For the first edition of Mediaite Supper Club, a new video series, we had dinner with Geraldo Rivera of Fox News and Pat Kiernan of NY1 at Doma in the West Village.

The conversation ranged from Piers Morgan and CNN’s prime time ratings troubles to Rupert Murdoch, Howard Stern, David Westin and Glenn Beck. Check it out:

Is America tired of “Idol”? There’s no single factor. It’s not that this season’s contestants are lacking in the talent department. It’s just that it all seems so … boring.

Maybe you’ve seen the trailer or vaguely get the premise of Hot Tub Time Machine (it’s below, just in case). Four guys get into a hot tub and are sent back in time to a universe that still only knows Michael Jackson for his music and . It’s Bill and Ted with a more outlandish concept and less Keanu Reeves. I’ve seen that trailer way too many times because, or at least I believe, that I’m the targeted demo of a 25-34 male who watches sports and Comedy Central too much. It should be my sense of humor, but I was doubting it.

There’s only one good reason for people to be standing in the dark at Whistler watching sliding events. It’s because a 5 pm start in Vancouver matches perfectly with NBC’s live 8 pm ET telecast. But NBC’s version of “live” is very different. Trouble is, we all know the difference.

NBC’s decision to put Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira 3800 feet above Vancouver on Grouse Mountain for the Today Show was a brilliant way to kick off the network’s Winter Olympics coverage, but its strategy of tape-delaying much of its event coverage is sadly out-of-date.

What do we call this next decade? We’ve got to think ahead on this — because so far, there’s been no consensus. The example set by the media in the next few days will be a critical one. Whether it’s Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark on “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” or Anderson Cooper on CNN, anybody who’s on the air this week will have to figure out how to react to the number 2010.

I say, let’s call it “Twenty-Ten.”

There it is — at the bottom of the “Trio high-stepping with South Beach consignment sneaker shop” story. There’s now a little badge at the bottom of each Miami Herald story inviting you to make a donation to the business if you like what you’ve read. It’s an interesting move, but I don’t think we’re [...]

Get it? Because her name is Blanche. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank delivers an impassioned Sunday column today, using a literary allusion and extended metaphor to describe the dealmaking that occurred yesterday in the Senate. It’s all very Southern — straight out of a Tennessee Williams play, he contends. It’s a perfectly frustrating and instructive Sunday read.

TV newsman and former “World Series of Pop Culture” host Pat Kiernan is bringing trivia back to life with a new competition guaranteed to please WSoPC fans. Details — and video of Kiernan reciting “My Humps” — after the jump.

Attention readers of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune or any of the Tribune Co.’s dozen other publications: something is missing from your paper this week. The Tribune Co. is struggling. Struggling to keep readership up, costs down, and its news empire afloat. So this week, as an experiment, they taking a week-long break [...]

Regis Philbin’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire returns to ABC primetime on Sunday. Earlier this week, CBS revealed Let’s Make a Deal is coming back to TV in the fall with Wayne Brady as host. I’m hopeful both shows deliver solid ratings. Somewhere in the rush to fill dozens of hours a [...]

It’s hard for me to admit this. Because I’d like to have a $15 million a year job. But I think the American Idol producers will get their money’s worth after signing Ryan Seacrest to a 3-year contract.

American Idol is one of the only shows I seem to be able to make time for regularly. I’ve long said it’s a near-perfect reality television creation, and the masses seem to agree.

This was not the best year ever. And I’m not even talking about the economy being a mess.  I’m talking about the fact that VH1’s Best Week Ever may have paid tribute to pop culture news for the final time.