Like most people, after watching Marianne Gingrich’s Nightline interview, I was left asking “Is that it?” However, unlike most people seemingly, I wasn’t disappointed that there was no new information. I was disappointed because the only real “bombshell,” presumably the thing that Marianne had been warning for years would destroy Newt’s career, was that he asked for an “open marriage.” That’s it? There are tons of people who have successful open marriages. Would we really rather just have another guy running around cheating all the time?

After The Drudge Report erupted into a four alarm fire frenzy the other night over ABC News’ report that Marianne Gingrich alleged her ex-husband Newt Gingrich wanted an “open marriage”, much anticipation was raised for Thursday night’s Nightline with Brian Ross to drop some earth-shattering revelations. CNN’s John King‘s mere mention of the report flung Thursday night’s debate into a holy mess. What juicy lurid details would emerge from this mightily-hyped segment? Secret affair videos? Explicit photographs?!

ABC News has released a preview of it’s upcoming bombshell interview with Marianne Gingrich, second wife to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and it is, indeed, a doozy. In fact, when reached for comment, several prominent doozies even exclaimed “Whoah!”

Today is a big news day in Republican presidential politics. With the South Carolina primary just days away, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, still reeling from attacks on his record at Bain Capital, negative buzz surrounding his yet-to-be-revealed tax returns, now has to deal with an ABC News Nightline report on his financial holdings in the Cayman Islands, a notorious tax haven.

Four years ago, 14 year-old Angie Varona snapped some sexy, semi-nude pictures of herself and posted them online for her then-boyfriend. The password she used to protect the gallery was hacked, the photos spilled out onto the rest of the Internet, and ” target=”_blank”>predictably creepy things happened from there.

Currently, the news catnip du jour for conservatives are Solyndra and Fast and Furious. Today, conservative media watchdog Newsbusters expressed outrage that a Fast and Furious question was left out of ABC News broadcasts of Jake Tapper‘s exclusive interview with President Obama. Fortunately, we’ve got the exchange here.

President Obama sat down for an interview with Nightline‘s Jake Tapper, and hit on a wide range of issues, from his frustration with filibusters to his willingness to pay more in taxes. But the sentiment that might stick out for most people was his assertion that Tea Partiers and Occupy Wall Streeters are more similar than they may even realize:

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jake Tapper, President Obama said he’s not worried about who the Republican nominee is going to be, and told Tapper that the GOP candidates’ ideas aren’t anything new. “There’s going to be a very clear contrast,” the President said, “between whoever they nominate and their vision of where we should take the country and where I believe we should take the country.”

On last night’s Nightline, retired Justice John Paul Stevens told George Stphanopoulos that in his 34 and a half years of service, “I really think that I’ve thought over a lot of cases I’ve written over the years.  And I really wouldn’t want to do any one of them over.” Except for maybe one: the 1976 Jurek v. Texas case wherein the death penalty was upheld as not cruel and unusual. ”I think that I came out wrong on that,” he says.

Chaz Bono appeared on ABC’s Nightline to discuss his contentious debut as the first transgendered contestant on Dancing With The Stars . Bono told anchor Cynthia McFadden he’s had a great time so far being on the show, “It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love. It’s like the Army!”

In her first television interview, the hotel maid who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to sexually assault her has spoken to Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts. In the exclusive, Nafissatou Diallo recounts what she says happened in the hotel room at the center of the scandal, and tells Roberts she wants justice. “I want him to go to jail.” The interview, which aired first on GMA this morning, will continue on ABC World News and Nightline.

In an investigation first aired tonight on ABC World News–and to be continued on Nightline–ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross talks to a former patient who sought help from a Christian counseling clinic owned by Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus. The patient tells ABC News he was advised prayer could help free him of homosexual urges and that he could become “re-oriented.”

“[One counselor's] path for my therapy would be to read the Bible, pray to God that I would no longer be gay,” said Andrew Ramirez, who was 17-years-old at the time he sought help from Bachmann & Associates in suburban Minneapolis in 2004. “And God would forgive me if I were straight.”

Guess we’re going to have to update the Power Grid, because Elizabeth Smart is going to be joining ABC’s Good Morning America as a contributor for missing-persons cases.

In an interview certain to fuel another day’s debate over the not guilty verdict that stunned people watching the Casey Anthony murder trial, ABC’s Terry Moran talked to Jennifer Ford, previously known to reporters covering the Anthony trial as “juror number three.” In the interview, which aired last night on Nightline, Ford was firm that after three weeks of trial testimony, she was left with “no idea” if Casey Anthony killed her daughter, and believes she had no choice but to acquit Anthony on all felony counts in the case. “I did not say she was innocent. I just said there was not enough evidence.”

