “intellectually endowed but socially stunted men who can turn a shopper into a scholar.” In June, The WB reupped with producers Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg for an eight-episode Beauty & the Geek 2 when it became apparent that the six-episode first season was a hit. Now comes the search for more B's and G's. The nationwide dragnet hits the Cosmos Café in Charlotte, N.C., today at 3 p.m., when social-savvy gals and socially stunted guys will be welcome. Or was it socially savvy vs. social stunted?

Dog days of summer? Ha! This is what they dream about … uh, wait—we did that already. The Broadband Cable Association of Pennsylvania is holding its annual convention in York, and, unlike those folks in Nebraska, the BCAP-ers don't need to go off-site for the obligatory Golf Outing. They're staying at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort & Conference Center (logo, above). Considering that these guys provide free cable service to 2,261 secondary schools, here's hoping that their slices disappear and their putts roll true.

E-mail info for B&C Week to b&cweek@reedbusiness.com