GETTING IT WRITE Letterman (Photo: Getty Images)
• Nice save, Dave: Because David Letterman owns his own show (and Craig Ferguson's show that airs after The Late Show), through his Worldwide Pants production company, he's been able to negotiate a deal to return to the airwaves with writers and without screwing up their network strike. Top 10 lists are safe for now.

• Ball and chain: Holding out for a wiser, well-traveled, futuristic Barack Obama is no longer in the cards. Wife Michelle says of the presidential campaign: "We're not doing this again."

• Executive endorsement: In the waning days of the Iowa campaign, Bill Richardson pulls out the big gun: former President Josiah Bartlet (aka Martin Sheen's character from The West Wing).

• Countless awards: Dan Rather's 1972 Emmy goes for $2,500 on eBay, but the anchor—who doesn't have a clue how many he's won—claims he had no part in the sale.

• Split-coli: Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn are divorcing after 11 years of marriage and a pair of kids.