In an exclusive interview set to air on ABC World News and Nightline, Casey Anthony juror Jennifer Ford said she and the other jurors cried and were “sick to our stomachs” after voting to acquit Anthony of charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.

“I did not say she was innocent,” said Ford, who had previously only been identified as juror number 3. “I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be.”

Can’t stay up for ABC’s late-night news franchise, Nightline? The network’s bringing Nightline to you, with a 13-week summer series airing at 10 p.m. Primetime Nightline debuts June 22 with a five-part investigation into “the realm of the extra-sensory, the spiritual, and the experiences many call beyond belief.” The summer series is being overseen by recently promoted Nightline executive producer Jeanmarie Condon, who told Mediaite earlier this year Nightline was setting the bar for unique, go-anywhere and dig journalism. The summer show will continue that work, she says. “Stories that defy proof and perception are the ultimate adventure–and perfect for summer,” she said.

As one morning show was announcing a major departure, another was enjoying a homecoming. ABC’s Good Morning America welcomed Lara Spencer back with a clip that featured Spencer trying to find her way to Times Square, including cameos from Desperate Housewives‘ Vanessa Williams, cast members of Grey’s Anatomy, the hosts of The View and Nightline. The clip also includes a hug from World News anchor Diane Sawyer.

When Martin Bashir announced he was bolting from ABC’s Nightline for his own daytime show on MSNBC, he called it “a rare and special opportunity,” telling The Washington Post’s Lisa De Moraes “I cannot wait to get started.” It’s been a slow start. Bashir made those comments last summer, and his MSNBC show, Martin Bashir, didn’t debut until February 28.

At ABC’s Nightline, the earthquake in Japan–and the resulting threat of tsunami in Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast–served as a vivid reminder: you’ve got a news-hungry, dedicated audience. They expect to be fed. Sometimes they’ll be happy with cake and ice cream, but when they want steak, you better put some beef on the plate.

The massive quake hit at 2:46 p.m. Japan time, which was 12:46 a.m. ET in the U.S. Nightline, the resurgent late night news program that finished the February sweeps with some of its best ratings ever, was over, but set for re-broadcast on the West Coast, where it was still just 9:46 p.m.

Underdogs triumph! The late night ratings are in for the February sweeps, and CBS’s David Letterman and ABC’s Nightline are loving the results. Letterman’s Late Show beat archrival Jay Leno‘s Tonight Show among viewers 18-34 for the first time since Leno’s return to late night. (Among total viewers, Leno won)

The move announced by ABC News president Ben Sherwood Friday, assigning James Goldston as new senior executive producer of the network’s Good Morning America was not hard to decode: ABC’s dead serious about knocking NBC’s TODAY off its perch as network TV’s top morning show. “I think GMA is in a strong position,” Goldston told Mediaite after the announcement. “The show is ready to roar.”

To mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the Iranian hostage crisis, Ted Koppel–whose ABC News show, Nightline, was created to cover the crisis–appeared on BBC World News America to talk about what’s changed, and what hasn’t.

Koppel, who joked about how he’s changed in three decades (the “ravages of time,” he said) and pointed out that he’s currently in a sling for a torn rotator cuff, said Iran, by comparison, has only grown in power and influence.

Nightline lives on, but it’s about to become a shorter program. Starting February 4, the long-running late night news show will end at midnight instead of 12:05 a.m., so that Jimmy Kimmel Live can get an earlier start. It also allows ABC to sell additional advertising time on Kimmel, which keeps its current out-time of 1:05 in addition to the earlier start.

The former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, says he will decide in the next few months on a 2012 presidential campaign. In the meantime, he’s talking about how that run–and facing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin–might shape up. Pawlenty insists nobody’s pulling any punches for fear of alienating Palin’s legion of die-hard supporters: “I don’t think it’s fair to say people are afraid of her,” Pawlenty tells ABC’s Terry Moran in an exclusive interview set to air Friday night on Nightline.

ABC’s Nightline–once considered past its prime and on the verge of cancellation–has thundered to a ratings win for the fourth quarter 2010, beating both David Letterman‘s Late Show and Jay Leno‘s Tonight Show among total viewers.

In the just-completed fourth quarter ratings compiled by Nielsen, Nightline ranked No. 1 among total viewers (3.93 million) and adults 25-54 (1.61 million).